The software testing of the future moves toward testing in production. Systems increasingly adapt on their own to networked, volatile environments, and static test scenarios in the lab can keep up with that less and less. Simulation and product certification, so far rather niche concepts, become starting points for new approaches.
Dr. Armin Metzger has more than 25 years of experience in software development and testing, gained in industrial and research projects and on international committees. Since 2018 he has been Managing Director of the German Testing Board e.V. (GTB).
What Challenges Will Software Testing Face in the Future?
We have always been used to changing technology platforms. We will handle that well as long as we keep up. I see bigger challenges in our growing dependence on software and in how deeply it now reaches into everyday life. That shifts the priorities among the quality characteristics we need to test. Just think of usability and IT security, which still often get too little attention. On top of that, the agile transformation is turning testing from an independent function with its own organizational units into an integral task of the development teams.
What Ideas or Solutions Could Address These Challenges?
Of course, testing methods will improve along with technology, and new techniques will emerge. Above all, though, given these challenges, we need to raise awareness of quality as a key factor in project and product success, and with it the acceptance of testing and the support it gets from management. And we have to make sure that the expertise needed for professional, systematic testing is fully available in the organization and that the right people are in the right places for the process model in use.
What Will Future Testing Look Like? Simulation and Testing in Production
We are developing for application environments that are increasingly networked and volatile. As a result, systems will more and more have to adapt to that volatile environment on their own. The static, deterministic test scenario in the lab will be less and less suited to this. Concepts such as simulation or product certification, which so far have been used only on the margins or in certain industries, are starting points for possible (additional) solutions, and quality assurance has to extend into the production environment. Non-functional quality characteristics such as IT security will become more important, and ethical questions need to be considered as well.
How Can Testers and Test Managers Prepare Today?
The measures follow from the challenges. The goal is to keep establishing testing, in agile teams and in management, as a prerequisite for project success. Marketing for testing itself, in other words. And especially in agile teams, the skills this takes need to be strengthened and improved, or in some cases built from scratch. Acceptance, budgets and skills have tended to get worse in recent years, as the Software Testing Survey 2020 and the World Quality Report 2020-21 show, among others. Build a strong culture around a quality assurance community. And train your teams as the technical and process requirements change. Not entirely without self-interest, I would of course point to the globally established standard scheme for testing training here: the ISTQB Certified Tester.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which quality characteristics are often overlooked during testing?
According to this assessment, usability and security still receive too little attention. The reason lies in our growing dependence on software and its pervasive presence in everyday life: The more people use a system on a daily basis, the more the priorities for the quality characteristics to be tested shift away from purely functional aspects toward non-functional ones.
Is the agile transformation changing the organizational role of testing?
Yes. Testing is evolving from an independent, autonomous function with its own organizational units into an integral task of the development teams. This also shifts the focus to the question of competencies: The expertise required for professional and systematic testing must be fully available within the organization and appropriately distributed among personnel according to the respective process model.
Is it enough to further develop testing methods from a technical standpoint?
No. New techniques emerge naturally with technological development, but they do not solve the underlying problem. What is also needed is an awareness of quality as a key factor for project and product success, so that testing gains acceptance and management support. Without this backing, the prerequisites for using methods effectively are lacking.
Why is laboratory testing losing its significance?
Application environments are becoming increasingly networked and volatile, and systems must adapt to these environments autonomously. A static, deterministic test scenario in the laboratory is increasingly unable to simulate such behavior. The result: Quality assurance must extend into the production environment rather than being completed before rollout.
What role can simulation and product certification play in testing?
Both concepts have so far been used only marginally or in specific industries. They serve as starting points for additional approaches when systems operate in volatile, interconnected environments and traditional lab scenarios are no longer sufficient. In addition, ethical considerations must be taken into account alongside non-functional characteristics such as security.
Have budgets and acceptance for software testing improved?
No, on the contrary. Acceptance, budgets, and skills had actually deteriorated in the years leading up to 2022. The article cited the 2020 Software Testing Survey and the World Quality Report 2020-21 as evidence. This leads to the recommendation to continuously further establish testing as a prerequisite for project success in agile teams and among management, in other words, to promote testing itself.
How can testing expertise be built up in agile teams?
Through three approaches: specifically strengthening, improving, or initially developing the necessary skills; establishing a strong culture within a quality assurance community; and training teams to adapt to changes in technical and process requirements. The article cited the ISTQB Certified Tester as a globally established standard framework for testing training in 2022.
