New World Quality Report underscores need for intelligent test automation and smart analytics
Testing teams are challenged by a decrease in annual testing budgets and an increase in agile and DevOps methodologies, according to the 2017-18 World Quality Report published by technology consulting firm Capgemini and MicroFocus. To better support testing, companies will need to look to intelligent test automation and smart analytics, according to the report.
The survey included the responses of 1,660 CIOs and senior technology professionals, including those in the telcos sector, across 32 countries. The survey found 41% of executive management saw the main goal of quality assurance (QA) and testing is to improve the quality of software or a product, followed by ensuring end-user satisfaction at 34% and implementing quality checks early in the lifecycle at 30%. Interestingly, detecting software defects before they go live was listed as less important from years past due to a new emphasis on defect prevention.
The report also found test environments and test data continue to be a weakness for QA and testing. Approximately 48% of respondents reported having issues managing the increased demand for test environments, and 47% reported having issues with visibility on utilization and upcoming demand for test environments. Moreover, 56% of respondents reported having issues with managing the size of test data sets; 52% with creating and maintaining test data; and 50% with complying with test data regulations.
The rise of agile and DevOps is also presenting challenges for QA and testing teams, according to the report. Exactly 99% of respondents reported facing some sort of problem with testing in agile development. In addition, an estimated 46% cited a lack of data and environments as the most pressing challenge, an increase from 43% from the year before.
Another issue facing testing teams the report identified was a decrease in the proportion of IT spending for QA and testing, consecutively falling from 35% in 2015, to 31% in 2016 to 26% in 2017. However, the report noted IT budgets dedicated to testing are expected to increase to 32% by 2020 due to demand for testing in digital transformation, mobile applications and the internet of things (IoT).
The report encouraged companies to increase the level of smart test automation to meet increased demand for testing from digital transformation. In addition, the authors recommended organizations build workforce transformation programs to support the task of re-aligning the workforce to follow an agile and DevOps model of operation. They also underscored the need to invest in smart test and QA platforms, in addition to defining a test platform and QA analytics strategy on an enterprise level.
“This year’s World Quality Report demonstrates that testing teams are coming of age, but facing new challenges with the shift to agile applications,” said Member of the Group Executive Committee at Capgemini Hans van Waayenburg.
“Digital transformation provides a huge opportunity for growth, but organizations must be proactive in breaking down silos between business, development, quality and operations, while using agile and DevOps to focus on customer value and business relevance. To retain a competitive edge, quality assurance and test organizations must move towards test ecosystem automation, predictive analytics and intelligence-led quality assurance and testing, for better business outcomes.”
