Today, the demand for high-quality software is rapidly rising for businesses across industries. Every business needs scalable, robust, and high-quality software to deliver a greater user experience. But, how can companies to achieve high-quality software? It can be achieved by leveraging Quality Assurance (QA), which helps track the software quality and ensures that the specified software meets the defined business requirements.

What is Quality Assurance (QA)?

Quality Assurance or QA testing determines whether the software meets the specific quality standards. Software quality assurance involves evaluating the software based on functionality, performance, usability, security, etc. QA testing also involves checking the quality of the process used to develop, test, and release the software. Thus, QA is an integral part of quality management focused on providing confidence internally to business managers and stakeholders and externally to customers, government agencies, regulators, and third parties.

According to Wikipedia, Quality assurance (QA) prevents mistakes and defects in manufactured products and avoids problems when delivering products or services to customers. ISO 9000 defines QA as part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled.

Benefits of leveraging QA testing services

Ensures proper procedures are followed:

By leveraging QA testing, businesses can ensure that their software is developed and tested by following proper procedures throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

Ensures bug-free software:

QA testing ensures that software is free from bugs as the product is tested end-to-end by QA testers.

Improves product quality:

QA teams perform testing, process monitoring, audits, and product evaluation to enhance the overall product quality.

Protects brand reputation:

By leveraging QA testing, businesses can improve product quality and achieve bug-free software that ultimately uplifts their reputation and delivers a greater customer experience.

Ensures security:

QA testing ensures that the software is built and tested and is free from any security loopholes, which ultimately improves the security-based features of the software.

Improves customer satisfaction:

QA testing ensures that the software has all the required features, works appropriately, and improves customer satisfaction.

Major difference between QA and QE

QA teams help prevent defects in the software by ensuring it is built and tested by following all the procedures throughout the SDLC. This QA process ensures that software meets all quality standards and is free from bugs. On the other hand, Quality Engineering (QE) assures high standards during software development and is explicitly suitable for agile and DevOps methodologies. Typically, quality engineers play a critical role in quality engineering by creating, implementing, and maintaining systems to ensure effective quality assurance automation processes.

Another significant difference is that the software quality assurance team or the software quality analysts focus on implementing quality in the software during its built stage. They even perform quality tests. Whereas the software quality engineers focus on further improving the QA process. They work only after the software quality analysts complete their work and submit QA requirements.

What role does Quality Assurance play in DevOps?

Today’s businesses are rapidly adopting DevOps processes to automate software deployment and embrace a culture where development and testing are taken up parallelly. The DevOps methodology helps ensure quality checks at every step of the software development and ensures faster releases and faster time-to-market.

Since quality is deeply integrated into DevOps, QA becomes an integral part of the DevOps processes, as stated below:

• In a DevOps environment, the QA teams work collaboratively with development and operations teams to ensure faster releases with continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) to get high-quality software.

• Quality is ensured with QA in place throughout the software development, software testing, and software delivery cycle within the DevOps processes.

• By ensuring QA in DevOps, the development and testing teams take full responsibility for the software quality.

• QAops is the combination of QA with IT Operation and Development teams. It helps deliver high-quality software at a faster pace and enables better communication between cross-functional teams in the software development process.

• Thus, QA helps release code consistently and ensures quality is not just limited to removing the bugs but is built throughout the software release cycle with DevOps.

Further, businesses across industries need quality software, and seemingly QA plays a significant role in enabling quality products for all industries.

What is the significance of QA across leading industries in 2024?

Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI):

Today, the BFSI industry heavily depends on digital transformation technology and needs high-quality apps to deliver a great CX, which can be achieved by leveraging QA testing. Some of the other factors which establish QA testing needs for the BFSI sector include:

• BFSI apps usually have multi-tier or N-tier architecture with several underlying app layers that need effective QA testing validation.

• BFSI apps should have proper integration with third-party apps and payment gateways, which requires QA testing.

• BFSI industry should ensure no app downtime or server outage situations, which is ensured through effective QA testing.

• It is essential to conduct QA testing of BFSI apps to ensure there are no security loopholes in the app that cyber attackers can exploit.

• Moreover, BFSI apps must comply with open banking standards, regulatory compliances, and web content accessibility standards which are ensured through effective QA testing.

Retail/eCommerce:

The demand for high-performing eCommerce apps is rapidly rising. Even a small bug in an eCommerce app can drastically decrease sales volume or result in visitor/customer loss, revenue dips, and more. Thus, QA testing is essential for eCommerce and retail apps. Some of the other factors include:

• QA testing ensures seamless eCommerce app cart functionality for sudden price changes, discounts, special offers, or when a new product is added to the shopping cart.

• To ensure the correct display of the product page, proper app navigation, and fully functional links, QA testing is essential.

• Also, eCommerce apps must perform seamlessly on all devices, platforms, and OS to attract more customers, which again needs QA testing.

• eCommerce apps must be secure as it contains customer’s sensitive data like their phone no, banking credentials, card details etc. which must be protected by leveraging QA testing

• QA testing ensures eCommerce apps comply with WCAG guidelines to ensure seamless access of apps to all.

Telecom:

The Telecom industry plays a critical role in keeping the world connected, and as the apps are interconnected, they should perform seamlessly, which needs QA testing. Some other reasons why the telecom industry needs QA testing include:

• Telecom apps usually are complex and have several underlying API layers which need effective validation, which can be achieved through QA testing.

• The Telecom industry has to deal with complex tasks like network configuration, network inventory, fault management, and service provisioning, which need proper QA testing.

• By leveraging security testing, telecom businesses can be ensured that their apps are free from vulnerabilities and security flaws.

• Further, QA testing can also help telecom businesses optimize their time-to-market and reduce the number of customer complaints.

Healthcare:

The healthcare sector deals with critical patient information and must ensure that healthcare, pharma, and other apps are free from bugs and security loopholes that need effective QA testing. Some of the other reasons why the healthcare sector needs QA testing include:

• QA testing is required for the functional validation of the healthcare apps

• Healthcare apps need to be accessible to all people, including people with certain disabilities, which can be ensured by leveraging QA accessibility testing.

• The healthcare sector can ensure quick loading speed, effective app navigation, and seamless compatibility of their apps across OS and devices by leveraging QA testing.

• The healthcare industry is data-rich, and there is an essential need to store and organize information properly, which needs big data testing, an integral part of QA testing.

Travel and Logistics:

Logistics is an essential part of the supply chain for every industry and is constantly under pressure to deliver products faster. Due to the rapid technological advancements, the logistics sector needs to adopt disruptive QA solutions to ensure continuous improvement, enhanced communications, better visibility, and faster delivery. Some of the reasons why this industry needs QA testing include:

• With QA testing, the travel and logistics industry can save itself from situations of communication failure that can lead to fatalities, delayed deliveries, inappropriate supplies, and loss of business, client, reputation, and money.

• QA testing also improves the operational efficiency of the logistics industry

• Security vulnerabilities can be identified and removed from the logistics and related software by leveraging security testing.

• The logistics sector heavily depends on technology and is adopting cloud apps rapidly. QA testing ensures proper functioning, security, and data migration from physical storage to cloud apps.

Best QA practices for software testing in 2024

Ensure continuous monitoring:

Ensures continuous monitoring of the SDLC process to ensure that the agreed standards and procedures are followed while the software is built and tested.

Include risk management:

For an effective QA process, testers must include risk management and other related processes to identify, assess, prioritize, monitor, and control the risk.

Check compliance with industry standards:

QA automation testers must check that a product meets all the necessary compliance and industry standards by leveraging compliance testing.

Prioritize bugs based on risk and usage:

It is best to prioritize the bugs before fixing them based on the risk and usage of that particular area of an app.

Ensure testing throughout the SDLC:

Testers need to conduct QA testing throughout the SDLC to remove bugs as early as possible.

Automate regression suite:

QA automation testers must automate the regression suite to ensure automated regression tests whenever changes in the software are introduced. The automated regression suite ensures there are no bugs in the software even after frequent code changes.

Ensure accurate reports documentation:

It is best to document the software testing results in a report as it acts as excellent training material and helps stakeholders make informed decisions.

Major types of QA testing for businesses to leverage

Functional testing

• Unit testing

• Integration testing

• Regression testing

• Test automation

• User acceptance testing

Non-functional testing

• Security testing

• Performance and load testing

• Usability testing

• Accessibility testing

Next-gen & Specialized testing

• RPA testing

• AI-based testing

• Digital testing

• IoT testing

• Blockchain testing

• API testing

• Cloud testing

• Data migration testing

Top 5 QA Trends to watch in 2024

QAOps to leap in 2024:

Today’s digital businesses are rapidly adopting DevOps methodology to deliver software faster. However, faster delivery alone is not enough to deliver a great CX, and it is essential to ensure quality along with faster delivery. This is where QA in DevOps or QAOps plays its role, and it is expected to take a leap in 2024.

RPA to lead charts in 2024:

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is an extension of automation, and it can be applied to automate almost anything in a structured form. In the upcoming years, the usage of RPA in software testing is expected to rise more as it will let testers automate large and complex data through an easy-to-use interface. Testers will be able to give commands to already taught robots to perform several tasks easily and can significantly save a lot of time and effort.

According to Globenewswire, the Global Robotic Process (RPA) Automation Market size is expected to reach $7.2 billion by 2025, rising at a CAGR of 32.6% during the forecast period of 2019-2025.

Rise in the usage of AI and ML in software testing:

As businesses have moved towards digital transformation, it has become essential to embed advanced technologies like AI and ML into software testing. AI and ML in software testing can help businesses understand customer behavior, predict market demand and deliver software faster with advanced testing techniques. Due to this reason, the use of AI and ML in software testing is expected to rise more in 2024.

According to Gartner, Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) software revenue is forecasted to reach $62.5 billion in 2024, increasing 21.3 percent from 2021.

Low code/no-code automation to gain prominence:

The low-code/no-code automation platforms are software programs that require little to no coding knowledge. It offers pre-designed workflow templates and a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for customizing workflows that people without back-end computer programming knowledge can use easily. Since it provides various benefits to businesses, like faster time to market, scalability, self-service capability, etc., their usage is expected to grow more in 2024.

According to NASSCOM, the global low-code development industry was valued at $13.8 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.1% during the forecast period 2021-2025

Cyber Security Testing to gain more attention:

Due to the rapidly rising cyber-attacks, cybersecurity has become an essential need for all industries and has also become a boardroom discussion for CXOs and CIOs. Today, businesses have realized the importance of security testing of their applications, networks, and systems to ensure secure transactions and complete protection of their customer data. Thus, cyber security testing has gained a lot of importance, and its prominence is expected to rise more in the coming years.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the Global Cybersecurity Market was valued at USD 132.94 billion in 2021, and it is expected to register a CAGR of 14.5% from 2024 to 2027.

Leading QA testing tools in 2024

UiPath Test Suite

It is an open-source RPA testing tool that can automate any desktop or web app. This RPA tool offers a complete suite for functional testing under one roof. The UiPath Test Suite contains StudioPro, Orchestrator, Test Management Hub, Test Manager, and Robots. UiPath can be hosted in virtual terminals or cloud environments and works well with .Net, Java, Flash, PDF, Legacy, SAP, etc.

Tricentis TOSCA:

It is an AI-driven, next-gen QA automation tools that allows Agile and DevOps teams to achieve test automation goals rapidly. This tool enables teams to go beyond continuous testing with AI. Tricentis allows automating end-to-end testing of software applications. This tool combines multiple aspects of software testing (test case design, test automation, test data design and generation, and analytics) to test GUIs and APIs from a business perspective.

Selenium:

It is an open-source web automation tool and supports all OS like Windows, MAC, Linux, etc., and web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc. It supports programming languages such as Java, PHP, C#, Python, Ruby, Perl, etc. It comes with a record and playback feature that helps test web applications. Testers can run various scripts in parallel using Selenium, making the QA automation testing process faster.

Katalon Studio:

It is a codeless QA automation tool used to test API, mobile, web, and desktop applications. This testing tool supports multiple platforms like Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it also supports both SOAP and RESTful for API and services testing. This tool has some great features like recording actions, creating test cases, generating test scripts, executing tests, reporting results, and easily integrating with many other tools throughout the SDLC.

Botium:

It is an open-source QA test automation tool provided by Selenium and is used for testing chatbot applications. It supports chatbot makers in training and quality assurance: Chatbot makers define what the chatbot is supposed to do.

Conclusion

Today’s businesses need high-quality products to deliver a greater CX and to beat the competition. Quality assurance automation is an effective way to ensure the quality of products and services, and it can save cost, time, and effort by preventing defects in the software as QA teams identify them. Businesses should leverage software quality assurance testing from a next-gen specialist QA and software testing services provider for superior quality products and deliver a great CX.

As a Leading QA testing services provider, how can TestingXperts help businesses?

TestingXperts (Tx) is one of the 5 largest pure-play software testing services provider globally. Tx has been chosen as a trusted QA partner by Fortune clients and ensures superior testing outcomes for its global clientele. We have rich expertise in enabling end-to-end testing services for global clients across various industry domains like healthcare, telecom, BFSI, retail & eCommerce, etc.

Our wide range of QA testing services includes:

Test Advisory: TestingXperts’ Test Advisory Services provide you with specialist advice to help you achieve overall product quality, reduced release cycle time, faster time-to-market, and significant reductions in QA costs. Our Test advisory services will help you move to the next maturity level in QA.

DevOps Consulting Services: Our DevOps experts will analyze your business needs and help you achieve a strategic DevOps adoption roadmap. Our wide range of DevOps services like DevOps consulting, DevOps CI/CD implementation, Enterprise DevOps Transformation, IAC consulting and Implementation, and Test Automation in DevOps will help you achieve faster and quality releases.

Test Automation: We have in-house test automation experts with rich expertise in industry-leading test automation tools. We can help you reduce regression time and cost with our end-to-end QA automation testing services with our in-house test automation accelerator Tx-Automate.

Functional Testing: Tx has years of experience providing functional testing services for clients across domains. Our wide range of functional testing services includes automation, manual, regression, and mobile application testing. We have in-house mobile test labs with numerous mobile devices.

Non-Functional Testing: Tx provides a wide range of non-functional testing services such as performance and load testing, security testing, usability testing, and accessibility testing. We also have an in-house performance testing accelerator, ‘Tx-PEARS,’ which helps with all non-functional testing requirements, including continuous monitoring of your infrastructure in production as well as in lower environments.

Next-gen Testing: Our wide range of next-gen testing services include AI testing, RPA testing using UiPath Test Suite, Digital testing, IoT testing, etc.