Articles

So far we talked about different trends in the Software Testing field that are already affecting it and calling for changes. Now we will be turning to what those changes would mean for the QA profession.

The importance of security is also on the rise. With the rapid development of AI and big data, there is concern regarding security breaches, so security testing is important. Today, websites have access to social network credentials and confidential information like home address, credit card data, personal messages, etc.

Apart from automation, we also see the supposed rapid growth of machine learning and AI techniques. They have been applied to software development to improve the productivity of the project teams and the quality of the software.

As we have already shared with you, the technical complexity of software systems increases every year. For example, what used to be a simple web app is now often a highly complex system working with hundreds of web services, mobile devices and more.

As software evolves with each decade and more precisely, each year, it is clear that it inevitably becomes more and more complicated and sophisticated. That leads to more challenges both in creating the software and in testing it.

There is a common misunderstanding though, that bringing the ideas, practices and methods of the DevOps in the organization means that the QAs will need to find a new job. Maybe DevOps doesn’t mandate or require independent test teams to be present in the organization...

Know your history, so you don’t repeat the same mistakes – this is also valid when discussing major software failures. We hope looking back at the 20th Century’s most prominent bugs and what they led to might make us even more meticulous when developing and testing software.

As we already outlined how bugs are created in the previous part of our story, it’s now time to look at the positive side – software failure is not always the norm. Bugs can be avoided, and there are ways to do that. All successful software projects seem to have something in common...

Knowing the categorization of the critical software upon which our lives often depend, it is also very important for us to closely know the approaches by which software failures may be explained. So, we made a thorough study and we agree that the approaches are mainly two...

It is quite difficult to begin an article like this and we truly had a hard time finding the best approach. So, we decided that the picture above of the first documented computer bug that was detected and described in 1947, might serve as well.

The ultimate sign that there is something really not good going on with your testing is the turnover of the test specialists at your company. If your software testers continue to quit the job, that is not only because the employer is a lousy one.

Always listen to your employees if they are raising legitimate issues or notice problems that you were unable to see. The value of a good tester partially lies in comprehending the project they are working on and their understanding of the values of a well – tested application, etc.

Well, it may seem strange and yet, there are projects where after each build of the product the number of bugs encountered continues to grow. If that happens to you, do not just continue the testing. There is a high probability that the number of bugs you are going to find in the next and the next build will continue to grow.

The bugs in production are usually the reason to have the culture of “us and them” between the developers and the testers, because when bugs in production are found the first question usually asked is “was the testing effort sufficient?” That may sound a bit crazy, but still happens in some organizations.

You and your team give the best of you to thoroughly test a software product and suddenly, in the end, when it goes live, and you believe that everything will be perfect, your expectations of great quality are actually not met? The product that is now live turns out to be a great failure, rather than a success.

To succeed in the outsourcing industry, it is very important indeed to be always ahead with the trends and be ready to meet the changes and cope with the challenges you face every single day. What should you pay attention to in the next few years when it comes to outsourcing, especially in the IT field?

While most companies across the industry verticals swear by the advantages of the outsourcing, the debate about it still continues over its long – term sustainability. Outsourcing opponents argue that the flip side of it includes lack of quality control, lack of hold on the project management, and lower prospects of innovation.

The dark statistics show that 50% of the outsourced projects either fail outright or just fail to meet the expectations. 76% of the companies reported issues with the management effort on behalf of the vendor and hidden costs. 30% reported communication problems within the vendor and 51% were unhappy with the performance. All in all, the cost savings amount to 26% - only 26%.

Often seen as bad, we also have to admit that the legacy of the Soviet Union has a plus – the educational system then and still now is focused on the engineering specialties. After all, the salaries are quite competitive and there is a low cost of living, especially when not outsourcing to the capitals, compared to Western Europe.

Being aware of the top cities over the world known as outsourcing centers, bearing in mind that there is a difference between the preferred countries to outsource and the top cities of outsourcing. The five most preferred countries for outsourcing may surprise you, but they do have definite advantages.

What can be identified as a major benefit of the outsourcing in general is that the right outsourcing provider can introduce successful services, different approaches, higher revenues, unparalleled experience and streamlined operations. However, the process of identifying a partner like this is definitely not an easy task.

To understand the concept of the outsourcing in the best way there is, it is very important that everyone is aware of its meaning and history. Outsourcing could be described as delegating the company’s day to day business processes and operations to an external company. Usually, it is done to achieve better quality at a lower cost.

It will not be misleading to say that the acceptance testing phase is not the preferred one to be outsourced as the managers are quite reluctant to lose control and more to that, they strongly believe that the internal team has a better understanding both of the system and of the requirements of the end user.

Well, the primary approach to Acceptance testing is a big different and that can easily be seen on the pie chart. It is usually done by the QA team or the BA team when it is not skipped or shortened. Quite often, it is not very clear how to set the boundary or the level of the user involvement in it. So, the pie chart show to us:

There are different types of acceptance testing that should be performed under different circumstances and regulations. For example, the most well – known is the user acceptance testing where the criteria for “done” are usually created by business customers and expressed in a business domain language.

It is a well – known truth that bugs are easy to be fixed at an early stage – not only the bug does not affect the integrated system, but the time and resources – both human resources and financial resources are a lot less compared to fixing a bug later on in the development of the project. Imagine, you find a severe bug in the acceptance testing phase – what are you supposed to do?

If you have just started your own business and your great innovative idea is about to come to life. You've pitched, raised funding and developed, and now you're ready for prime time. Maybe your team consists of less than ten people performing the duties of at least twenty professionals. And a half of them are likely developers.