2019 was a year of tremendous advances in the North American cannabis marketplace. In October, Canada celebrated its first anniversary of full federal legalization with a new wave of edible, topical and derivative products coming to market. In the U.S., California, the world’s largest legal cannabis market closed its 2nd full year of recreational access. Like newcomers Michigan and Illinois, at least 10 more states are now contemplating legalizing cannabis for medical and/or recreational use.
It was also a year of increased volatility. Companies in all facets of the industry found themselves under tremendous pressure to demonstrate profitability and positive cashflow. An ever-evolving regulatory landscape layered with logistical, distribution and unique competitive challenges, all added to the complexity of satisfying those demands.
Ask yourself: In what other industry are legitimate businesses required to compete actively with long and well-established grey/illicit market supply chains that continue to flourish, even in areas where cannabis is now fully legalized?
And if all that weren’t enough, a new wave of health and safety concerns arose with alternative methods of consumption penetrating the mainstream marketplace, creating confusion and apprehension among consumers looking for safe and legal outlets to acquire their products.
While the challenges can seem overwhelming, it offers business owners a unique opportunity to establish a foundational culture of trust and quality that consumers are looking for. Nowhere is this more important than the software and application platforms you choose to manage your business. This is an industry in desperate need of credible infrastructure and services to support the ‘seed to sale’ value chain that underpins the quality, safety and reliability that will ultimately define your brand.
Whether you’re developing these platforms in-house or looking to established providers for “out of the box” solutions, they all must meet these critical requirements for your business:
FUNCTIONALITY – Do the platforms perform as they are intended to?
ACCESSIBILITY – Can employees, suppliers and customers access the systems and information they need seamlessly in order to provide a satisfying end-user experience?
SECURITY – Will business data and customers data be secure from the inevitable cyber-attack?
INTEGRATION – Can the various platforms interact for efficiency, security and regulatory purposes?
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE – Do the platforms conform to the regulatory requirements of your local, state/provincial and federal jurisdictions?
At the heart of all these is the need for consistent testing and quality assurance for all your software platforms. QA Consultants is North America’s leading and largest onshore provider of software testing and quality engineering services. Based out of our Test Factory™ in Toronto Canada, our staff of highly skilled test engineers understand the pressures and needs of companies operating in the cannabis industry and can provide remote and/or onsite testing support to your developers, integrators and IT teams. Whether you require manual testing or test automation frameworks, QAC is here to ensure your brand is synonymous in the market with that culture of trust and quality.