Software testing and quality Assurance services are fundamental to software development services. The software testing should be integrated from the initial phases of software development. This helps in overcoming challenges and bottlenecks that otherwise affect the quality of the product.
Software development companies should integrate quality assurance and testing for products in the developing phase. This will save them from paying the high costs required to fix bugs or errors in the software.
However, QA and testing have witnessed a big shift and moved beyond simply doing manual software testing. Now, quality assurance software testing services have become more detailed. As in, quality assurance testing company needs to focus on modern scenarios and new-age devices.
The new-age devices encompass various AI-enabled products such as bots and wearables. These devices help testers to work along with upcoming quality assurance and testing trends.
Let’s see the top statistics and current trends in software testing & QA services to understand the impact of these services on businesses in 2023 and beyond.
Top Software Testing & QA Statistics
- Revenue in the Software market is projected to reach USD 659.00 Billion in 2023.
- The software testing market is further looking at a projected CAGR growth of 7% as per the report by Global Marketing Insights. This is due to the higher integration of artificial intelligence during the years between 2021 and 2027.
- With respect to BFSI applications, the software testing market is expected to cross USD 20.00 Billion by 2032.
- With the usage of mobile-based applications, the market size of software testing held a valuation of around USD 45.00 Billion in 2022 and is slated to witness around 5% CAGR from 2023 to 2032.
- For data security and product safety purposes, the application testing segment records an estimation of more than USD 50.00 Billion by 2032.
As businesses continue to enfold digital transformation, the demand for software testing & QA services is increasing every now and then.
To stay competitive in the market, you must keep an eye on the upcoming software testing and quality assurance trends.
Software Testing amp; Quality Assurance Trends
Below are the latest software testing and quality assurance trends, which are shaping the future of quality assurance testing company offering software testing & QA services.
AI-ML Enabled QA and Testing Services:
AI and ML technologies have marked a notable changeover in software testing and QA services. AI-enabled quality assurance and testing harnesses the power of automation and intelligent algorithms. This helps enhance test coverage, efficiency, and accuracy.
According to Gartner,?40% of large enterprises?will use AI-augmented automation to improve productivity by the end of 2023.
- Test Automation with Artificial Intelligence: Traditional test automation has been a staple of software testing for years. However, AI takes automation to the next level by enabling predictive test case generation, self-healing test scripts, and autonomous test execution. AI algorithms can analyze historical test data and identify patterns. Later, this helps testers focus on high-risk areas and reduce the maintenance overhead of test scripts.
- Intelligent Test Data Management: Test data management is critical for effective testing. AI-driven solutions can generate realistic test data, anonymize sensitive information, and optimize data provisioning. This eases the tasks of software testers to create and manage test environments.
- Predictive Analytics: Predictive analytics leverages artificial intelligence to forecast potential defects and performance bottlenecks. By analyzing historical data during quality assurance testing services, AI can find out areas that are likely to cause issues in the future. This helps enable proactive reduction and risk management.
- Chatbots for Test Execution: AI-powered chatbots can execute test cases, record results, and also, perform exploratory testing. They are particularly beneficial for repetitive and time-consuming tasks. This frees up software testers to focus on more creative and complex testing activities.
Shift-Left Testing:
Shift-left testing is a trend that highlights the integration of testing activities earlier in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). By doing so, organizations can identify and address issues at an earlier stage. This reduces the cost and effort required for bug fixes later in the development process.
- DevOps & Continuous Testing: The adoption of DevOps services has led to a natural alignment with shift-left testing. Continuous testing is a core component of DevOps. In this approach, all testing activities are seamlessly integrated into the CI/CD pipeline. Automated tests need to execute whenever the software tester makes any code changes. Besides, the software test must ensure that they have found all the defects in the software and also, give this feedback to software developers.
- Test-Driven Development (TDD): Test-Driven Development is a development approach where tests are written before the actual code. This helps in defining clear requirements and expectations for the software, which leads to more robust and reliable code. TDD inspires a value of quality from the very beginning of the development process.
- Behavior-Driven Development (BDD): Behavior-Driven Development extends the shift-left philosophy by focusing on the behavior of the software from the user’s perspective. BDD uses natural language specifications that can be understood by both technical and non-technical team members. This approach raises better collaboration between development and testing teams. In addition to this, it takes care that the software product must meet the expectations of users.
- Early Test Environment Provisioning: To enable shift-left testing, it’s crucial to have test environments available early in the development process. Containerization and cloud-based infrastructure have made it easier to provision test environments on demand. Hence, it allows for more comprehensive testing throughout the SDLC.
Test Automation at Scale:
Test automation has been a crucial need for software quality assurance for years. But, its role continues to evolve with new tools and techniques that enable automation at scale.
- Codeless Test Automation: Codeless test automation tools are gaining popularity because they allow testers with limited programming knowledge to create and execute automated tests. These tools use intuitive graphical interfaces, making test automation more accessible to a broader range of team members.
- Test Orchestration and Management: As the number of automated tests grows, managing and orchestrating them becomes a challenge. Test orchestration tools help schedule, execute, and monitor test runs across different platforms and environments. Also, they integrate with CI/CD pipelines and make sure that automated tests are seamlessly integrated into the development process.
- Cross-Browser and Cross-Platform Testing: With the spread of devices and browsers, cross-browser and cross-platform testing is essential to ensure a consistent user experience. Automation tools that support parallel testing across various configurations are quite commonly used for these types of testing.
- Test Data Automation: Test data management is a critical aspect of test automation. Automated solutions that help in generating, maintaining, and refreshing test data are on the rise. Thus, it reduces the manual effort required for test data setup and maintenance.
TestOps amp; Quality Engineering:
The concept of TestOps and Quality Engineering has gained momentum as organizations seek to align quality assurance and testing practices more closely with overall business objectives.
- TestOps: TestOps is a cultural and process-oriented approach that emphasizes collaboration between development, testing, and operations teams. It aims to streamline testing processes, automate repetitive tasks, and promote a shared responsibility for quality across the organization.
- Quality Engineering: Quality Engineering goes beyond traditional QA by focusing on the end-to-end quality of the software product. It involves continuous monitoring and improvement of the entire software development process, from requirements to deployment and beyond. Quality engineers work alongside developers to ensure that quality is built into every phase of the SDLC.
- Quality Metrics & Analytics: Quality assurance testing company should rely on quality metrics and analytics to measure and improve software quality. These metrics are good enough to give meaningful insights about the testing efforts, their impact on the business, and the overall quality of the product. Later, quality dashboards and reporting tools help teams make data-driven decisions to improve software quality.
- Test Environments as Code: Treating test environments as code means defining and provisioning test environments using code and infrastructure-as-code (IAC) principles. This approach ensures consistency and repeatability in test environments, reducing the likelihood of environment-related issues.
Cybersecurity Testing:
As cyber threats continue to evolve, cybersecurity testing becomes a critical aspect of software testing and QA services. Ensuring the security of software applications is paramount to protect user data and maintain trust.
- Vulnerability Scanning & Penetration Testing: Automated vulnerability scanning tools and manual penetration testing can find security vulnerabilities in software. Organizations are integrating these tests into their CI/CD pipelines to catch vulnerabilities early. Also, this helps reduce security risks and minimize the potential impact of security breaches.
- Security Testing Tools: Organizations are increasingly adopting security testing tools such as static and dynamic application security testing (SAST and DAST), to enhance their security posture. These tools analyze code and application behavior to detect vulnerabilities and potential threats.
- Compliance Testing: Regulatory compliance, such as GDPR and HIPAA, imposes strict requirements on the security and privacy of software applications. Compliance testing ensures that software meets these legal and regulatory standards, protecting both the organization and its users.
- Security Champions: Some organizations appoint security champions within development and testing teams. These champions possess expertise in cybersecurity and can define security best practices, conduct security reviews, and guide teams to address security concerns. Further, this trend promotes a proactive approach to security within the development and testing processes.
Test Automation for Mobile and IoT:
The most recent generation of IoT and mobile devices comes with certain challenges for quality assurance testing services.
- IoT Testing: IoT devices have unique testing requirements due to their diverse hardware, communication protocols, and complex ecosystems. IoT testing involves validating device functionality, compatibility, security, and scalability. Test automation for IoT addresses these challenges and ensures the reliability of IoT solutions too.
- Mobile Test Automation: Mobile test automation tools and frameworks are evolving to support a wide range of mobile platforms and devices. Such tools help to do mobile app testing on different OS, screen sizes, and device configurations. This is why, automation tools that facilitate mobile testing across diverse environments are in great demand.
Furthermore, the future of software testing and QA services is impactful for companies who want to innovate themselves in this dynamic environment.
To Sum Up!
Staying up-to-date on the latest software testing and quality assurance trends is important for a quality assurance testing company. It helps deliver high-quality software products that cater to the entire needs of the software development and testing paradigm.
By following the emerging technologies and methodologies of software testing & QA services, businesses can enhance software quality, accelerate development cycles, and ultimately deliver pleasing user experiences.
Leading software development companies evaluate these trends and then determine how they can integrate these trends into their quality assurance and testing practices and processes.
