www.wipro.com
Reimagining Quality Assurance for the Digital Enterprise
Ramesh PaiPractice Head,
Digital Assurance practice
MER
LO
MERLO
02
Q: Is Testing really dead as some say it is?
A: Testing in the conventional sense is dead, but addressing quality in a
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) today (for digital enterprises)
requires an engineering approach rather than a Testing approach.
Addressing quality today is about enabling quality development rather
than validating a work product post-facto. It starts with automating Tests
and is in parallel to development. It is also about validating Application
Programming Languages (APIs) for function and User Interfaces (UIs) for
form factors as well as time to market, as much as about quality itself.
As a corollary – Testers in their traditional form with traditional skills are
dead too. An engineering approach in digital IT requires Testing aptitude
to be married with development skills. Hence, the need for Software
Development Engineer in Test (SDET) rather than a Tester.
Ramesh Pai, Director and Head of Wipro’s Digital Assurance practice, talks about how Quality is
helping bridge this gap. Traditionally considered as the weakest (read slowest) link in a software development
process, QA today is leading from the front to enable Digital Transformation.
Consumerization and digital adoption are leading to polarization of Enterprise IT strategy. Today systems of
engagement are transforming faster than ever with speed and experience as the driving factors. However, the slow
evolution of systems of record are weighing down this transformation.
03
Q: What is changing in this new approach
to quality?
A: The asks from QA are changing. In traditional QA, time (whatever
time remains after development is done), cost (as low as possible) and
quality (got to be perfect out of the door) were the key asks. Whereas
today, digital channels are enabling enterprises to reach end consumers
faster than ever with innovative products and services with experience
at the core. Hence in Digital QA, Speed (Test as you build or even
before), Experience (for personalized and omni-channel experience) and
iterative development (building a Minimum Viable Product) is what both
IT and business leaders are striving for.
Test Automation is moving beyond regression to enable parallel
development via progressive Test automation approaches. Behavioral
Development Driven (BDD) methodology is one such approach where
user expectation of behavior in natural language constructs is the
premise for automated Testing. Enterprises are embracing more and
more Open Source tools, not-yet-established frameworks and are open
to experimentation more than ever and the skill requirements are
changing too.
A: It was, but not in today’s digital world. Digital products and services
are evolving at a rapid pace which has led to consumers demanding these
services with least possible delay. Shorter releases have meant that the
priority of quality assurance has moved towards Test-as-you-build, with
customer experience as the key.
In Continuous Testing approaches, Tests are automated before products
are developed and then integrated with Continuous Integration
pipelines. New age tools and accelerators like EggPlant, JBehave, Appium,
SeeTest etc., enable Tests right at the development stage and crowd
platforms (internal & external) enable early user experience feedback.
All these are enabling QA to lead the Digital Transformation from the
front rather than being the slowest link in the SDLC chain as in the past.
Q: By virtue of its very nature or where it falls
in the lifecycle, isn’t it counter intuitive to
think of QA as a function that enables speed
or influences experience or effectively delivers
Minimum Viable Products (MVP)?
Q: The above mentioned trends are certainly
true about greenfield digital development
projects, but how do you support a large part
of Enterprise IT that is still migrating from
legacy architectures and infrastructure?
A: Digital Transformation today is not just about overhauling the UI, but
about transforming the entire ecosystem, including infra (cloud) and
software stacks (as a service). Quality Assurance, thus, is about
supporting such transitions and is achieved through techniques like
virtualization and, in many cases, SDETs, building custom tools for
validation. Remember, engineering is an approach to QA for today’s
digital enterprises.
“Speed, Experience &
Iterative Development are the
new Time, Cost & Quality”
04
Q: What benefits do large enterprises draw
from QA initiatives in the digital age?
A: With competition at an all-time high, digital age enterprises strive for
faster time-to-market with enhanced user experience. The end result:
higher conversion rates and customer loyalty highlighted by a
positive Net Promoter Score (NPS). These benefits are derived
today by reducing cycle time through QA approach like Continuous
Testing. This approach also provides much-needed flexibility and
enhanced user experience by incorporating user feedback early in
the iterative development. This eventually results in cost savings
through early bug fixes. It is estimated that by 2020, customer
experience will overtake price and product as the key brand
differentiator. The ideal way forward is a user-centric and Continuous
Testing approach for QA in digital.
05
About Wipro Ltd.
Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT) is a leading information technology, consulting and business process services company that delivers solutions to enable its
clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business
through Technology.” By combining digital strategy, customer centric design, advanced analytics and product engineering approach, Wipro helps its
clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to
sustainability and good corporate citizenship, Wipro has a dedicated workforce of over 160,000, serving clients in 175+ cities across 6 continents. For
more information, please visit www.wipro.com
For more information, please visit www.wipro.com
About the Author
Ramesh Pai
Ramesh Pai is the Head for Wipro’s Digital Assurance practice. Ramesh, who has worked with global customers for developing Digital Assurance
strategy for large transformation engagements, handles Technology, Enterprise and Financial Services verticals. He also has expertise in managing and
consulting large QA programs and QA CoE blueprinting with a focus on Digital Assurance.
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