SQS (Software Quality Systems) have published a study conducted by PAC (Pierre Audoin Consultants) looking at market trends in software testing. The survey was conducted on 309 managers and IT decision makers from Europe and North America and shows that outsourcing software testing is a popular solution for businesses.

Software Testing is not the only IT service that is commonly outsourced. Read 5 reasons to Outsource IT Services for more information on external IT services.

Of the 309 managers asked, 91% consider software testing and quality assurance are the most important IT disciplines at their companies. The importance of software testing within a company is backed up by the figures produced by the study that show why managers seek external IT solutions and how they are benefited by them. Further to the proof that software testing is critical to companies is the fact that companies now invest 50 billion euros per year in application testing and quality assurance.

Of the managers asked, 47% already use external test centres while three quarters are considering outsourcing in the future.

When deciding whether to outsource software testing, interviewees set out the following goals for successful application of external sources: Read the rest of "Software Testing Study Shows Benefits of External Services"

The ISEB/ISTQB Foundation Certificate in Software Testing is the industry standard certification for software testers. The qualification allows testers to demonstrate their skills to employers and for businesses to show the proficiency of their software testing team.

The qualification is recognised internationally and so opens up testers and businesses to a wealth of new opportunities world wide. It also allows for multi-national projects as everybody is working with a common understanding of software testing.

You will find more information on the course and how to book at our ISEB/ISTQB Foundation in Software Testing Training course page.

What you need to know before starting the ISEB/ISTQB Foundation course

Who is the course for? Read the rest of "ISEB/ISTQB Foundation in Software Testing – What You Need to Know"

Last week we published 5 Software Testing tips provided by our trainers. Continuing the theme – here are 5 more software testing tips that we hope you will find practical and useful for you when planning application tests.

If you’re interested in gaining an industry recognised Software Testing Qualification, check out our range of Software Testing Training courses, including the Advanced Certifications such as Advanced Software Testing Training for Test Analysts and Advanced Software Testing Training for Technical Test Analysts.

5 More Software Testing Tips

1) Be positive about finding errors!:
Begin the software testing process with the intention of finding bugs! This way you will be sure to find all of the errors (major and minor). If you start expecting there to be NO bugs there’s a danger you’ll miss the smaller errors.

2) Group your test cases together for regression testing:
This will help speed up the process of your manual regression testing phase.

3) Ensure test cases are provided for developers BEFORE coding
Let the developers do some of your work for you by providing details of the test cases to them before they start work. This way they will be more likely to develop a quality application with fewer bugs for you to find in testing. This will mean less time debugging later.

4) If response time is important in your application – performance testing is VERY important!
Carry our thorough performance testing on any software where a fast response to the user is paramount. This is too often ignored in manual testing as large volumes of data are required to carry out proper performance tests If you can’t  create test data manually, write scripts to generate random test data (or get one of the developers to do it!)

5) Do NOT get programmers to test their own code
You CAN save time by providing test cases to developers before they start (tip 3!) – however programmers should NEVER be asked to thoroughly test their own code. Software Testers can’t ask developers to release products for testing (that’s your job!) Programmers should be allowed to take their own time. Everyone can contribute to estimating the time required for testing. This is a standard Agile approach

More tips to come soon – watch this space!!

Our range of Software Testing Training courses will provide you with the knowledge you need to pass the ISEB and ISTQB Software testing exams.

However one thing we try to focus on as much as possible, in addition to passing exams, is providing real-world advice and knowledge that can be applied back in the workplace.

All of our Software Testing trainers are experienced industry professionals, so we’ve asked them to provide some short, practical software testing tips.

If you’re interested in a qualification in Software Testing, check out our Software Testing Training courses. The most popular is the Software Testing Foundation Training course. We also offer Intermediate Software Testing Training and the Advanced Certificates, including the Advanced Software Testing Certificate for Test Managers.

5 Software Testing Tips

Check back next week for 5 more!

1) Be thorough with analysing test results:
It’s easy just to look at results of a test in terms of “pass” or “fail”. However look at a fail in terms of “why did it fail”, and try to identify the root cause to find a solution to the problem. Your career as a software tester will be more successful if you can provide solutions, rather than just identifying problems.

Read the rest of "5 Software Testing Tips"