Page - 37 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

Testing in DevOps 37 5.2 Soft Skills Althoughthefocusnowseemstobeonthetechnicalskills thatatestengineerneeds, it is also important that a test engineerhasgoodsoft skills. Soft skills areneeded to get the conversation between different parties going and to keep it going. If a test engineer is going to be an intermediary, then people skills must be in order. These skillsmake it possible to takea leadingrole. 6 Conclusions The practice of testing in DevOps starts with the same foundations as testing in a non-DevOpsenvironmentwouldhave.Theend-to-endresponsibilitythata teamhas for a service means that quality requirements for both developmentand operations mustbeconsidered.Quality in the Operationssectionof theSDLC wasusuallynot includedbut is now part of the scope of testing. The scope for testing in DevOps is ontheentirefunctionalserviceateamdelivers.End-to-endtestingthereforecantake adifferentform.Morespecializedtests, likeperformanceandsecuritytests,willpart of thenewscope,althoughonasmallerscale.Dueto thespecializednatureof these tests, however, it is possible that these tests will be executed as part of a testing service outside the team. DevOps teams should take ownership of these tests and shouldmakesure they are executed.Functional tests in DevOpsshould focusmore on the customer as part of customer-centric testing. This makes sure the quality a customerwants isputcentral in theworka teamperforms. InDevOpsyouwant toautomateeverythingyoucan.Automationin testingmust beusedwhereitcanbeused.Withautomationteamscangetcontinuousfeedbackon their serviceand thesteps theytake toaddnewfeatures to their service.Monitoring canbeavaluableadditiontotestingandhelptogetquickfeedbackonthefunctional and technical levels on the service a team delivers. This feedback can be used to shape theservice ina way it fits thecustomer. The role of a test engineer changes to a DevOps Engineer with a test expertise. The test expertise as part of the T-shaped model consists of knowledge and skills to implement and teach test strategies in a team. The test expertise should be able to connect Business and IT and different kinds of expertise in a team to get all the requirementsforquality ina service.Responsibility for testingmustbesharedwith the entire team. The engineer with test expertise can take a leading role in this and actasa coach.