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KPMG’s Software Testing Market and Insights Report

This week I spotted that KPMG had published their insights into the Software Testing Market so I decided to look it over.

You can read the report for yourself by registering on KPMG’s website, but I’ve shared a few of my observations below.

Growing Demand for Software Testing in the UK

The report mentions that the UK software testing market has shown rapid growth, outpacing the overall technology sector. The market for software testing grew to £1.1 billion in 2023, with job listings for software testers almost doubling since 2022. This increase is primarily driven by the expansion of digital transformation efforts, especially in areas like cloud migration, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).

Sectors like financial services, media, and telecommunications are the main contributors to this demand. Financial institutions, in particular, rely heavily on robust testing services due to the complexity and security concerns in handling sensitive data.

Key Trends in Software Testing

The report identifies several major trends that are shaping the future of software testing, both globally and in the UK. Understanding and staying on top of these trends is essential for testers who wish to stay ahead in their careers:

AI and ML-Driven Testing: AI and ML are revolutionising software testing by automating test case generation, reducing human errors, and speeding up the testing process. The report claims that these technologies are critical for large-scale operations, allowing companies to detect and resolve issues faster. I agree that there is a place for this but we need to balance the productivity gains with our desire to be more sustainable. I’d argue that we always need to question our use of AI and balance the pros in efficiency against the potential downsides.
Codeless Testing Tools: The report mentions tools like Tricentis TOSCA and Test.ai that are making it easier to perform testing without writing extensive code, saving time and effort. Codeless testing is clearly an area of potential growth. Since the report was written I’ve seen impressive demos from blinq.io and Applitools (Autonomous) demonstrating that these capabilities are almost ready for mainstream adoption. This has the potential to reduce the reliance of software engineering skills in testers, placing test tools in the hands of domain (business) experts rather than pure quality engineers.
DevOps and Agile Testing: The integration of quality assurance within Agile and DevOps teams has become a staple. The report mentions that Tools and frameworks like QAOps, which blend quality assurance with DevOps practices, are critical for automating and streamlining software testing processes.
Security and Cybersecurity Testing: With the rising frequency of cyber threats, the need for robust security testing has never been more critical. As UK companies continue to face cybersecurity breaches, demand for testers with expertise in security testing will increase.
Generative AI: One of the most transformative trends, Generative AI, is expected to automate many repetitive testing tasks, further improving software quality and reducing time to market. I can see huge potential in this, after my recent experience working to produce a documentation “helper” for quality engineers using LLMs to advise on document quality.

Career Takeaways for UK Testers

Given these trends, there are several key areas that UK testers should focus on to advance their careers:

Upskill in AI and ML Technologies: With AI and ML becoming central to automated testing, testers should seek out certifications or training in these areas to remain relevant in the job market.
Master Codeless Testing Tools: Becoming proficient with tools like Tricentis TOSCA Copilot, Test.ai, Applitools Autonomous, Blinq.io or similar tools has the potential to help testers save time and improve efficiency in their workflows.
Security Testing Expertise: Cybersecurity testing is a growing field. Gaining certifications in security testing or familiarising yourself with industry standards will help to position you as an asset to companies facing new and evolving cyber threats.
Get Comfortable with DevOps and Agile: Understanding how to integrate testing into DevOps and Agile processes is essential for modern software development environments. Investing time in learning QAOps techniques will help you to work within integrated engineering teams.

Conclusion

Software testing is evolving rapidly, with AI, increased automation and cybersecurity at the forefront. Testers who focus on these emerging areas and stay informed about industry developments will find themselves in a stronger position as the demand for skilled professionals continues to rise.

What can a long-dead Prussian teach us about IT?

I originally wrote this for the Trust IV blog, but I thought it deserved a “republish” here…

As a performance tester, along with many people in the IT-world, I’m often asked to plan for different eventualities. I have to write test plans, software deployment plans or help to provide estimates for how long a piece of work will take. For predictable, simple work, this is fairly easy and is the sort of thing that people learn in school maths lessons. e.g. “If it takes one man one hour to dig a hole, how long will it take two men to dig a similar hole?”

In the IT world it often isn’t as simple as that. To (mis)quote Donald Rumsfeld, things that catch us out are the “unknown unknowns, those things that we don’t know that we don’t know.” How can we be sure that the configuration of a particular server is the same as the last one where we performed a particular task?
How do we know that the test data that we’ve been given is a true representation of live data?
How can we be sure that the business requirements we’ve been given are correct?

With a whole host of unknowns we need to be prepared to change our plans at a moment’s notice.
This is where the “dead Prussian” comes in…..

This chap is Helmut von Moltke the Elder; a Prussian army officer who died in Berlin in 1891. He was the chief of staff of the Prussian army and an excellent strategist. Rather than directing his armies with explicit commands, which ran the risk of becoming irrelevant quickly, he recognised that it made more sense to describe an overall strategic plan to his officers and rely on them to help him to achieve his objectives.

He recognised that military strategy was best described as a system of “options” since only the beginning of a military operation was plannable. He tasked his officers with calculating numerous possible outcomes and “what if?” scenarios. Only by preparing for multiple possibilities, could he be ensured of success.

His ethos is best described with the quote which is most commonly attributed to him:
“No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength.”

Often abbreviated to:
“No plan survives contact with the enemy.”
I think that “Moltke” would have been at home in the IT world. He rejected a single detailed plan in favour of multiple “what if” plans and empowered his subordinates, trusting them to make the right decisions, despite the fact that he couldn’t always be in contact with them. Although the “military subject matter” of his famous quotes isn’t pertinent in IT, the theme remains relevant.

As I tester, I believe that these quotes are spot on:

No test plan survives first contact with application code.
No project plan extends with certainty beyond the first milestone.
There is no such thing as the “perfect test”, prepare for the unexpected.
If something can go wrong, it probably will….. be prepared for it.

Can you think of any other “Moltke-themed” quotations that are relevant to you?

Answers on a postcard….well perhaps in a Tweet to @TrustIV or @RichardBishop

Introduction to performance testing at the NWTG

I really enjoy the NWTG events in Manchester which ar intro_nwtg e great for the testing community in this area. I’ve noticed that performance testing is “under represented” at these events (which frequently
have a functional-testing bias). With this in mind, I tried to give an introduction to performance testing.

For those unable to attend, the slides are available on SlideShare.

….and a video of the presentation is available on YouTube.
(My son thinks that the number of “ums” and “erms” is hilarious. I’m hoping to reduce the number of these “linguistic fillers” for my next presentation)

The final slide includes links to the Trust IV LoadRunner download page as well as blogs that I have found helpful during my time as a tester.

If anybody wants to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact @RichardBishop or @TrustIV via Twitter.