Defect tracking software is an important part of the support arsenal, whether you’re slaving away on the in-house help desk, fielding beta-testing results, or providing front line customer support. Tracking bugs is more than just a job, and it’s not quite an adventure. Rather, it’s an endless quest that can only be made tolerable through the diligent use of the right tools by a committed cadre of bug-swatters.

When you implement a defect tracking software solution, you say goodbye to those random post-it notes and cocktail napkin chicken scratches. (Why you have chickens scratching on your napkins, I can’t say. And just what are you doing having cocktails while you’re working on the help desk? What is this, a sequel to The Falcon and the Snowman?)

After a defect is entered into the database, it no longer exists in isolation, rather, it’s shared knowledge. Once a problem has been solved, the answer to that problem can be shared with the group or customer base.

It’s all about sharing. While some defect tracking solutions use an ASP (application service provider) model to provide online issue and defect tracking, other applications are web-enabled to provide access across the Internet.

Defect tracking software is available from: AdminiTrack, Agile (Rally), Axosoft (PowerTrack), Compuware (QACenter), Elsinore Technologies (Visual Intercept), ExtraView (Defect Tracker), IssueView, MetaQuest (Census), Pragmatic (Defect Tracker), RMTrack, Seapine (TestTrack Pro), Serena (TeamTrack), Software With Brains (SWBTracker), Softwise (PR-Tracker), Techexcel (DevTrack), Tiera (Defect Manager), TrackStudio, and a number of other firms. This is a fairly crowded field.

It’s common for defect tracking software to be sold either with multi-user licenses or as a straight site license. The pricing for Software With Brains’ SWBTracker, for example, starts at $129 for a single-user license and runs up to $1999 for a site license. 5-, 10-, and 20-user licenses are available for $499, $799, and $1299, respectively.