Page - 183 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

Developing Software Qualityand Testing Capabilities inHispanic America:... 183 testing, their servicescomprise:qualityassurance,softwaretesting, testautomation, performance testing, mobile software testing, security and penetration testing and agile software testing. The company is led by Blanca Treviño since year 2000 and has subsequently experienced steady growth. Ms. Treviño has also been a role model for women in technology,helping initiatives to attract female talent to IT. In ordertoovercomelimitationsofnewhiresinsoftwaretestingandqualityassurance, Softtekhasawide-rangingtrainingandcareerdevelopmentprogramme,whichalso includesbridges to industry-recognisedprofessionaland technical certifications. NotableamongstLatinAmericancompaniesisChoucairTestinghttp://www.cho ucairtesting.comFounded in 1999by María Clara Choucair, the companyfocusses on software testing and quality assurance services. Their approach, known as Business Centric Testing (BCT), concentrates on designing an appropriate service adapted to each client company’s business model, competitive strategy and user experience.ChoucairTesting hasbecomethe largestHispanic America providerof softwarequalityassurance and testing services. Buildingupon its experience in the banking and finance industry, Choucair now covers more application and business domains with diverse technologies. Their testing services comprise: functional testing, performance testing, mobile testing, web testing, business intelligence testing, usability testing, accounting & finance testing, migration testing, compre- hensivesystem testing, comprehensiveacceptance testing, automation testing,SAP automation testing, payroll testing, security testing, transactional switch testing, internationalisation and localisation testing, testing environment preparation and continual improvement, technologyandknowledgetransfer. As the need for controlling, testing and improving software quality grows in Hispanic America, the region has witnessed the appearance of more companies specialising in those services. Countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Uruguay have been successful in attracting foreign direct investment from technology companieswhoeitherestablish theirownunitsorcentresofexcellenceonsoftware testing, or seek to outsource or out-task to specialist companies. Thus, the demand forprofessionalsknowledgeableonsoftwarequalityand testing hasgrownsteadily during the last decade. 5 Impactof Professional Certification Schemes Motivated by the need to grow and improve her company’s chosen domain of expertise, María Clara Choucair sought out training frameworks and certification schemes in order to develop Choucair Testing’s specialist workforce. She found the ISTQB certification schemesand, with help from the Spanish Software Testing Qualifications Board (SSTQB) and the International Software Quality Institute (iSQI), led the establishment of the Hispanic America Software Testing Qualifica- tionsBoard, as a regionalmemberof the ISTQB.