Five QA Trends That Will Rule In 2016

2015 has been a revolutionary year in the testing space with numerous upcoming trends and explorations in the IT industry. With the increase in virtualization, Service-Oriented Architecture, and advancement of cloud computing, QA analysts and testers today have innumerable aspects to consider, since the emerging trends in software testing have become a challenge. Taking the trends of 2015 a step ahead, it is expected that 2016 will also be a challenging year for the software testing industry.

So, are you prepared to knock down the challenges? For that, you should be aware of the latest trends that are expected to rule in 2016. Discussed here are the top 5 QA trends of 2016:

1. Mobility Application Testing

With the exponential surge of mobile devices and growing usage of mobile applications today, the demand for mobile testing has increased rapidly in the recent years. This often includes functionality, security and performance testing of mobile apps and devices. Some apps today harness the potential of cloud computing to connect with ERP systems. In such cases, data security and speed are of paramount importance. The varying OS available on the handsets add to the challenge, increasing the need for integration and functionality testing.

The radical growth in the mobile market is nothing new. The skyrocketing mobile trend has been prevalent for several years as a growing number of consumers now spend more time on Smartphone devices, and use unique and interactive apps. Unfortunately, the mobile app testing industry has not grown at that pace. According to a report, 56% of organizations still lack effective mobile testing procedures. Additionally, with more devices communicating in the Internet of Things, security remains to be a priority in QA testing. It is expected that in 2016, businesses would adopt effective mobile app testing procedures to address performance, security and functionality concerns prevalent today.     

2. Security Testing    

As increased connectivity of information systems and data, in addition to the global phenomenon of Internet of Things and the growth of cloud computing, would take a center stage in the IT industry, comprehensive security testing of applications is going to be of foremost importance.

3. Cloud-based Testing

One of the major software testing trends2016 would be cloud-based testing. Needless to say, cloud computing has become an integral part of the IT industry today, with about 26% of software applications being hosted on the cloud. Owing to this, IT experts are seeing a positive growth in cloud-based testing this year. Adding to the delight, the cloud infrastructure provides a more convenient testing solution, unlike other test environments. Since there are major concerns related to performance and data security in cloud-based environments, effective cloud testing will be more crucial to address such issues. Cloud testing is also flexible in nature, which allows businesses to scale up and down based on dynamic testing strategy.

4. Testing in Agile Development Environment

Organizations today adopt agile software development methodology, and it goes without saying that they want a holistic testing approach that fits into their methodology. In 2016, continuous and rigorous testing is something that you will be seeing as more and more enterprises today are focused on reaching the delivery phase without having to wait for long. QA testing trainingin production phase will be more commonly used by testers to render continuous update on how a software application is shaping up in terms of its functionalities and value to business. However, agile methods will offer both opportunities and challenges for testers.

5. Test Data Management

Even in 2016, Test Data Management continues to be a significant problem for several organizations. As more and more companies are embracing DevOps, agile and cloud methodologies, test data creation and maintenance is becoming complex. It has also become a challenge to synchronize testing, and control and maintain the data under test. This year, TDM may become a priority for QA analysts and testers, and more focus should be given on effective data creation, control and maintenance.