After a year marked by the pandemic, I believe that every business in the world has finally understood the importance of technology and digital acceleration. Now, we are once again in the face of upcoming innovations that will revamp our understanding of software testing, development, design, and delivery.
Incorporating these trends (which include everything from mainstream automation to complete software QA outsourcing) will help companies achieve ideal reliability and quality in their software. With all of that said, let’s take a look at the Top 6 Software QA Trends for 2021.
#1 Codeless Testing Automation
The no-code movement has been gaining momentum for a few years now, and it is becoming more relevant in the testing field. In fact, codeless testing tools are based on AI algorithms that use visual modeling to rapidly form test cases. Of course, all of this needs to be based on other automated tests that have already been developed by QA engineers, but it is a great alternative to write easy test scenarios in little to no time.
Codeless testing is effective, easy to review, and can be done by almost anyone that’s not afraid of computers. Tools like Testsigma, TOSCA, tests.ai, Ranorex, Ghost Inspector, TestComplete, and many others are already making a huge impact in the market and introducing all kinds of small businesses to codeless testing automation.
#2 IoT-Driven Testing
A huge part of software testing is making sure that all parts of a system integrate and work well together. And what’s the most revolutionary technology when it comes to integration? That’s right, the Internet of Things, an incredible field with an enormous expansion in the last few years.
IoT-Driven testing makes sure that all communications protocols, operating systems, hardware, and software implementations in different devices are all in-sync and ready to deliver. The advancements in this testing methodology respond to the increasing need for stronger cybersecurity in IoT products, allowing for well-connected and efficient smart devices that defend automatically against vulnerabilities and threats.
#3 AI in Test Automation
With the demand for custom AI solutions being higher than ever before, its new and improved role in software testing should come as no surprise. Right now, AI can be used for a myriad of automated testing solutions, such as:
- Generating test cases based on user behavior, which helps businesses create software that’s strongly focused on satisfying customer needs.
- Executing regression tests that gather performance metrics and provide accurate monitoring of the software.
- Guaranteeing the proper authoring, implementation, and continuity of automated tests.
- Running tests in simulated environments, such as mobile browsers and particular devices.
Functionalities like these are what make AI such a great ally in software testing. And, beyond that, AI testing automation is helping countless businesses to eradicate unnecessary costs in the maintenance of software solutions.
#4 Performance Engineering
Most companies are interested in making their software as high-performance as possible. However, achieving something like that used to require a strong focus on multiple elements like business value, usability, technology stacks, and cybersecurity. Balancing all of these with UX and market demand turned out to be a very time-consuming task.
The role of Performance Engineering is to minimize this challenge by introducing customer-centric testing as early as possible in the software development life cycle. This way, the development team can easily reduce bugs and bottlenecks early in the process. In a way, Performance Engineering is a replacement for performance testing, which normally focuses on the performance of finished apps or MVPs.
#5 Blockchain Testing
Testing decentralized technologies is a lot different than your everyday software testing. The cryptocurrency and finance companies that work with blockchain know this better than everyone. Luckily, blockchain testing makes it easier for these businesses to achieve efficient and specialized testing solutions.
Ethereum Tester (which, by the way, is freely available on GitHub) is one of the most utilized platforms for this purpose. Its friendly and manageable API makes use of blockchain technology to test the reliability of Web3 Integrations, APIs, smart contracts, backend infrastructures, and various other aspects of blockchain technology.
#6 QAOps
We’ve all heard of DevOps and its impact on the software industry. Now, many companies are starting to see how QA could play a similar role with QAOps. This practice brings developers, operations, and testing engineers together to optimize CI/CD pipelines and achieve parallel progress in the software development life cycle.
The goal of QAOps is to achieve great quality and quick delivery by executing all testing and QA activities within the CI/CD pipeline. This means that QA engineers need to start writing tests that can be used as soon as developers have completed the first commit of the project. In essence, QAOps is bringing innovation to the automation of IT procedures while guaranteeing better quality and efficiency in software development.
The Importance of Testing Will Continue Rising
Last year, we saw how important it was for businesses to count on reliable, efficient, and modern software solutions. That’s exactly what pushed so many organizations towards digital acceleration. Now, we’re in the face of a world that knows how valuable technology is in their lives—and the businesses that develop the highest-quality software will stand out from the rest.
However, there are many alternatives for QA and testing, so I can see how many organizations can find it difficult to get started. If that’s your case, consider outsourcing QA to go over all the recruiting and team development requirements you’d need to build a proper QA team.
