Dedicated to Testing Excellence TMF Forum October 2008 Future of Testing In Turbulent Times.

Dedicated to Testing Excellence

TMF Forum October 2008

Future of TestingIn Turbulent Times

(c) Copyright 2008 Aqastra 2

Topics

• How are we each being affected?• Where are the affects being felt?• Does industry sector make a

difference?• Does size matter?• How can we best position ourselves?– Top 3 concerns– Top 3 priorities–Where’s the “smart” money going


Setting the context

• View of Future Trends before Credit Crunch

• What market conditions will we face• Share views and experiences


Test Management Survey ‘Current State’ (uktmf.com)• 2/3rd of testers are in-house employees• Of the rest, 10% contractors, 10% offshore, 10%

onshore – 10% overall managed services• Top 3 concerns: Automation, Test Design and Test

Process Adequacy• Methods: 68% structured, 13% agile, 17%

informal• Design: 20% always use basic techniques, <5%

use formal techniques• Roles: 75% career tester, rest have other roles

too• Certification: 53% Foundation, 7.5% Advanced


Summary of What we can expect (taken from Paul’s latest futures pitch)• Steady progress towards better developer test,

outsourced system test and specialised acceptance• Consolidation, more open source in the tools market• Whole-process, collaborative testing tools• Virtualisation will become pervasive• Training and certification becoming more practical• Testing becoming more business focused• Testing community will expand and mature• Greater use of Crowd Sourcing?• Outsourcing will continue and stabilise• Interesting times for testers!


The Seven Dimensions of TestingThink about these during our

discussion• Attitudes• Process and Techniques• Improvement• Tools• Certification and Training• Outsourcing• People, skills and the job market


What’s happening “out there”?• Recession is upon us– Short and shallow, Short and deep?– Long and shallow, Long and deep?

• Emerging economies are reducing manufacturing but may be better placed to continue growth and counter global market reduction– China, India, Brazil, and Russia on particular

• Recent Government meeting showed no sign of investment slow down or reduction

• Business focus– value for money, short ROI and differentiators


So, how are you being affected?• Slow down• Speed up• Change approach• Stop!


Where are affects being felt?• Attitude to testing value• Process and techniques

improvements• Tools• Certification/training• Outsourcing/near-shoring• People skills• Job market


Does industry sector make a difference?• Finance• Retail• IT Services• Telecoms• Government• Utilities• Transport• Other


Does size matter?• Small niche players

– Can react quickly but are they commercially strong enough

• Large service/integration firms– Maybe the first to get contracts reduced as they

are typically the largest cost• Risk adverse

– Will behaviour change, will chasing revenue be the key driver, will “safe” organisations just fall behind

• Early adopters – First into a new market can bring big rewards, but

is there the capital investment around to support this


How can we position ourselves• What are our top 3 concerns now?• What are out top 3 priorities for

recession period?• Where’s the “smart” money going?

Dedicated to Testing Excellence TMF Forum October 2008 Future of Testing In Turbulent Times.

Documents

Transcript of Dedicated to Testing Excellence TMF Forum October 2008 Future of Testing In Turbulent Times.