The future of software testing

Not very long ago, testing was not even considered as a separate discipline in software development. One global trend in this era is the increasing qualitative growth. The focus along with production of more products is also on the production of better products. The importance of testing will be increasing remarkably from 2020. This is attributed to the increasing operational risks, increasing connectivity and data fluctuation. The software will become a stronger link between the larger parts of the economic system. Hence systematic and permanent testing will be indispensable for secured functional and operational reliability. 

Data protection and security against potential cyber attacks are more important than ever. Hence. 2020 will see an overwhelming demand in security tests. Network and data security testing service will no longer be separated from the quality assurance catalog. Along with the increase in extensive testing services, the number of testers in the Quality Assurance(QA) sector will also increase at a rapid rate. With the increasing variation in testing types, methods and tools, the requirement of specialized testers will rise.

Testing mechanisms such as crowd based testing and classical testing automation are only partially capable of coping up with the growing test needs. Hence, automation testing is sure to grow with standards predefined for testing tools.  The shift in software development methodology  will possibly create a wide space for specialized testing in the testing sector.

The greatest area of concern, digital security, is eventually getting out of control, despite all the preventive measures taken by the state and the private industry. This situation will eventually escalate with the knowledge of new mathematical methods which will allow to break complex cryptographic encryption. Hence, security testing is looking forward to a substantial boom. This has made the security testing companies the targets of cyber attacks for picking up the know hows. The volume of data in the cloud has made it an important target of cyber attacks.

With all the economic and social development depending completely on the reliability and the security of the software used, the testing sector is set to record an unparalleled boom. Technical systems will be increasingly equipped with Artificial Intelligence. The software test tools keeping pace with this development will also be equipped with AI.

Conclusion

The technosphere of the future is practically inconceivable at this point of time. Terms like network and connectivity will be inadequate to define the state of development.  Predicting the future of testing completely depends on where technology stands at that time. The logic of the built out process of technology will mainly impact the test methods. Hence, to be able to foresee the testing methods, we first need to understand where technology will end up in the near future.

An Introduction to Software Testing as a Service(TaaS)

Initially, testing has been just another service provided by a software development company. But the shift in market demands revised the business models and placed testing and QA into the on-demand category. TaaS or Software Testing as a Service is basically an outsourcing concept where testing activities are outsourced to firms who specialize in simulating real world test environments as per project requirements. It thus compartmentalizes the development and maintenance phase of a project. This has provided an advantage to the client to pay for what they need and recurring them as required. 

Applications, now a days, have become more complex with complex business processes which call more more complex testing methodologies for software quality assurance without affecting the return on investment . Though automated testing tools are a solution to this, but the investment and skills required to implement it is most of the time unaffordable for some companies. Thus, TaaS solutions are a better bid to overcome these obstacles. It’s a best solution for all types of testing. 

Types of Software Testing as a Service(TaaS)

-      Functional / FTaaS: This includes graphical user interface, regression, integration and user acceptance testing. 

-      Performance / PTaaS: Load and Stress testing is performed by creating virtual users to simulate a real world user environment.

-      Security / STaaS: The applications are scanned for security loop holes and vulnerabilities.

Features of TaaS

-      It is an independent portal which runs an application for functional and performance tests.

-      It has a test library will complete security controls and saves all the test assets available to the end users.

-      It detects potential performance bottlenecks in the system through load and stress testing.

-      Its metering capabilities track the services used by the clients and charges them accordingly.

-      It has an on-demand availability of highly functional test labs which have the ability to deploy complex software applications, execute test scripts and run test tools.

-      The use of cloud resource pools further maximizes the hardware utilization levels.

An explicit TaaS solution may not be suitable for all kinds of applications as it involves engaging skilled and expensive consultants or sometimes just outsourcing the entire testing phase to a firm. It is most suitable under the following circumstances -  

-      An extensive simulation of real time environment is required.

-      Requirement of expertise and availability of automated testing tools. 

  

-      Requirement of extensive resources for irregular testing.

Conclusion:

With TaaS, a consumption based pay model, there is both less amount of risk and investment for the business organization. This model functions independently and involves less collaboration of the employees and the consultants. Approaching an Independent Software Tesitng company for quality assured products. Regardless of the outsourced work, testing should also be a mandatory consideration while the project is under development.

Fundamental difference between Quality Assurance and Software Testing

The overall objective of both Quality Assurance and Software Testing is Software Quality. However, the fundamental difference between testing and quality assurance is stated as follows:

Quality assurance defines the appropriate activities that ensure quality is built into the product. It is a set of activities which are followed methodically to ensure that the development and maintenance processes are adequate to meet the objectives of the system efficiently. QA reviews the different elements of a project.

Testing is performed after the entire product is built. It is a process of executing the system with the intent of finding errors and system vulnerabilities. It also includes test planning before test execution.

Another term usually confused with this context of discussion is Quality Control. It is a set of activities which are defined to ensure whether  the developed software meets the customer requirements. Testing is considered to be a part of Quality Control. However, not all the activities in QC are testing. Hence, we can say that testing is an activity under QC.

The final objective of Quality Assurance is to provide assurance of the product quality. It consists of activities which usually precede the development stage of the product and continue throughout the development process. QA focuses on prevention of defects, processes and continued improvements of these processes.

There can be a confusion as to who is responsible for QA and who is responsible for Testing. This decision usually will differ as per the organization, its resources and development methodology under practice. 

Matured organizations implement a segregated Quality Assurance and Testing practice.

As the two concepts differ, so do the responsibilities associated with each of them.

Testing teams document test reviews, plan test, analyze and design tests, verify and validate tests and test the reporting through various test levels.

The QA team on the other hand performs the following functions:

• Implements standards and policies for quality
• Prepares the project quality solutions
• Ensures that the software processes conform to quality plans
• Conducts regular process and product audits and presents the assessment report to the senior team.
• Assures quality throughout the software development lifecycle

As far as the project documentation is considered, the test team prepares the test documents and plans based on business requirements and design documents. Test documentations cover test processes, test approach, detailed schedules of test, environment requirement, test management and reporting. The QA documentation deals with an extended set of activities. It covers project development methodologies, acceptance criteria, audit processes, configuration management and quality policies.

Conclusion

Understanding the differences in responsibilities between the quality assurance and testing team helps to appreciate the activities performed by each. For a successful project delivery, the QA team needs to be different than the other project development and delivery team. QA and Testing teams can reside in the same team for smaller organizations, however, they need to be separated as much as possible to avoid conflicts of interests.