Page - 21 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

The Next Generation Tester: Meeting the Challenges ofa Changing IT World 21 Challenges for testing • A wide range of functional and non-functional quality attributes must be considered, suchas: – Performanceofdataanalysis toprovidebusinesswith“instant” results – Scalability of applications to enable potentially huge volumes of data to be acquiredand integrated into theexistingsystem data – Functionalcorrectnessofanalysismethodsandalgorithmsapplied to thedata • Datacurrency,backupandrecoverycapabilitiesmustbe testedtoensurethehigh quality of data. In many cases this data may represent a “single point of truth” for theentirebusiness. Competencies requiredof theNG Tester: • Providestakeholderswithanassessmentofproductriskswhichconsider thekey qualityattributesofBD applications. • Agree testinggoalswith awidevarietyofbusiness stakeholders. • Conduct exploratory testing sessions with business stakeholders to evaluate the valueandaccuracyof resultsprovidedby theBig Dataapplication. 6.2 TestingApplicationsUsingConnectedDevices Applicationswhichuseconnecteddevices fall into twobroadcategories: • Appswhich runonhand-heldmobiledevicessuchasa smartphone • Applications built on the concept of the “Internet of Things”. In this case, the connecteddevicemightbeacar,a refrigeratororanyother formofdevicewhich canbewirelessly connectedvia the internet Challenges forTesting The wide range of quality characteristics to be considered presents the main challenge for testing. In addition to functionality, these include the following non- functionalcharacteristicsandassociatedanswers tobeprovidedby testing: • Usability: – Can the usereffectivelyandefficientlyuse the application? – Is therea positiveexperiencefor theuser? – Canuserswithdisabilities alsoaccess theapplications? • Performance – Does thesystem respondto user requests ina timelymanner? – Can the systemdealwith the loads imposedbymanyusers?