Why must you transform your Software Testing strategy in 2019?

Software Testing Strategy

The complexity of software applications has grown manifold thanks to an increase in their delivery touchpoints, device platforms, functionalities, features, networks, and embedded technologies. Businesses more than ever before have their tasks cut out – develop quality applications and accelerate their delivery to the market. Furthermore, developments such as Agile and DevOps with their outcomes focused on Continuous Integration and Delivery, the software testing strategy needs a transformation of sorts. This has become important for businesses to stay relevant and exceed customer expectations.

Let’s find out why the software testing strategy of your business should undergo a change in 2019.

# 1. The growing footprint of IoT: You must have seen increased automation in consumer durables like television, air conditioner, geyser etc. For example, the display of your television set can adjust its intensity based on the ambient light. Also, the geyser switches off on its own should the temperature of water reaches a certain threshold. Such experiences have become possible due to the presence of embedded software in these devices.

Now, unless the quality of such embedded software remains top notch, the functioning of these devices will leave a lot to be desired. Hence, the software testing methodology should not only test the application(s) independently but also as an integral part of the device. As IoT spreads its footprint all across, software application testing should be comprehensive ensuring each and every functionality and APIs meet their desired objectives. It calls for adopting a software testing approach with a view to validate the software’s usability, compatibility, scalability, reliability, security, performance, and data integrity.

#2. The advent of AI and machine learning technology: The year 2019 will see AI and machine learning expand their outreach into newer domains. Moreover, software application testing too would involve the use of AI to meet the challenges of growing complexity, repetitive tasks, and accelerating the time to market etc. These will augment the capabilities of human testers manifold and release them from conducting mundane, repetitive or highly critical tasks. This will lead to the optimization of resources and the meeting of stringent turnarounds.

#3. Big data testing: A number of software applications with a multitude of APIs generate a humongous amount of data. For example, software buying tickets for airlines or railways among others. Here, such volume of data needs to be validated on criteria such as performance and functional testing. In addition to the software, the data should also be validated on parameters such as accuracy, completeness, security, consistency, integrity, and validity.

#4. Shift towards performance engineering: With the quality of software applications being determined by the number of their digital touchpoints and APIs, traditional performance testing needs to give way to performance engineering. In other words, the software testing approach will no longer test the performance of software on metrics such as load, test, spike, scalability, endurance, and volume alone. Performance engineering would entail analyzing how various elements of a system collaborate in a seamless way to deliver quality outcomes. The elements would include the entire sweep of business and software – security, usability, performance, hardware, operations, ROI, and customer experience.

#5. Shift towards quality engineering: The traditional quality assurance methodology does not fit into the emerging scheme of things anymore. As Agile and DevOps become the de facto industry benchmarks, the shift is more towards ensuring integration and testing throughout the SDLC and beyond. This calls for engaging quality engineering to foolproof a system against inherent glitches in the entire development and operations processes by adopting test automation.

#6. Challenges of test automation: The growing complexity of software with demands such as delivering faster testing cycles, identifying glitches early and ensuring a greater test coverage means adopting test automation in a big way. This helps the team to focus on tasks such as preparing automated test cases, simulating variables and analysing test reports. Since testing would be both for the functional and non-functional aspects, test automation becomes the best approach.

#7. Security of applications: Even though software technology is making our daily tasks convenient, easy, fast and glitch free, the spectre of security breach looms large. With security becoming the single most challenge facing testers and developers in 2019 and the foreseeable future, the DevOpstesting methodology should include security in the form of DevSecOps.

Conclusion

Testing software has become the sine qua non for businesses to deliver glitch free applications and ensure better test coverage and a faster time to market. The year 2019 will see businesses adopt new testing methodologies to stay ahead in the competition and achieve great customer experience.

Diya works for Cigniti Technologies, which is the world’s first Independent Software Testing Company to be appraised at CMMI-SVC v1.3, Maturity Level 5, and is also ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 27001:2013 certified.