Page - 16 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

16 G.Bath For two decades the software testing industry has established the tester as a role.Organizationssuch as the InternationalSoftwareTesting QualificationsBoard (ISTQB) and the International Software Quality Institute (iSQI) have done much to establish this role and have also helped to define more specific roles such as Test Manager and Test Analyst. Those roles are now well established, which is a credit to those organizations, and a great improvement on the “dark” days of the past where being a tester was not always considered to be a particularly attractive and challenging career to pursue. But does this role-based approach still serve the IT industrywell? Looking at the title of this article, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Next Generation (NG) Tester is just anotherattempt to define a new role in testing. Infact, theNGTester ismoreaconceptualidea thananewrole.TheNGTestermay beconsideredas someonewitha particular set of testingcompetencies that suits an organization or project. The word “competency” is of particular relevance here. A competency: • Defines something that a tester can do (e.g. design effective test cases for AI applications) • Is something thata tester candeliver in real lifeprojects • Can beevaluatedwithin thecontextofa skills framework This chapter first considers some of the key factors that influence businesses today and how the IT industry has responded. Based on those factors, the chapter considers some of the principal testing competencies required of an NG Tester. These are described within the conceptual model of a professional development skills framework which provides both a structure for organizing testing competen- cies and an approach to defining and evaluating them. Using the skills framework, organizationsand projects will be able to flexibly define what competencies “their NGTesters” need. 2 Forces ThatDrive Businesses Fundamentally, the following three forces influencebusiness today: 1. A continuousdrive forcost-effectiveness 2. Theneed todelivernewproductsandservicesquickly,flexibly,and frequently 3. Theability to adapt (i.e. agility) Quality?Yes,but achievingqualitymust be inbalancewith thesekey forces.