Speed up Mendix app delivery

Three steps to improve productivity of your Mendix team

Step 1) identify bottlenecks 

Bottlenecks lower the maximum speed of your app develivery process. If you want to improve the productivity of Mendix app delivery you have to solve them. Below we provide a, none extensive, list of development and test team bottlenecks we have encountered in several projects and organizations:

The solution strategy for these bottlenecks depends amongst others on the organization of your development  and test activities.

Step 2) identify your organizational pattern

Although each organization is unique, there are common patterns on how development and testing is organized. In the figure below we describe five different organizational patterns. These patterns are characterized by looking at:

• how teams are organized,
• which team is causing the bottleneck in the release process and
• how testing activities are divided over the team(s).

Step 3) optimize the synchronization between development and test

For each of the organizational patterns described above there are other solution strategies to remove the bottlenecks. These strategies are worked out in detail below.

(2) A dedicated test team performs all test activities and is the bottleneck in the release process

The development and test teams are separated from each other in the organization. If creating one team that does both testing and development (see pattern 1) is not possible you can improve your test teams productivity by doing the following:

• Stimulate collaboration between developers and testers by sharing a common work process (agile) and use a shared tool to document the test design and to execute tests
• Let the testers define the test strategy and have them design the tests, including input data variation and expected outcomes (data driven testing).
• Have developers automate the technical tests as much as possible (e.g. at the unit or component level) to reduce the test execution burden for testers
• Allow testers to run the automated tests at any time, which saves a lot of time compared to manual testing

(4) Both teams do parts of the test activities. Development team is the bottleneck in the release process

The development and test teams are separated from each other in the organization and they are both performing different test activities. If creating one team that does both testing and development (see pattern 1) is not possible you can remove the bottlenecks in  the development team when you::

• Involve  testers with the test activities of the development team as much as possible. Let them also write automated unit and component tests (with the right test automation tooling this requires basic Mendix skills for a tester, but would really help the developers)
• Use as much test automation as possible to relieve the development team from manual test activities. Choose a test automation tool with low maintenance & a skill level that fits the tester that is suitable for technical tests at all levels and easy to integrate with development work (shift left testing)

Conclusion

The productivity of your Mendix app delivery process depends greatly on the process of development and testing. A well synchronized process, supported by the right automation tools will help you to speed up Mendix app delivery. In each organization you can apply some improvements and optimize your process step by step. Remember, keep focus on the bottlenecks and stay lean!