Trends shaping the Software Testing Industry

Samrat, in your opinion, which are the most important trends shaping the Software Testing Industry, nowadays??

In my view, the software testing landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift driven by several cutting-edge innovations?happening around us. Some of the key trends where I can imagine increased traction in the foreseeable future are?IoT,?testing on the cloud?(use of cloud native testing apps in addition to the traditional tools), increased focus on?security and?penetration testing, testing to enable?delivering more predictable and delightful customer experiences viz the?MxDP?(Multi experience development is all about engineering applications to provide a consistent experience to customers?irrespective of the various touchpoints/delivery channels/devices?involved). We have already seen increased emphasis on?leveraging?data science and AI/ML?for building future ready testing insights over the past years which will continue to become?more prominent. AI/ML based innovative solutions will play a pivotal role in building actionable insights around testing which?will drive value for the customers and further push testing to a more bespoke/specialized paradigm.?Blockchain?is another?area where I see a lot of promise in the coming years.?

What changes do you see in the Insurance and Financial Services industries stemming from these trends??

With cloud solutions attaining a certain level of maturity with myths and apprehensions around security on the cloud getting?addressed, changing customer behaviour and consumption patterns driving a rapid digital transformation, increase in the?number of internet enabled devices increasing the need to?come up with?solutions catering to that scale of devices. These?trends are going to shape the way the software development, testing and deliveries will happen in these industries in future. In?the times to come, businesses will compete on the frontiers of excellent and seamless customer experiences.?

When it comes to automation, which implications do you see for the near feature??

Today’s primary focus is customer experience and superlative quality.?In order to?achieve improved customer experience,?automation should be enabled at all layers like UI/UX, Infrastructure, API, data,?cloud deployment, performance?i.e.?encompassing?all of?the factors. The need to enable ubiquitous and consistent customer experiences through omnichannel?platforms requires large expanse of touchpoints to be validated in a relatively shorter time with predictable outcomes which?can only be achieved through scalable automated solutions.?

Which are the main requirements for a career in the software testing area and how have these changed over time??

With changing customer preferences, consumption patterns, there is a need to reimagine the way we have seen QA?conventionally. With increasing penetration of Agile,?DevTestSecOPS, Cloud, I see a massive shift in the career paths,?upskilling and knowledge management through something I call the CST (Continuous Skill Training). The roles and work?profiles also need to be transformed to keep up with today's requirements, which implies rather than confining skills or roles?within the remits of functional, performance, automation, etc. we need to look at roles viz full stack quality specialists (FSQS)?with prime focus on delivering brilliant CX.?

Now, with specialists on board, need for a comprehensive career and competency framework needs to be curated. In house?we have this as a well-oiled machinery constantly training / skilling colleagues within the Global Test Factory of Allianz Technology .?-?Samrat Sarkar.

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