Leader | 1 Shouting that bit louder T H E E U ROP E AN SOF TWA R E T E S T E R IN TOU C H WI T H T E C HNOLOG Y


T H E E U ROP E AN SOF TWA R E T E S T E R Volume 2: Issue 2: June 2010


DEALING WITH DEBT


increasing as businesses face pressure to develop more sophisticated applications in shorter timeframes. The survey highlighted a need for more investment – I think this will be a familiar plea over the coming months and perhaps years – the big question is can testing put its case well enough to buck the trend and secure that essential funding? With the change in Government


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Inside: Small-scale testing | Reporting | Enhanced application testing Phil Kirkham tackles technical debt


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ISSN 2040-0160 Published by:


Matt Bailey, Editor


The survey highlighted a need for more investment – I think this will be a familiar plea over the coming months and perhaps years – the big question is can testing put its case well enough to buck the trend and secure that essential funding? Matt Bailey, Editor


www.testmagazineonline.com June 2010 | T.E.S.T


in the UK and the emphasis now firmly on cuts to reduce the budget deficit the clamour for funding may well be all the more intense in the public sector. In this issue we speak to Andrew Griffiths at NHS Wales about their efforts to enhance quality assurance, reduce development time and create applications that are right first time – surely cutting costs in the process. Testers in both the public and private sector are going to have to shout that bit louder to get the message out that thorough and early testing saves cost in the long run. Organisations are looking for ways


to eliminate the risk of launching poorly-tested applications, yet over half of the IT professionals surveyed by Sogeti said their companies did not spend enough on testing. How many testers, I wonder, think that their companies and clients do spend


survey of testers and developers, conducted by Sogeti, found that the need for software testing is


enough though? Budgets are rarely if ever sufficient in the eyes of those receiving them, even in good times and lest we forget, many businesses in the UK (and I suspect Europe and the wider world) were already operating as pretty lean organisations before the recent recession. But I think the point is well made, the emphasis is put on development while testing comes a poor second. The survey also found that the


majority of respondents (73 percent) consider there to be a shortage of software testing skills in the UK. The survey was taken at TestExpo, which I suspect attracts patronage from further afield than just the British Isles, so can we assume that the trend stretches at least to Europe and North America? As a humble journalist, I’m not sure, but there would appear to be no shortage of ‘offshored’ testing skills to take up any slack. And when asked about their


preference for offshoring or onshoring, responses as you might expect, were mixed. Over a third (34 percent) said that they currently had some software testing conducted offshore, nine percent said they planned to offshore, and 52 percent said they didn’t plan to offshore any software testing in the future. Will financial expediency drive more


people offshore? That remains to be seen and there are arguments for and against. I suspect that – as in so much of the business world – it is a case of horses for courses. One final thing; check out the Digest


section at the back of the magazine. I hope this will become an annual summer fixture in T.E.S.T where vendors can air some of their theories and solutions. Until next time...


Inside: 16-page T.E.S.T Digest


T . E . S . T T H E E U R O P E A N S O F T WA R E T E S T E R


V O L U M E 2 : I S S U E 2 : J U L Y 2 0 1 0


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