The value of system testing - Huw Thomas, COO, PMC
 Huw Thomas, COO at PMC maintains that the creation and implementation of quality testing processes requires retail experts that can continue with resolution of defects and workarounds in a live environment. Unless retailers approach independent testers, the only people offering a testing service are vendors and system integrators; organisations whose key drivers are the desire to get more hardware or software into the retail environment or to close an outsourcing agreement.
Importantly, it does not matter where the retailer is in the process. That’s the advantage of an independent tester. They can be involved at any stage - once a solution has already been exposed to the end users or when the retailer is doing the initial design work around the solution.
Is testing a policing function?
It is accepted that 90% of all retail solutions have some level of bug – what is difficult to ascertain is the critical level of those bugs. Timescales, hardware, software, vendors and resource will always drive that assessment.
Testing should not be seen as policing. It’s a positive addition to the process, the problem is that neither vendors nor retailers have the bandwidth or skill set to test systems adequately or emulate the retailer’s live environments.
Far from being a policing function, testing helps to eliminate aggressive bouts of finger pointing between vendors and retailers. It also goes a long way to reducing the issues that nobody takes responsibility for and identifying solutions.
Problems are part of the solution
There is little need to tell retailers that there are going to be problems with new systems. Testing as a principle is a readily understood concept because most retailers recognise that there are going to be issues. Any solution that goes into a retail environment will require customisation, it’s inevitable and as a result there will be problems. These will increase in direct proportion to the level of changes made to the solution.
That is why the need for testing is not defined by the size or complexity of a new store system, EPOS or MMS - the break point is the combination of deviation from what comes out of the box and customer throughput (how fast you get customers coming to your checkout).
The tier two issues
The tier-two retail market is possibly the most mass customisable, there are lots of transactions, lots of customers and any system issues are going to have a big impact on trading. The problem for these retailers is they do not have a big EPOS footprint in their stores, which gives them limited influence with vendors.
Neither do these organisations have enough internal people to carry out a testing function – they are too busy keeping the lights on. The tier two retailers have limited resources and are therefore unable to dedicate the time or diligence to keep the problem under control.
What are the implications of ignoring effective testing?
The usual response that testing is an expense that they can do without is based on short-term thinking.
If staff are grumpy because they can’t use the system effectively, and customers are unhappy because they can’t checkout at the tills effectively and quickly, unless it’s a 24x7 problem many retailers simply consider that acceptable. However, when a system failure means the retailer has to shut up shop then the problem becomes business-critical. If the store is full the retailer could be faced with charging every customer a token amount for what they have in their basket.
Tier two retailers have to start thinking in terms of system availability rather than system downtime. If a solution is warranted then they know that up time is going to approach 100%, otherwise all they are doing is living with the spectre of failure.
For further information please contact enquiries@paulmasonconsulting.co.uk |
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Retailers continue to state that shrinkage is unavoidable but Huw Thomas, COO at retail systems experts PMC believes that retailers should refuse to accept the inevitable.
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