Feature

Independent testing coming of age?

Many had never imagined that testing software could be a specialisation which would offer a promising career for individuals and a lucrative business for companies. However, testing represents both and more. It is highly likely that colleges and universities will roll out degree programmes on software testing soon.

Independent third-party testing brings objectivity, rigour and transparency to the testing and defect-reporting process. The users understand that it restores proper priority to testing as there is a chance of the testing getting compromised when development companies try to cut costs or make up for development time overruns by cutting down on testing schedules. Independent testing also provides checks and balances against the development vendor by being the 'eyes and ears'

of the user, and hence 'owning' the requirements. It enhances user buy-in on both developed software applications as well as on products. This means faster marketability with users.

Domain focus: In India, leading players like RelQ, Thinksoft, Mercury, Maveric, ReadyTestGo and others have become convinced about the need to focus on domains and build exclusive strengths on them.

Though business-wise some of them may have only end-users as their customer base, others get a major portion of their business from the developers. Either way, their domain expertise is what justifies their existence as testing firms.

Long-term domain exposure and deep subject-matter expertise ensures that gaps in the business requirement (BR) / functional specification (FS) / system design are identified and flagged off early on in the project; normal testing can rarely identify BR / FS defects. Domain focus combined with testing expertise ensures comprehensive test coverage and traceability: this means business requirements assurance.

Otherwise, testing itself is a core competency both users and developers would love to acquire. Test methodologies reflects 'best practices' in testing arising out of hundreds of person-years of successful testing projects. Standardised test methodologies and testing tools ensure accrual of the benefits of conscious test-ware re-use and comprehensive test and change documentation. Besides, multiple test skills arising out of cross-trained test teams and knowledge are leveraged from projects on multiple platforms / systems / types of testing. Importantly, specialist test vendors can deploy additional resources at short notice if required, and execute test planning in parallel to development. It compresses total project time without compromising delivery quality, and enables faster time to market. Currently, testing firms depend on orders from medium-sized software companies. The industry is yet to witness the IBMs and Microsofts of the world outsourcing the testing component of their projects to independent testing firms. One possible reason for this do-it-yourself philosophy is that large firms are worried about the risks pertaining to things like security.

However, whether the biggies are in or not, the pie is already too large. The global testing market for BFSI alone is around $7.5 billion, but the total value of independent testing that is done in India is less than $200 million. Given the gap, the industry has been witnessing 30 percent annual growth, which could be sustained for a long time to come.