Nic Goodall is QA manager at digital marketing agency, Agency Republic. The company lives and dies on the quality, usability and cutting edge slickness of the digital marketing aids it creates for its list of famous brand name clients.

Clearly in a fast-moving and dynamic sector like digital marketing there is no room for glitches, bugs and other embarrassing and potentially financially damaging coding errors and user interface problems.

TEST editor Matt Bailey asked Nic Goodall some business-focussed questions about the company’s approach to software quality.

TEST: What does your company do and what, if anything is its unique selling point in the testing world?

Nic Goodall: Agency Republic is a specialist in web-based marketing. Our offering covers creative, planning and media strategy. We make big ideas come to life as online ads, microsites, websites, interactive content, viral clips, applications, emails and mobile comms. Along the way we’ve also made an interactive shop front, TV and cinema executions and press ads. I am the QA manager, so I am responsible for all of these things being bug free and easy to use.

TEST: What value does the software testing function add in your organisation?

NG: Software testing has become much more prevalent over the last three to four years since the recession has really started to bite. Online marketing has really taken a front seat – for obvious financial reasons – and other marketing methods plus the rise of social media have driven a lot of advertising budgets into the digital arena. Most brands are now pushing towards the web.

In this environment, quality has to be the highest priority, if anything goes down it’s instantly visible. But even with this crucial role, in the media industry as a whole, testing is still often treated like an unwanted child or an afterthought, and the digital media sector is even more guilty of this – they don’t realise the impact of poor quality on brands.

Most media agencies are fairly small. There are a couple of big ones that use high end testing tools but most don’t have the budget so they tend to use of off the shelf solutions. The business case for more investment in testing is often difficult to get across. I’ve been at a few agencies and it’s always a problem, but the proof is in the pudding, it’s a case of maximising the KPIs and delivering above and beyond what the org needs. We need to start educating about the benefits of QA and testing and how they are a key way of driving quality.

By sending emails out highlighting new testing technologies that may benefit the agency and slowly and surely we are getting the message across. OK, testing is expensive, but the consequences of not testing are even more damaging. We have to show that testing is good value. We have to make the case for quality. I try to use the examples to highlight where testing could have improved processes and show how the results would have improved going forward. In previous jobs it has taken me ages to change the ingrained mindset but this has changed a lot over the past year and is improving everyday. Of course for me it’s second nature, a no brainer but for some…

Many places still don’t have testers and in digital media the developers are having to think a lot more out of the box. Many smaller developers have only just woken up to testing and perhaps the developers are doing it all themselves. They tend to miss a lot and they have had to change!

TEST: How is the current economic climate affecting your business – if at all? What are the challenges and the opportunities?

NG: Outsourcing has its pros and cons, and many outsource companies’ services are too basic for what is actually needed. There are some outsource companies – Applabs for one – that are forging closer relationships with their clients however. But people are looking for cheaper ways to do things and offshoring and automation make good sense in certain circumstances.

Automation can provide a cheaper and faster solution, but most people don’t understand the intricacies of implementing and maintaining automated tools. You really have to keep on top of it.

Crowd sourcing /testing may provide another solution if budgets are shrinking, but in my opinion smaller test teams are easier to handle and you can deal with the guys on a one to one basis. For me this is the best way forward for the next few years. It has to be at the right price though. Outsourcing is far more expensive than many people realise and good functional testers in digital media are hard to find. Perhaps because of the nature of the work being fast paced and not conforming to everyday testing structures

TEST: What technologies are having an impact on what you do? How has the IT world changed recently? Are things like Web 3.0, the cloud, virtualisation etc having an effect?

NG: Web 3 will certainly change things. New technology means new testing strategies and new problems; there are definitely exciting times ahead. There will be a big drive for mobile too. It is still in its early stages for a lot of companies. Some of the bigger brands are really starting to use mobile technologies for marketing, but it hasn’t reached maturity yet. The competition between the three major mobile operating systems has already changed the way we use our mobiles and interact with each other. This is only going to grow and will drive a lot of development and a lot of exciting new products.

Coupled with how Social media is shaping things at the moment, the interaction between the customer and the company is changing radically. If an advert goes ‘viral’ it really does change things fundamentally, and this will have an impact on testing.

The cloud is still an unknown entity to many people and security is a major issue but it’s only going to improve get better as understanding and utilisation increase.

It is already having a massive impact on testing, if not actually on the way we test. We now use a lot of cloud-based servers, they give a much more effective way of managing websites – with virtual servers – they are more cost effective. Before we needed to have the full range of platforms physically available to test on, but now we can set the platform up virtually on the cloud in minutes. This is a major benefit.

TEST: How is testing perceived in the business?

NG: While it is still crucial to get more people to understand and value of testing, there is a better appreciation of what we are doing now, people are much more open and engage and ask questions. There is a positive mindset about testing at the moment.

TEST: Nic Goodall, thank you very much.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology is a professional body for those working in engineering and technology in the United Kingdom and worldwide. It is the largest professional society for engineers and technologists in Europe with over 150,000 members in 127 countries around the world, making it a truly global organisation. Its aim is to be a professional home for life for its members supporting them throughout their careers.

The IET has teams of experts looking at issues such as energy, transport, ICT, design and production, education, and the built environment. Recently its attention has been drawn to the increasingly important discipline of software testing. It is collaborating with software testing training consultancy Pinta on targeting its ICT Technician (ICTTech) award standard for those involved in the testing industry.

In the wider engineering and technology world, the IET assists the UK Parliament and government in making public policy and it is helping to plug the shortage of future engineers and technologists by working in schools to show young people the benefits of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. It provides around £200,000 every year in awards and scholarships and gives undergraduates and post-graduates scholarships of up to £10,000. It grants Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, ICT Technician and Engineering Technician designations.

Not reliant on taxpayers’ money, the IET has an annual turnover of £55 million and most of its surplus is recycled back into its products and services. Bringing together engineering and technology expertise in an environment that is non-partisan and not-for-profit, the IET is based purely on the best evidence and research.

Taking it to the testers

As ICTTech Product Manager, Jane Black has responsibility at the IET for rolling the award out to testers. Like many people who find themselves involved in IT she didn’t start out in the field, in fact she graduated in Biological Sciences and Education. Working with the IET for almost nine years, she started in the Academic Accreditation Department, going to UK and international universities as part of a team to give an independent review and international benchmark of the engineering and technology programmes (including IT). It was during this time that she started to gain an understanding of IT education.

In 2009, the IET along with the Engineering Council launched its then new professional award ICTTech aimed at individual practitioners supporting the users of IT systems and applications. Black started to become involved in the ICTTech award when she joined the Global Operations department focusing on developing the Indian and Chinese markets, including the professional awards. Her main focus now is supporting and developing the ICTTech award and the Institution’s interaction with the IT industry. 

The IET helped to develop the SFIA framework, giving a common reference for the ICT industry, it continues to work closely with the Foundation Committee as it adopts the framework to meet the needs of industry. As the ICTTech is linked to SFIA Framework at level 3, Black has also been trained in implementing and using the SFIA Framework in the work environment.

TEST: What are the origins of the organisation; how did it start and develop; how has it grown and how is it structured?

Jane Black: The IET was formed in 1871 as a membership organisation for telegraph engineers. It has been through many changes in the last 100 years or so. It now has around 150,000 members around the world in 127 countries, in the information technology and engineering sectors. A typical member is an engineering or IT practitioner, which could cover anything from a humble technician right the way up to Nobel Prize winners.

The organisation as we know it today became the IET in 2006. Our focus is on the sharing of knowledge to support the engineering and technology sectors, including IT. Our products include everything from specialist books, periodicals and publications, an extensive programme of technical talks on a range of subjects to a database for research. Our focus is firmly on sharing knowledge.

We also support professional development and run courses on subjects from project management to presenting skills and professional development. We support companies with graduate development schemes and go into universities to support their technology programmes. We also go into schools and colleges, offering information and running competitions. We organise and run four professional awards programmes plus a whole lot more.

We see the IET as the home for life for organisational support and development for engineering and technology professionals from start to finish through all the different stages. We aim to offer help and support throughout our members’ careers.

We have offices in Beijing and Hong Kong in China, Bangalore in India, New Jersey in the USA as well as in Stevenage here in the UK. The IET aims to support the development of people in the engineering and technology sectors – and the individuals and companies who interact throughout that sector across the globe, from childhood – supporting teachers in schools – through to universities with tools set up to help on courses and into careers and occupations.

TEST: What range of products and services does the company offer?

JB: In the testing arena, the IET offers the ICTTech, a professional qualification aimed at practitioners and users in the IT field. The Engineering Council sets the standards which we are licensed to deliver, but within this broad IT category we are developing a version specifically for the software testing sector which is more applicable for this group’s specific needs – and specialist software testing training consultancy Pinta is helping us to deliver this.

The knowledge-sharing products we provide are also getting more specialised in the software testing area. As testing becomes more important and more information is coming out of the sector we are seeing more interest in and becoming more focused on software testing.

The IT industry as a whole is at a very interesting point in its development; it is becoming a global industry and IT issues are coming over into the mainstream media every day. As never before there is now a need for IT practitioners to be seen as a professional workforce – a visible professional group across the globe – the ability to benchmark knowledge and experience is crucial to this process. We need to know that those working in, say, Bangalore have the same standards and abilities as those working at the same level in the US, UK or China.

Because testing is such a specialist field it can lose its voice in the wider IT community. Thanks to the IET’s involvement, the ICTTech qualification is now more accessible for testers. We are addressing the needs of that industry and their need to say that although they have a highly specialised role within IT, it is an incredibly important role – saving money, reputations, and sometimes, even lives.

TEST: Does the organisation have any specialisations within the software testing industry?

JB: As an organisation, we are not specifically dedicated to software testing but it is covered under the ICTTech umbrella. But understanding how testing fits into the larger IT picture is valuable.

TEST: Who are the organisation’s main customers today and in the future?

JB: The ICTTech standard is for individuals – to give them the chance to demonstrate they have the knowledge and experience of working in specific areas; but it is also suitable for companies and organisations. If they can say they have professionally registered staff and members, the benefit is there for the company, but it is really about individual competence. Our customers are individuals and also companies.

Beyond the ICTTech standard, we would like to create a version of Incorporated Engineer and Chartered Engineer standards specifically for software testers. The standards are written generically, so those working in the industry can apply their skills and knowledge to meet them. We put it in a context where those in the industry can understand and relate to it.

But we are starting off with ICT Tech at the practitioner level in the UK and rolling it out to India which is also a very important geographical area. It is a means of demonstrating that your workforce is at the right standard and I predict that people using outsourced testing expertise will start to demand professional registration in these contractors and independent benchmarking for their staff. And the organisations contracting should also be professionally registered themselves to lead the way and set the example.

TEST:  What is the organisation’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, including green issues?

JB: An important part of being a professional engineer is to sign a code of conduct stressing commitment to reducing your impact on the environment. They have to demonstrate their personal responsibility for their carbon footprint. They should be considering the impact of everything they do, even down to switching off a monitor at the end of the day or following the industry standards and codes. These are the things we will be looking for; making sure they are aware of them and abide by them too.

TEST: What is your view of the current state of the testing industry and how will the recent global economic turbulence affect it. What are the challenges and the opportunities?

JB: We have noticed that the need and demand for professional registration increases in hard times because people need that extra advantage, something to put them a step ahead of the competition, to succeed in an era of cuts and redundancies.

Also in this era, the software development industry can really not afford to get things wrong and this fact too will fuel a drive for greater professionalism.

TEST: What are the future plans for the organisation?

JB: As I mentioned before, we hope to move from the ICTTech standard to assess whether there is a need for the Incorporated Engineer and Chartered Engineer standards in the software testing sector. But we are taking this a step at a time and making sure it is demanded and wanted by the industry and that we have the resources to do it properly. We are also always looking to develop our partnerships with companies and organisations, including large offshore testers.

TEST: Is there anything else you would like to add?

JB: Benchmarking on a wide global stage is increasingly important and this is where we fit in. I believe that the IT industry, including the software testing sector, is at an interesting point in its development. As companies become more global the need to create a more visibly professional work force across the globe will become more important and the ability to benchmark their knowledge and experience to their clients and the wider public and uphold professional and ethical standards becomes ever more important.

TEST: Jane Black, thank you very much.

The IET at work

- The world was introduced to the idea of fibre optics through the IET. Fibre optics are now the back bone of the internet and mobile phone network.

- Every qualified electrician in the UK uses the IET wiring regulations.

- Right now IET members are working on major projects in China, India and the UK – on projects like the 2012 Olympics.

- The institution is at the forefront of thinking on the UK’s future smart grid system.

- Its volunteers work in hundreds of schools across the UK helping young people find out how exciting it is to work in technology or engineering

- The IET has the world’s largest tool for research and discovery in physics and engineering, called ‘Inspec’, with over 11 million abstracts.

www.theiet.org

Gary Kirk has spent more than 25 years in the electronic payments industry. He is president and co-founder of Paragon Application Systems where he provides leadership for the strategic direction of the company.

Since 1994, Paragon Application Systems has provided software testing solutions to simulate and test virtually any point in the transaction processing stream, providing peace of mind to financial institutions that their electronic payment (ePayment) systems are reliable and error-free. Today the company provides ePayment simulation, configuration and testing software and services to an impressive customer base, including top-ranking financial institutions, leading software providers, merchant acquirers, processors, interchanges and credit unions. The company has helped more than 525 customers in over 85 countries drive more than 100,000 ATMs, connect to over 90 interchanges and process thousands of transactions per second.

“At Paragon, we base our success on the integrity, talent, and experience of our staff,” says Kirk. “Our collective technical expertise includes an in-depth understanding of financial message processing standards, both at the host and machine level. Moreover, our team brings extensive experience with EFT systems, including over 90 financial messaging formats. Coupling this specialised knowledge with responsiveness to our customers results in a high rate of repeat business.”

Exploding transaction volumes

“The electronic payment environment is extremely dynamic, with transaction volumes continuing to grow rapidly,” explains Kirk. “New payment instruments, mergers, restructuring, mandates and new systems all put pressure on industry players.  Add to that the high-stakes nature of electronic payments as well as the need to satisfy audit controls many financial institutions have put in place to ensure proper testing and the need for constant, effective and efficient testing becomes readily apparent.

“Volume and stress testing become more critical as transaction volumes increase. We’re talking about handling people’s money here. People lose patience very quickly when they encounter a problem with the transaction processing system, such as when a transaction is declined because a network goes down due to heavy traffic . News travels fast and in the current climate, there are no small mistakes anymore. The reputation of banks has already taken a hit and they can’t afford to have other problems. They must test – the only real choice they have now is how efficiently they do it. Organisations are trying to squeeze the last bit of processing power they can get and stress testing helps ensure they can maximise their investments in hardware and software.”

Opportunities and threats

Despite the prevailing global economic gloom, Kirk notes that Paragon has weathered the storm well.  “In some ways we’re even more valuable to our clients now than we are when the economy is booming. Many companies have cut back on staffing levels and have fewer people to do the same amount of work. The risk doesn’t diminish, however, so it makes sense to use testing tools and automation to compensate for the reduced headcount. That’s where we come in.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that Paragon has been completely untouched by the economic situation. “The sales cycle is sometimes longer these days,” says Kirk. “The decision-making process has been slower over the past couple of years, as is the case in any economic downturn. Approval from more people ‘up the chain’ is sometimes required to get final sign-off on a purchase. We’ve seen instances where a manager who formerly could approve a $1,000,000 purchase now is required to get upper management approval for purchases as low as $10,000.”

Gary Kirk is starting to see the effects of off-shore testing. “Over the past few years we’ve seen the ebb and flow of off-shore testing. The vast majority of our customers have not outsourced their testing off-shore and prefer to utilise our tools and leverage our expertise in-house. A very few others have outsourced some of their testing. This is an area where industry-specific testing tools demonstrate their advantages over ‘one-size-fits-all’ testing tools. In addition, testers with strong industry experience and knowledge are much more capable than ‘generic’ testers of adding value to the most time-consuming aspects of testing: designing and creating meaningful tests and analysing test results.”

Paragon offers a variety of products and services including automatic function and regression testing of more than 90 financial message formats including ISO 8583, ATM, POS and IFX; EMV, hardware/software migration, stress and load testing of ePayment systems to confirm capacity, automatic ATM configuration and testing and accelerated testing of offline processing.

Emerging technologies

It may come as a surprise that testing of financial systems hasn’t always been automated. Kirk cited an example from the early days of Paragon. “When we started Paragon, ATM testing typically required someone to stand in front of a physical ATM, insert an ATM card and push all of the buttons required to run one transaction after another to ensure it was processed correctly by the bank’s software. It was a rather mind-numbing experience for the tester and was extremely inefficient. We automated much of the process with our FASTest for ATMs product which freed the tester from many of these rote tasks.

“We’re also seeing automation extended beyond simply clicking a button and watching a test run to include unattended testing. More financial institutions are scheduling automated tests to run overnight. One of our largest customers runs over 7,000 tests using our software as part of their nightly QA run. Clearly, automation now plays a pivotal role in the testing of financial transactions and will continue to do so in the future.”

Kirk predicts that as business pressures mount, the need to collaborate will become more pressing. “Collaboration will play a larger role in ePayment testing, certainly,” he predicts. “Currently there is a lot of wasted effort resulting from misinterpreted specifications and the same mistakes being repeated across financial institutions. We have a very experienced staff and some of our customers have started leveraging that expertise by engaging us to help interpret specifications and to design test plans. I expect more financial institutions to see the value of collaboration as a cost-reduction endeavor.”

Looking ahead, Kirk also sees the potential of the cloud revolution. “We’ve seen considerable interest in our Web FASTest product, a web-based testing platform,” he says.  “It addresses a lot of the challenges associated with large desktop implementations and offers easier deployment and administration as well as more predictable costs for our customers.  One of these days we’ll all think about large desktop deployments in much the same way we think about early ATM testing: happy those days are behind us.”

Adding value

There is a problem with the perception of testers in many organisations though. Kirk suggests that testers need to be able to show that they are really adding value. “They’re seen as perhaps a necessary evil,” he says. “They are often the first to go when companies start cutting costs, a short-sighted and risky action. In order to combat this perception, testers need to view their role as not to simply find bugs but rather to advise the organisation on improvements in product development processes and procedures. In addition to finding and reporting bugs they should be offering suggestions for preventing similar bugs from occurring in the future.

“For us it’s personal,” concludes Kirk. “The founders of Paragon came from customer-facing positions in the electronic payments industry – some would call it the ‘sharp end’ – and continue that customer-centric focus today. We have a high volume of repeat business – and that’s the best validation you can get.”

 www.paragonedge.com

The BGL Group includes some household names that everyone should be familiar with: comparethemarket.com and BUDGET car, van and home insurance to name two. The company was founded in 1992 and has grown to become one of the UK’s largest personal lines insurance intermediaries. It also works with brands like Post Office, HSBC, Santander, M&S Money, RAC and Auto Trader to offer insurance products to their customers.

The BGL Group has 3.5 million customers and operates major contact centre operations (Fusion) in Peterborough, Coventry, Sunderland and Cape Town, South Africa. Headquartered in Peterborough, it currently employs more than 2,150 people.

John Peake is the company’s senior manager quality assurance. He has had various roles within testing, including work as a test consultant for large Government accounts as well as test managing programmes in the private sector. He is ISEB Practitioner qualified

“The BGL Group specialises in the provision of car, van, bike and home insurance and also offers a wide range of supplementary products including personal accident cover, breakdown cover, home emergency assistance, legal protection, travel and pet insurance,” explains Peake, “It has six distinct business units: comparethemarket.com – a leading insurance price comparison website; Frontline – specialising in motor and home insurance with more than half a million customers and five brands including Budget, Dial Direct and ibuyeco; Bennetts – UK’s number one for bike insurance; Junction – the affinity business, which enables the Post Office, M&S Money, Bradford & Bingley, Auto Trader, Santander, Barclays and others to offer insurance products to their customers; Fusion – the contact centre business, supporting all the other business units with customer liaison services; and ACM ULR – an end-to-end service for customers making accident claims.”

Testing at BGL

Clearly, the software testing function at BGL is a crucial one. John Peake explains their role. “At BGL we understand our risk quickly and adapt our testing to deliver the under-lying needs of the project.  IT remains focused on what we want to achieve from our testing to stop it being seen as an   overhead but as a value add activity,” he says.

“As a group we are currently very focused on building quality in to every process and not relying on testing to flush everything out. This will reduce the cost of errors but also give testing the ability to achieve higher coverage and success rate. Testing alone does not improve your quality but helps to highlight where there is a quality issue. Using this information from testing is a powerful tool in evolving quality,” says Peake.

“A key BGL strength is its agility – our willingness and ability to move quickly in Quality Assurance (QA) can be a deciding factor in success. We are never afraid to challenge what we have done previously to make sure it is valid for the current requirements. Understanding risk and how each test will mitigate against it ensures that the speed of change is kept in balance.

“We are constantly aiming for maximum efficiency from our testing process. Getting the most coverage from one script, ensuring we are testing the right things and combining tests are all day-to-day activities expected from our Quality Assurance Analysts.”

Driving profit – simples!

The effects of the current economic climate are being felt throughout business in the UK, surely BGL has had to adapt to the new leaner and meaner paradigm?

“We have been fortunate to be able to continue driving profit and have just announced our 13th consecutive year of profit growth,” says Peake. “This has largely been down to the company’s consistent innovation and its ability to spot new distribution opportunities. Our price comparison site, Comparethemarket.com, achieved 70 percent growth this year. Because of the growth of price comparison sites, people are increasingly shopping around at renewal. There’s a significant opportunity for insurance brands to benefit by engaging their customers so that they decide not to change providers at the end of their policy.”

Obviously the rise of the price comparison site has been driven by IT (and advertising!), but what are they actually offering the insurance industry? “They continue to offer opportunities for reaching millions of customers by having a compelling offer,” explains Peake. “The opportunity to save money. In addition, new technologies such as m-commerce are likely to pose a significant opportunity for early adopters. One of the key challenges at the moment is the ongoing increase of insurance premiums, led by increasing rates from insurers as they continue to suffer from lower investment returns since the dawn of the recession. Higher rates mean higher premiums for the consumer, so it’s down to insurance brands to find ways of lessening the impact on customers.”

The rising popularity of the price comparison site makes them a vital tool for insurers right now. “We have established strong relationships with the top aggregators as well as our own Comparethemarket site,” says Peake. “In addition, we have used a number of creative advertising and social media strategies over the last year to really promote our own price comparison site to consumers. Our affinity arm, Junction, has established relationships with some of the UK’s leading financial services and consumer brands. We now offer insurance products on their behalf and work closely with them to develop consumer focussed marketing campaigns.”

Threats and opportunities

Issues like automation and off-shoring have been around for a while in testing and depending on your outlook, could be view as threats or perhaps opportunities. John Peake is upbeat about them though. “Everything has the potential to be an opportunity,” he says. “We have recently automated our regression process using an offshore model. Once created it was handed back to BGL to maintain. We selected Quick Test Pro (QTP) to work alongside our investment in Quality Centre. Before we went down the automation route we ensured we were confident in our manual scripts and that the level of detail was adequate for an offshore team to pick up. We also had timings for each script so we could rationalise the benefits. We were very keen not to fall into the high maintenance trap that can often be associated with these tools. Communicating with the supplier (HP) directly to understand the best way to keep this to minimum was also key.

“Rather than just handing off the project we kept heavily involved with it all the way and while we had our challenges, effective communication and ensuring requirements were understood from all shareholders helped set us up for success. The IT strategy is aligned closely to our business units so we currently have no major offshore plans.”

The changing role

We live in a changing world and nowhere is this more keenly felt that the IT sphere. There is plenty afoot to keep tester s on their toes, but John Peake thinks the role of the tester has changed. “One of the big issues for testers is the expectation from the role,” he says. “Not too long ago it was seen as a simple case of ‘checking if it worked’. Time has moved on and now you need considerable skills to succeed in the testing world. Analysis and process improvements are all day-to-day skills for the modern tester.

“Cloud, virtualisation and mobile technologies are all areas that impact BGL and the testing team.  While any new technology is a challenge, being involved as early as possible and working alongside the development helps build a common understanding and sharing of knowledge. Environments are usually the challenge and getting all the applications to talk to each other. Integration tests need to be run as early as possible. Once you gain this stability your value increases dramatically from each script run,” explains Peake. “Security and load testing are always high on the agenda. Looking to carry these out as efficiently as possible is a constant challenge.”

Of course a tester needs to be armed with the correct skills and experience to tackle this ever changing market. “All the QA team at BGL are at minimum ISEB foundation qualified,” says Peake. “We also have several practitioners on the team. Ensuring testers all speak the same ‘language’ is one of the benefits of everyone having this qualification. The expectation back from those on the team who are practitioner qualified is to drive process improvements and efficiencies. It’s not having the piece of paper that matters, but what you can do with it!”

 www.bglgroup.co.uk

Facilita has gained an impressive set of clients over the last few years. So what has attracted such technically savvy users as CMC Markets, ASOS, and EADS? We recently caught up with Facilita’s Managing Director Gordon McKeown to ask him about the performance and load testing tool Forecast and how it is having an increasing impact on the performance testing market.

T.E.S.T: What is the history of your company?

Gordon McKeown: Facilita started as a Software design and development service company. The founders, who are still at the core of company, are seasoned software developers. The mid 1990s the DSS, now the UK Department of Work and Pensions commissioned us to create a load testing tool for benchmarking servers from suppliers such as IBM and ICL. We developed and supported the software and sold it commercially in a limited way. The software was then developed (becoming Forecast V2) and sold to several blue chip organisations.

The decision was made in 2000 to specialise as a load testing vendor and to create a commercial load testing tool built on the experience we had gained. With Forecast Version 3 (V3) we started to make significant inroads into the UK test tools market. Our product development was and continues to be very intensive. When we created Forecast V4 we carried out a major re-design, incorporating customer feedback,  and created a flexible platform for adding functionality, targeting new technology and enabling the testing of difficult user applications.

Our ambition from the outset was to create the most effective and sophisticated load testing tool possible and to deliver outstanding support and highly focused complementary services.

We are expanding internationally, have recently appointed a reseller for Spain and Portugal and are actively investigating other markets.

T.E.S.T: What is the specialist product area of your company?

GM: Load and performance testing: we are the developers of Forecast the load testing tool which we sell direct to end-users or as a managed testing service. We also partner with a select group of companies that provide complimentary products. We supply training and consultancy services based around our tool.

T.E.S.T: What specific tools and /or systems set your product offering apart from the competition and why?

GM: Forecast is very scalable and it can simulate large numbers of users and high levels of load. Forecast can target a wide range of technologies, not just web sites. The range of base VU types includes Web, Windows GUI, Citrix, client-side Java, client-side .Net, and socket level.  This range combined with a high level of functionality and good support means it can be genuinely described as ‘enterprise level’ and so it directly competes with the small set of high end tools in the market. Forecast has the features needed for Agile testing as well as ‘traditional’ testing approaches and integrates well with other tools.

What differentiates us? Forecast has a modern fully object-oriented design that brings great benefits for extensibility and flexibility. Forecast can be extended rapidly to target ‘difficult to test’ applications. The extensibility feature s can save a fortune in costs by reducing the effort required to create tests. We provide excellent support. Finally, we have highly competitive pricing and sensible licensing that is not over-restrictive.

T.E.S.T: Explain how the product works.

GM:  Forecast simulates a population of users of a System under Test (SUT), measures response times, checks the validity of responses, monitors SUT behaviour and server and network resources under load.

During test execution a central controller (Test Controller) manages a collection of distributed Load Injectors. The number of load injectors can range from one to many hundreds. Each load injector can host from one to several thousand virtual users depending on the target technology and the application. Test controller monitors both the test and the SUT with a flexible real-time display of data in charts and tables such as response times, errors and the use of systems resources.

The Studio component is used to create test scripts, select test data and to specify tests. A test can simple or highly complex as required and can be composed of a mixture of VU types executing a mixture of scripts, each individual VU configured with distinct test data. Studio interworks with popular IDEs such as Microsoft’s Visual Studio, Eclipse and Netbeans.

Test scripts (in a standard widely used language such as Java, C# or C++) are usually generated automatically by tracing the application. Powerful mechanisms for automatically correlating dynamic data and parameterising input data can be supplemented by user defined generation rules or by extending the relevant script generator.

A powerful statistical analysis and reporting tool (Analyzer ) is provided that integrates the data collected during test execution with data imported from additional monitoring tools.

T.E.S.T: Who is a typical user of your products?

GM: Forecast is used by specialist testing teams, developers and performance consultants. Often there is a division of labour so that an individual may only use one aspect of the tool. It is quite common for different people to be responsible for test creation (including scripting), test execution and analyzing the results and creating reports. The tool is well suited to a variety of testing cultures. It has the features needed for Agile testing as well as ‘traditional’ testing approaches.

T.E.S.T: How do your products help a typical user in their software testing tasks?

Load testing cannot be carried out adequately on a manual basis although some have attempted this. So the primary aim of Forecast is to provide the crucial functionality needed for successful load testing.. We then aim to go further and to increase the productivity of our users. One example of this is our successful efforts to decrease the amount of manual script editing required to test highly complex applications.

Our tool has a particular appeal to sophisticated users because it is configurable, flexible and interworks well with other tools such as IDEs and monitoring tools. We eschew gimmicks and instead concentrate on good engineering. For instance there is no proprietary scripting language to learn.

T.E.S.T: How does your product help the user to address specific QA problems?

GM: Bugs that only manifest with concurrent users, memory leaks, poorly configured middleware, inefficient application code, poor database indexing, deadlock and  wrongly sized hardware are but some of the issues identified by load testing! The tester can apply realistic load to servers that is indistinguishable from a population of actual system users, measure response times, check for errors and monitor the “vital signs” of the servers and network. They can also check how the system will perform if the user population were to increase, how it reacts  to severe conditions and how it will fail under stress.

Are there any specific support services that you offer for these products, if so what makes them better than the competition?

We offer excellent technical support without excessive bureaucracy. If necessary a Forecast developer will directly deal with a challenging issue. Load testing is a demanding discipline so we offer mentoring as well as more conventional class-room based training.

T.E.S.T: What overall are the benefits of your product compared to the competition?

It has a wider technical reach than most tools and can target Web, client-side Java, client-side .Net, network level messaging, GUI testing, Citrix etc. It is open and flexible. This provides ‘future proofing’ and not only allows us to evolve the tool rapidly but also enables advanced users to target complex applications more effectively.  In many circumstances our approach to test script production (“intelligent generation”) can save a lot of time and effort and can result in big savings and better tests.

Purchasing a tool isn’t just a question of a technical tick list. The support and back up and even the attitude of the vendor to its customers are vital factors that win business for us. Realistic pricing and licensing mean that we represent genuine value for money.

T.E.S.T: Do you have any plans to develop the product in future, if so, how?

We have a very ambitious development programme that is based around tracking technical changes, constant striving to improve the product and most importantly, user feedback.

There is an ‘arms race’ where we must match the development of technology used to realise applications. This particularly applies to the client-side where we need to emulate real users effectively. For instance, we are improving our approach to Ajax Web clients that use ‘push’ technology. Other highlights for the near future include enhancements to charting and reporting, better integration with other tools and more comprehensive monitoring capabilities.

We are planning to maintain or even increase the pace of our technical innovation because we believe that although Forecast is one of the best tools currently available it can be made even better. So please watch this space!

http://www.facilita.co.uk/

Online testing training provider Learntesting has now been an independent entity since May this year when it became a separate organisation from its original parent TSG. The company was focussed on the ISTQB software testing certification scheme, but has now increased the portfolio across general testing and related disciplines. Here, company managing director Mike Smith tells T.E.S.T all about how Learntesting is extending the boundaries of software testing and certification.

TEST: What are the origins of the company; how did it start and develop; how has it grown and how is it structured?

Mike Smith: Learntesting online training was originally developed by Testing Solutions Group (TSG) in 2003 aimed specifically at the ISTQB software testing certification scheme. It separated from TSG in May 2010 to develop as a fully independent business.

In 2009, Learntesting launched its new service developed in conjunction with German technology partner, IMC, to provide an innovative, highly scalable distribution platform for online and blended training solutions. This innovation was recognised after only six months of operation when it was selected as a finalist for the ‘Learning Technologies Solution of the Year’ award (February 2010) by The Institute of IT Training (IITT). The solution supports self-registration, payment and automatic content access.

A feature of the Learntesting business model is that it supports both individuals and businesses. While many of the same benefits apply to both, the service is tailored specifically to the needs and value propositions of different customers. The organisation already has over 3,000 registered users – a group that is set to expand rapidly over the next year. Clients range from independent testing contractors to major global IT organisations.

TEST: What range of products and services does the company offer?

MS: The extensive Learntesting product range has been built over a period of many years using the knowledge and experience of highly skilled testing consultants and accredited trainers, plus eight years of online instructional design experience. We also license a limited range of third party content to complement our range. Learntesting content is structured to support three learning principles:

1. Information Acquisition

2. Knowledge Confirmation

3. Exam Preparation

Our Portfolio is structured as follows:

• Free content;

• ISTQB courses;

• ISTQB Foundation Exam preparation options;

• ISTQB Advanced Exam preparation options;

• Other testing & requirements engineering courses;

• Agile testing;

• Alumni scheme.

We offer a range of free content including our Testers’ Treasure Chests, providing valuable information with three months free subscription. Anyone can self-register for these.

Our full ISTQB courses cover the entire scheme with fully accredited material plus other options for blended training and smaller packages:

ISTQB Courses

ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL):

• Foundation – English;

• Foundation – German.

ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level (CTAL) – Self-study Accredited Courses:

• Advanced Test Analyst;

• Advanced Test Manager;

• Advanced Technical Test Analyst;

Blended courses – Integrating up to three Live Virtual Class Components (Subject to accreditation):

• Advanced Test Analyst;

• Advanced Test Manager;

• Advanced Technical Test Analyst.

ISTQB Exam Preparation Options:

• Exam Simulations;

• Subject matter by chapter;

• Subject matter exercises;

• Questions, answers and detailed analysis;

• Test analyst techniques videos;

• Exam preparation videos.

Other Testing & Requirements Engineering Courses:

•ISEB Intermediate Certificate in Software Testing;

• IREB/IIBA Requirements Engineering Foundation;

• Risk Based Testing.

• Software Test Estimation;

• Managing the Testing Process;

• Pragmatic Software Testing;

• Assessing your Test Team;

• Understanding and Implementing Agile Testing (Video).

The portfolio of services has been significantly enhanced during 2010 and has been designed to service the wide-ranging needs of the market by productising content from full courses to exam simulations, allowing our clients and students to buy only what they require to meet their requirements. We also provide free assessments to help the process. We have added a range of specialist non-certificated testing courses plus requirements engineering (IREB) and this product range will continue to expand with our own developed content and selected licensed material.

A feature of Learntesting is the use of Live Virtual Class components in some of our courses. Seamless integration of Adobe Virtual Connect Pro into our learning platform enables us to provide some of the best benefits of ‘live’ training blended into our self-study components.

Online pass rates for certification are higher than corresponding classroom courses a fact that is surprising to many. Students are able to prepare thoroughly for the exam – study at their own pace, use additional reference material, consult with accredited tutors and only sit the exam when they are ready.

We have learnt that good quality online learning is potentially more effective for ‘knowledge confirmation’ and ‘exam preparation’ than is usually achieved in the classroom. Our measured pass rates are consistently higher than classroom and market averages and we attribute much of this to the rich quality of ‘knowledge confirmation’ and ‘exam preparation’ content.

To augment the learning experience for all our students, we have invested in a private e-book library containing 50 testing and testing-related books, including some written specifically to support the ISTQB scheme.

TEST: Does the company have any specialisations within the software testing industry?

MS: There are many reasons why an individual might want to get certified or enhance their knowledge using the products offered by Learntesting. Many employers across the world acknowledge and support the ISTQB software testing certification scheme. Certification at Foundation Level is recognised as one of the basic entry criteria to their own tester career development paths.

If Foundation Level provides a platform for ‘A common language for Testing’ with terminology, fundamental test process and testing in the lifecycle, Advanced Level recognises in-depth knowledge and experience by the roles of Test Analyst, Test Manager and Technical Test Analyst.

Learntesting provides a highly effective platform for those seeking ISTQB Certification and for those already certified to keep their knowledge up to date. As well as lower cost training compared with the classroom equivalent, ‘total cost of training and certification’ is significantly reduced with the ability to study at a time and place to suit the individual. Time out of the office and lost billing time can be minimised without losing any effectiveness – in fact the reverse, it actually increases effectiveness.

If testing certification leads to a common language for testing, demonstration that testers understand and can apply fundamental test principles, practices and techniques, Learntesting offers an increasing range of more specialised courses aimed at a variety of other skills to help testers and businesses increase their effectiveness and competitiveness.

Learntesting also has a policy of ‘study until you pass’. We recognise that everyone has different circumstances, so although we set a recommended study period, all full Learntesting branded courses can be extended free of charge on request.

Many testers are attempting to pass the ISTQB Foundation Certificate without any formal study. This is a risky policy even for some experienced testers and Learntesting has deliberately structured its products to allow testers to mitigate the risk of wasting a significant sum of money failing the exam. A structured product portfolio with a range of content from £15 – £200 plus free self-assessments to check areas of weakness, allows students to choose the level of support they need from Learntesting to mitigate the risk of failing the exam.

Learntesting offer businesses ‘Flexible Corporate Licensing’, providing one-year renewable, renegotiable, cost-effective licence to any or all Learntesting content for all those involved with software testing based on the needs and value to the different stakeholder groups including testing professionals, developers and users.

Learntesting also offers businesses private course versions with tutor access to monitor their staff’s progress and help them manage the completion of their studies.

TEST: Who are the company’s main customers today and in the future?

MS: The company has built a global distribution model and sells products via a network of resellers around the world. It features branded portals for training providers who can offer local support and tailored solutions to suit the local needs of their students. The integrated helpdesk allows it to provide an excellent level of support to all students, including administration, accredited tutors and exam booking support. Main distribution portals are in the UK, Europe, Australia and South Korea and this group is being expanded.

We have partnered with a number of exam providers and are able to offer exam vouchers redeemable at over 5,000 test centres in 165 countries around the world, so even if students just need to sit an exam, they can get this from Learntesting along with some value-added free exam preparation.

This month we are launching an innovative ‘Alumni’ scheme allowing those already certified to keep their knowledge up to date, comply with the new ISTQB ‘Code of Ethics’ for testers, plus a range of other benefits. This scheme is available to individuals and also businesses, that can provide access to all their testing staff as part of the scheme. Qualifying candidates can subscribe for one year at a nominal sum, and as a special introductory offer for TEST Magazine Readers, there is an even bigger discount available using Promotion Code TES002 at www.learntesting.com

TEST:  What is the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, i.e. ‘green’ issues?

MS: The Learntesting business has a strong commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility including Green issues. It operates as a ‘virtual’ business, discourages printed matter and its products are delivered almost entirely over the internet.

TEST: What are the future plans for the business; is there anything else you would like to add?

MS: We have recently instituted the Learntesting Alumni Scheme which we see as supporting the professionalisation of the software testing Industry.

We take seriously the continual professional development (CPD) of software testers. After all, if we want to be recognised as a profession, we should start behaving like one! In October 2010, the new release of the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Syllabus introduced a ‘Code of Ethics’ which includes:

“Software testers shall participate in lifelong learning regarding the practice of their profession.”

There is no concept of ‘recertification’ in the ISTQB scheme at Foundation or Advanced Level. The fact that 150,000 individuals have been certified against many different versions of the syllabi over the past 13 years means that one of the fundamental principles the scheme supports is compromised – ‘A common language for testing’. Anyone certifying against the current Foundation syllabus can now be speaking a very different language to someone from several years ago.

We have devised an innovative scheme that supports the new ISTQB ‘Code of Ethics’ and the concept of CPD for testers. The scheme allows anyone already certified to have ongoing access to the very latest materials plus a whole range of other benefits for a nominal sum.

There are a number of reasons why the scheme has benefits for both individuals and businesses. Individuals can demonstrate they are serious about software testing and let them know their employers and clients that they’ve invested in keeping their knowledge up to date and compliant with the ISTQB Testers Code of Ethics. For those moving onto Advanced Level study, they can bring themselves right up to date with their knowledge from the latest version of the Foundation course.

Businesses can keep their complete testing teams’ knowledge up to date, comply with the new Foundation Code of Ethics, and ensure all their certificated staff ‘speak the same language’ in software testing. Business can demonstrate to their staff they are serious about their continuous professional development thus providing a good motivational incentive. Businesses can integrate the Alumni scheme into a larger, flexible annual license to cover all staff involved with testing:

1. Seeking certification

• Professional testers.

2. Already certified

• Keeping their knowledge up to date;

• Preparing for the next level.

3. Need the knowledge – not the certificate

• Anyone involved with testing, including developers and users.

If you are already a certified tester in either the ISTQB or ISEB certification schemes, you can join the Alumni scheme. Joining for a nominal sum gives you 12 months access to the following:

1. Access to the Learntesting e-book library containing 50 testing and testing-related books including some specifically written to support the ISTQB scheme;

2. Latest version of accredited ISTQB Foundation (CTFL) course – 2010 syllabus;

3. Latest versions of ISTQB Advanced Level Courses corresponding to equivalent existing certification (see Table below);

4. Any updates to the course material;

5. Additional testing related content published on a quarterly basis;

6. Discount on purchase of other Learntesting courses;

7. An opportunity to network with other Alumni scheme members.

http://www.learntesting.com/

Facilita claims to be among the few companies supplying the testing industry that is able to offer a complete load testing solution. It is the creator of Forecast , which the company describes as an innovative and cost-effective performance testing tool. Facilita’s clients include many of the UK’s largest organisations, such as government departments, major financial institutions, systems integrators, household names in e-commerce, specialist testing consultancies and software product vendors.

Gordon McKeown is an IT veteran, experienced software designer and joint founder of Facilita. He is deeply engaged with the technical challenges of developing load testing solutions as part of his role as Facilita’s managing director.

T.E.S.T: What are the origins of the company; how did it start and develop; how has it grown and how is it structured?

Gordon McKeown: Facilita is privately owned with headquarters near Congleton in Cheshire. We started as a Software design and development service company and the founders, who are still at the core of company, are seasoned software developers. The mid 1990s saw our first significant involvement in test tool creation. The DSS, now the UK Department of Work and Pensions, commissioned Facilita to create a load testing tool for the comparative benchmarking of servers from suppliers such as IBM. We developed and supported the software and sold it commercially in a limited way (mainly to the DSS suppliers). The software was then developed further (becoming Forecast V2) and was sold to several blue chip organisations.

The decision was made around the year 2000 to specialise as a load testing vendor and to create a commercial load testing tool that built on the experience we had gained. With Forecast Version 3 (V3) we started to make significant inroads into the UK test tools market. Our product development continues to be very intensive. When we created Forecast V4 we carried out a major re-design, incorporating customer feedback, and created a flexible platform for adding functionality, targeting new technology and enabling the testing of difficult user applications.

The Forecast toolset is central to the company. Our ambition is to create the most effective and sophisticated load testing tool and to deliver outstanding support and highly focused services. We are not trying to be a generalist testing services company. Rather, we offer specialist services that support and complement our software and which exploit the wealth of experience that we have in the highly technical discipline of load and performance testing. We also work with our delivery and technical partners to deliver comprehensive testing and QA solutions.

T.E.S.T: What range of products and services does the company offer?

GM: Forecast is our core product. It is a modular load and performance testing tool that we sell along with related services. Forecast has advanced features and targets a wide range of technologies. It is open in design and works well with other tools. It has the features needed for Agile testing as well as ‘traditional’ testing approaches. The ease of integration reassures potential customers who are swayed by large vendors pushing ‘suites’ of testing, planning and monitoring software. Why settle for an inferior or less cost-effective load testing product because you have chosen a particular test planning tool or monitoring software?

A distinguishing feature of Facilita is our high standard of support. Load testing is technically demanding and customers really appreciate our backup. Apart from support and formal training we offer mentoring where an experienced Facilita staff member works within a customer team either to ‘jump start’ a project or to cultivate advanced testing techniques. Forecast simplifies test script creation using intelligent generation from application traces. However, even with Forecast’s outstanding script automation features, scripting remains a challenge for some complex applications, we, therefore offer a direct scripting service to our clients. We advise on all aspects of performance testing and carry out testing either by providing expert consultants or fully managed testing services.                           

We partner with specially selected technology companies that provide excellent complimentary products to broaden our offering. For example Itrinegy supply network emulation tools, Original Software functional testing tools and DynaTrace deep server diagnostics and monitoring.

T.E.S.T: Does the company have any specialisations within the software testing industry?

GM: We are focused on load and performance testing believing that by specialising we can provide much better products and services. However, we do have a wider perspective. The distinction between load testing and related areas such as functional testing and performance engineering is not clear cut, for instance our product is ideal for multi-user functional testing. By exploiting the flexible nature of our technology we are expanding tool functionality into several new areas in response to market and technology change.

T.E.S.T: Who are the company’s main customers today and in the future?

GM: Our customers span a variety of sectors, for instance:

e-commerce & consumer websites: Shop Direct, ASOS, Unilever;
Financial and Banking: CMC Markets, ING Bank, Copperdime;
Government: Department of Work and Pensions, Insolvency Service;
Defence and Engineering: EADS, Intergraph Command & Control Systems;
Application Vendors: Bond Adapt Recruitment Software, NCode Operational Monitoring.

As a tool vendor we directly compete with the market leader HP and the LoadRunner tool. Some of our customers use both tools. Where we win it is for a variety of reasons including value, support, license flexibility and technical capability. The corporate ‘LoadRunner space’ is an important target market.

Another target is organisations that have tightly integrated load testing with development, possibly using Agile methods. Here we are mainly competing against open source tools where we have to demonstrate the added value of our functionality and support. A third market sector is software vendors. Because we offer flexible licensing and the ability to customise the tool to target complex applications, a number of software vendors have adopted Forecast rather than create a bespoke test harness. Finally, I should mention testing service companies and Systems Integrators who like our licensing because it allows them to bundle tool and services in an economic package for their clients.

Forecast’s extensibility allows the targeting of vertical markets characterised by technology, for instance trading systems. This sort of development does not have to be carried out by Facilita. We are planning initiatives to create a market in add-ins from independent vendors. A recent example of successful vertical targeting is mobile technology.

T.E.S.T: What is the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, ie, ‘green’ issues?

GM: We have resisted the temptation to ‘green wash’ our marketing but would make the simple but often overlooked point that effective load testing provides the empirical data needed to avoid over-specifying hardware for production. This not only saves energy and other resources it also saves money. Forecast is also very efficient in its use of hardware.

T.E.S.T: What is your view of the current state of the testing industry and how will the recent global economic turbulence affect it. What are the challenges and the opportunities?

GM: The demand for testing is linked to IT investment which in turn depends on general economic activity and business confidence. Despite moves towards integrating testing with development the demand for testing resources still appears to be biased towards the end of the project cycle. Therefore suppliers of testing services and tools seem to experience a time lag in terms of moving in and out of recession. We have grown significantly despite the recent problems with the economy so feel well positioned for the recovery. We seem to be witnessing an upswing in demand for testing services and tools so, let’s hope we are all spared the dreaded ‘double dip’!

A positive outcome of the economic situation is that organisations are searching for better value options. So, rather than automatically choosing the market leader for new tool purchases or renewing expensive maintenance contracts, they are now talking to us.

There is a growing acceptance of the need to invest in testing, including load testing. The picture is very mixed in terms of the sophistication and effectiveness of testing in practice. We still get calls along the lines of “Please test our new web site, it is going live at the end of next week.” On the other hand some of our customers have implemented fantastic testing practices and test infrastructures around our products.

A persistent problem is the underestimation of the effort and technical expertise required to carry out load testing properly. As tool vendors we are committed to reducing this effort and increasing tester productivity. But let’s be realistic. Load testing is a technically demanding discipline and there is a genuine problem assembling teams with the right mix of skills. Bluntly, there is a shortage of good quality practitioners with in-depth technical experience, which provides both challenges and opportunities. Understanding this, our approach is to combine innovative product development with highly skilled support and services.

T.E.S.T: What are the future plans for the business?

GM: Our focus will remain on product development and broadening Forecast’s scope by adding new protocols and features such as system monitoring using artificial transactions. Targeting new technologies and client feedback are the main drivers of our development roadmap.

We are developing new ways of delivering test services, for example Cloud based testing. We are investing in our customer support services to maintain and improve our high levels of customer satisfaction while we continue to expand in the UK and internationally. We intend to seek additional strategic technology, delivery and re-sale partners.

T.E.S.T: How do you see the future of the software testing sector developing in the medium and longer terms?

GM: Technical challenges will multiply rather than diminish. Systems are being designed as ever more complex mix-ins with multiple end-user interfaces (desktop, mobile, rich web) so there is a terrific challenge to tool developers. Flexible and open design will be paramount for commercial testing tools.

There are grounds for optimism with regards to testing in general and load testing in particular. One engine for positive change is the Agile testing movement which has an influence even on organisations that are not fully committed to this approach. We expect to see greater integration of automated multi-user functional testing and load testing within the development process. Though this will not necessarily mean an end to the ‘classic’ independent test team that load tests either regular or infrequent versions of software prior to release. Many organisations will combine both approaches and there are organisations that source their systems externally that will require episodic QA exercises including load testing as part of acceptance and commissioning.

Will the trend continue of commercial test tool providers being absorbed by enormous companies then losing their creativity and providing less responsive support? As an independent vendor we think this is likely and will therefore give us a competitive advantage.

What of open source tools? Undoubtedly they will play a role but we don’t think they will displace good, well supported commercial tools as they lack functionality and tend to require advanced programming skills for creating anything more than simple tests.

There is a tension between the more Agile approach to testing and outsourcing. It will be interesting to see how that is resolved. The emerging economic powers are bound to impact both as suppliers and consumers of tools and services. Organisations will be more discerning and will mix and match outsourcing, in house development, Agile and traditional methods. That should increase opportunities for specialist firms with a strong track record as will the increasing desire to maximise value for money.

T.E.S.T: Gordon McKeown, thank you very much

www.facilita.com.uk