What Is Beta Program in Full Meaning? All You Concerned About the Beta Testing

What is Beta Program in Full Meaning?

What is beta program in full meaning? Beta testing is a type of acceptance testing. Acceptance testing is a software testing activity that takes place after the completion of functional and system testing, and before the product release. It is the final stage of technical testing.

Once a product has passed the acceptance testing, it is ready for release. Acceptance testing strictly examines the product according to the product specification document. It checks every aspect of the software product mentioned in the specification document, line by line, to ensure that the developed software product meets all user requirements.

And when the comprehensive testing is complete, the software is fully assembled and interface errors have been eliminated, and the last step of software testing – Beta testing can begin. Beta testing checks whether the software can work as per the contractual requirements, i.e., whether it meets the confirmation standards mentioned in the software requirement document.

Purpose of Beta Testing

1. Beta testing provides a complete overview of the real experience that the end-users will have while using the product.
2. Beta testing is performed by a broad range of users, and the reasons for using the product vary significantly. Marketing managers focus on how the target market perceives each feature, usability engineers/regular users focus on the product's usability, and technical users focus on the installation and uninstallation experience, among others. However, the actual opinion of the end-users clearly indicates why they need this product and how they will use it.
3. Through this testing, the real compatibility of the product can be ensured to a greater extent, as a large number of real platforms are used for testing various devices, operating systems, browsers, etc.
4. Since the end-users may actually use various platforms that the internal testing team may not have access to during the QA period, this testing also helps in discovering hidden bugs and vulnerabilities in the final product.
5. A few specific platforms may cause the product to fail and result in fatal bugs not covered during the QA period. This helps to improve or fix the product to make it compatible with all possible platforms.
6. Known issues that are accepted by the product management team (i.e., bugs that are allowed to be temporarily left unaddressed during the testing period) may undergo significant changes when the end-users face the same issue and feel uncomfortable. In such cases, this testing helps to analyze the impact of known issues on the entire product, as a poor user experience is unacceptable for any successful business.

When is Beta Testing Completed?

Beta testing is always conducted after the completion of Alpha testing but before the product is released to the market. Here, the product must be at least 90%-95% complete (stable enough on any platform and almost or completely finished in all features).

Ideally, all technical products should go through the Beta testing phase because they depend primarily on platforms and processes.

Any product undergoing Beta testing should be checked against specific preparation checklists before release, including the following:

• All components of the product are ready for testing.

• The documentation that must be delivered to the end-users, including setup, installation, usage, and uninstallation, should be prepared and checked for correctness.

• The product management team should verify that every critical feature is in good working order.

• The program for collecting bugs, feedback, etc., should be reviewed and approved for release.

Typically, Beta testing lasts for one or two testing cycles (each cycle lasting 4-6 weeks), and it is only extended when new features are added, or core components are modified.

Beta programs and automation testing are closely related because automation testing can be used as a tool for conducting beta testing. Automation testing tools can help beta testers to simulate user actions and test the product more comprehensively and efficiently.

One recommended automation testing service for those who want to conduct a beta program is WeTest. WeTest automation testing service allows users to automate their tests, execute them on multiple devices and browsers, and generate detailed test reports. With WeTest, users can also perform functional, performance, and compatibility testing, which are crucial aspects of beta testing.