Industry news

While attending the Eurostar Testing Conference last year in Copenhagen and on a recent visit to Silicon Valley in the US, I came across a question several times about the future of software testers and software testing companies. There is a growing sentiment that in the world of DevOps and Continuous Delivery, software testing as a discipline will merge with Development and there will be no need for specialist software tester roles. Will the software testers become extinct then?

The answer is NO! In fact they are the future of tomorrow...

Software testing has become and will become even more important with the evolution of the software industry. Software testing has become an integrated part of the software development lifecycle and not an independent or separate activity as in the past.

In the world of Continuous Delivery of software, Testing is proving to be the weakest link. This is an exciting time for the testing industry to evolve and adapt to the changes happening in the wider world. The role of software testers is changing and will continue to change in the future.

Will software programmers perform testing going forward?

Programmers take pride in the software they write and do not have a testing mindset to break it. Hence, professional testers will always be required to ensure high-quality software. A new breed of testers called SDETs - Software Development Engineers in Test - is coming to life. The SDET is part of the development team and participates in the complete development process from a testing standpoint.

Role of SDETs in the production of software

An SDET must be able to create high-quality, maintainable, and performant code. The code generally created by the SDET however is for automated test cases and the frameworks to execute and report them. An SDET's knowledge of software design is often focused on testability, robustness, and performance, and they usually play a contributory or reviewer role in the creation of designs for production software. An SDET’s skill set will often include more experience in software testing processes and how to test software.

While the designers and developers of software architect the applications and write code to bring the software to life, the SDETs write code to automate testing of the software in parallel to ensure that the software is doing what it is supposed to do. Primarily there are three parts in a modern software application: the front end - often called GUI; the middleware which mainly consists of APIs and web services; and the back end. Some of the components in the software do not have a face and need deep technical knowledge and expertise to test them. In addition, SDETs enable continuous testing by bringing process lifecycle automation and creating CI/CD pipelines within a software project.

Where lies the opportunity for software testers and software testing companies?

I am an optimist by nature and see opportunity in any adversity. While the pessimists see the evolution of the software industry from traditional waterfall and agile to continuous delivery as demise of the Testing industry and testers, I see it as the greatest opportunity of all time. Every organisation in today’s competitive business world is looking to hit the market faster than their competitors to get the first mover advantage and continually improve their products/ service offerings within a shorter span. In order to make that possible, every organisation is aiming for continuous delivery of software which makes continuous testing and test automation an integral and important part of the software development lifecycle.

At the Eurostar Testing Conference, there were multiple Test Automation Product companies demonstrating their products and the customers were pulled in all directions. These are world-class products but every customer has specific needs and one size cannot fit all, making the life of IT leaders even more difficult in deciding what is best for their organisation. Hence the need of Specialist Continuous Testing companies and professionals who have worked with diverse technology/ tool landscapes and domains will continue to increase. Only the specialists having experience of working on variety of automation tools in the market will be able to guide enterprises on their Automation Strategy, Tool selection and implementation of Continuous Testing.

I see the industry standing at an inflection point, transitioning from the ‘old’ way of doing testing to the ‘new’ age of modern testing. The need for today’s testing companies and testers is to be ready for the future by re-skilling themselves and companies who make this move quicker than others will survive and thrive.

About the Author

Manish Gupta is a Serial Entrepreneur with year after year success achieving revenue, profit and business growth in various ventures globally over the last 23 years in International, Multi-cultural environments. He co-founded Damco Group in 1996 with the vision of enabling enterprises to leverage technology for business growth and success and started operations across US, UK, Europe and APAC with revenues in excess of $55M. Manish founded TestingXperts in 2014 with a vision to create the world's largest and most trusted QA and Software Testing organisation with a focus on quality, innovation and satisfied employees & clients.

The sourcing market in EMEA ended 2017 on a high note, “with double-digit growth in both traditional and as-a-service contracting values” according to the 4Q17 EMEA ISG Index published by Information Services Group (ISG). After a mid-year slump the market was up 27% sequentially in the final quarter, according to the Index (which tracks commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value (ACV) of over €4m), with the as-a-service sector growing by a record €1.1bn.

The results show a continuation of the trends which have been dominating the sourcing landscape in recent times, with “traditional” sourcing in significant decline (ACV dropped for the fourth year in a row “despite a slight increase in the number of contracts) but with that slack being more than picked up by as-a-service spend (especially the infrastructure-as-a-service market which grew by 58% year-on-year to hit €3bn); this picture was mirrored elsewhere in the world, according to ISG, with as-a-service overtaking traditional models in both the Americas and APAC at the end of last year.

Steven Hall, partner and president, ISG, said: “Despite a dip in the third quarter of 2017, the market recovered in the final quarter and demonstrated steady overall performance for the year. It is especially heartening to see the adoption of cloud-based services accelerate across the region, following a slow start in previous years. European businesses are seeing the potential of new technologies to help them on their digital transformation journeys, while reducing costs and improving agility. Macroeconomic uncertainty across Europe makes the business of predictions tricky. Nonetheless, the trend towards as-a-service is one we can expect to see accelerating over the next 12 months, with consistent growth of 20 percent or higher for the as-a-service market.”

LONDON, 15/1/18: Firstly, of course, it’s only right to express our dismay at these events and to extend our deepest sympathies to the thousands of Carillion employees currently facing an extremely uncertain and worrying future. We can only hope that as many as possible of these jobs will be safeguarded by any potential rescue action, or transferred to other service providers under TUPE legislation in the usual manner.

The collapse of Carillion is, simply, tragic news: the list of major UK services companies is not a huge one and the apparent collapse of one of its number is deeply troubling for the market generally – and perhaps symptomatic of the intense pressures facing the industry today. Be that as it may, however, we have to ask: how did things get this bad for Carillion specifically? How did such a huge and hitherto successful company fail so spectacularly and at such apparent cost?

While many details have yet to emerge it appears that Carillion’s fall has resulted largely from substantial cost overruns on merely three very large contracts. There are of course countless potential causes of failure in outsourcing – but correct relationship management, constant review and a decent level of transparency go a long way towards safeguarding against such breakdowns, and any autopsy into recent events should certainly examine whether the above factors were present to the requisite standard in the three contracts in question (and, indeed, in any others which contributed to Carillion’s woes.

Properly managed, properly governed, properly scrutinised outsourcing arrangements simply should not go bad in this way – and if they do, remedial action should be taken as soon as possible, involving all stakeholders from the start. It’s easy to blame Carillion but those on all sides of these deals had a responsibility for their successful implementation and completion, and it remains to be seen to what extent the right governance was or was not lacking on the part of Carillion’s customers and partners.

We do not yet know how this situation will unfold in terms of the measures to be taken to ensure the integrity of the many services provided by Carillion to the British public; calls have already come from many corners for the company, or individual contracts, to be nationalised, but considering the government’s track record can we possibly be confident that this would be the best – or least bad – outcome?

On the other hand, allowing private sector organisations to cherry-pick still-profitable contracts whilst leaving the state to pick up the tab for bedevilled ones would surely be insurmountably unpalatable to the public and further add to the cloud hanging over the sector as a result of Carillion’s untimely demise.

Finding a solution to this crisis which appeals to all parties involved may well be impossible – but whatever the final decision, the priority now must be safeguarding the provision of those public services for which Carillion has up to now been responsible, and protecting as many as possible of those jobs whose future is now in doubt. Anything less would be a failure more significant even than the collapse of one of the country’s most important and most prominent service providers.

Kerry Hallard

CEO, Global Sourcing Association (GSA) UK

The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso dropped yesterday, along with several key stocks across North America, after Canadian government sources revealed that Ottowa is “increasingly convinced” that President Donald Trump intends to pull the USA out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

One source – requesting anonymity “because of the sensitivity of the situation” – told Reuters that “the government is increasingly sure about this… It is now planning for Trump to announce the withdrawal.”

Meanwhile, a Mexican government source told the aforementioned news agency that “we have always said that this is a possibility”, referring to a possible US exit from NAFTA.

President Trump has consistently railed against NAFTA since before entering the political arena, and with treaty renewal negotiations ongoing has called for several significant and controversial changes, threatening repeatedly to yank the USA out of the Agreement should they not be forthcoming.

Separately, in another sign of worsening relations between Canada and the USA – which enjoy the second-largest trading relationship in the world – the government in Ottowa on Monday filed a 32-page complaint against its southern neighbour with the World Trade Organisation, accusing the USA of repeatedly breaking trade rules over the last two decades.

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The United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) announced on Tuesday that the Trump administration does not intend any changes to the controversial H-1B visa regime which would force visa holders to leave the USA, in a move which has been greeted with relief by India’s tech community.

Fears had arisen following reports last week that President Trump was considering changes to the system which might result in the deportation of up to 750,000 Indian employees currently residing in the USA. However, the USCIS “is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States”, the organisation announced – with USCIS media relations head Jonathan Withington adding that “even if it were, such a change would not likely result in these H-1B visa holders having to leave the United States because employers could request extensions in one-year increments” under a different section of the visa code.

India’s National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) has repeatedly cautioned against any disruption to the H-1B program, saying that it would have detrimental effects on both the USA and India; nevertheless, it remains to be seen how President Trump’s ‘America First’ approach and current antipathy towards further immigration might eventually impact on overseas tech workers and their employers.

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There is optimism surrounding the Indian economy after the release of the nation’s GDP figures and a recent decision by Moody’s, the credit ratings agency, to upgrade the country’s rating for the first time in more than a decade. The rosy outlook stems from an expectation that Narendra Modi’s institutional and fiscal reforms will improve the long term economic outlook of the nation, which has been plagued with stagnating growth in recent years.

The BPO industry should take courage from this outlook, which represents a maturing of the economy and the outsourcing industry in particular. Outsourcing firms are moving from a model that simply capitalises on labour arbitrage, where people are employed to carry out routine and repetitive tasks. The BPO industry is reaching its maturity to become a technology partner equipped with the latest innovations in machine learning, and staffed with the country’ brightest minds.

Firstly, as a growing hub for technology excellence, observers of the Indian tech scene should take note of what is happening in regards to large firms setting up their own parallel operations in the country, beyond the simple support function. Goldman Sachs recently set up their Bangalore operation which not only supplied operational support services to European and US offices, but also provided ‘parallel services’ in the form of analytics and data modelling.

The workforce that is manning this ‘new back office’ is increasingly representative of India’s emergence as a leader in STEM education. It is not uncommon to find a clutch of highly skilled and highly qualified scientists (up to PhD level in many cases) providing data services to clients in alternate geographies.

These individuals are increasingly drawn to India as a result of the better opportunities for high-aptitude roles. Some have even pointed to the growing protectionism and isolationist visa-policies of some Western nations as contributing to the trend of young and dynamic Indian tech workers returning to their land of birth.

The need for digital transformation services across many western businesses is accelerating the growth of India’s high-skill, high-aptitude workforce and the trend is set to increase as the demand from digital services on an agile software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis continues.

Many larger firms are still lagging behind when it comes to embracing digital opportunities in the form of machine learning, AI tools and data analytics, especially in the established BFSI sector. When it comes to a large organisation that have been trading for perhaps over 100 years, the likelihood that it can immediately integrate these technologies greatly decreases as dated legacy systems hamper technology integration.

This is felt particularly within the BPO sector. Outsourcing began as a way to cut IT costs, but has now become a key part of helping organisations to remain competitive in the digital age. Today the industry is increasingly at the forefront of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.

For instance, a common issue for large banks is that, despite flashy front-end digital services, mortgages and other loans take a lot of time to manually approve, opening them up to competition from more agile entrants. Indian expertise has driven automation solutions to satisfy these problems, reducing approval time from 11 days to 48 hours for one leading bank.

The Indian economy has adapted and ‘leap-frogged’ more established economies in many ways, which do not have the same ability to provide cost-efficient and agile technology services across sectors. The latest reassessments from international ratings agencies such as Moody’s reflect a broader optimism that India’s fortunes as a provider of third-party technology services has never been stronger.

Investments from large multinationals in enhanced back-office services from players such as Goldman Sachs go some way to supporting Moody’ assessment. With continued investment in the areas that the nation excels in, such as the STEM education areas, India will be able to compete on a global level with up-start hubs such as Manila.

Last quarter’s GDP figures have reinforced the wave of optimism that is felt by many executives in the BPO space. From the client’s perspective, this can only be a positive result – continued excellence depends on sustained investment in the latest technologies and education for those innovators who operate them.

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From cyber security risks to payment services rules to health and safety protocols, every sector shoulders an increasingly heavy regulatory burden. Ensuring your business is compliant is critical to fend off both reputational and financial harm. The enforcement of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from May next year - which unifies data protection rules across the EU – is a case in point. The new rules will impact all commercial entities handling the personal data of EU citizens, including foreign businesses. Any business that falls into that bracket needs to prepare, if they have not already. At up to 4 percent of global turnover, the penalties for non-compliance are high.

The benefit of having compliance resources in place is not just to avoid fines; it can also increase new customer win rates, as well as client loyalty and longevity. However, the discussion of regulatory compliance typically focuses on the internal processes within a business, such as the need to appoint a chief compliance officer or a chief information officer. Outsourced functions, including business process outsourcing (BPO), software development, and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), are often overlooked. Developing a robust compliance regime is where outsourcing providers can differentiate themselves from the crowd.

Keeping up with the speed of regulatory change can be difficult. Staff expertise and processes can become quickly out-dated. With heavy-hitting regulations like GDPR and the EU’s Second Payments Services Directive (PSD2) on the horizon, skilled resource is at a premium.

Finding the talent from within

The fastest, most effective and repeatable approach to fill any skills gaps is to increase the training and upskilling of existing talent. Many firms achieve this goal through in-house graduate schemes. By starting the upskilling process as early as possible, they can nurture the best talent within their business. As these schemes recruit annually, employees can be trained to acquire the latest skills and expertise needed.

Another benefit of upskilling in-house talent is that expertise becomes a valuable business asset. With the introduction of new technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things and machine learning, the compliance landscape will continue to evolve and become more specialised. Having that resource on tap is an advantage.

For consultancy-based outsourcing providers, new skillsets are highly valuable and offer potential for increased revenues from existing service offerings. New expertise also allows the business to expand into unchartered areas where clients require new forms of assistance and are perhaps less price sensitive. Supported by a technology backbone, the potential to accelerate margins is even greater.

The impact of good talent

Having processes in place, whether that is a strong training regime or corporate development programme, will help ensure the future stability of your business and, in turn, lead to a higher valuation for your company. For outsourcing providers working in highly regulated industries, these processes are critical. Having a track record of successfully upskilling people is a far more scalable and cost-effective approach than a series of expensive hires. Investors in service providers will put a higher value on an agile company that can evolve whatever the regulatory environment.

In light of upcoming shifts in the regulatory space, such as GDPR, PSD2 and the Senior Managers Regime in the UK, which strengthens personal accountability and is soon to be extended across the financial services sector, businesses have an opportunity to think strategically about their approach to outsourcing compliance and the talent they require. Doing so is not simply risk mitigation; it is also a means to consolidate your market position and value.

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Marks & Spencer has announced it will be transferring more than half of its current IT workforce to Indian outsourcing and tech giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as part of an agreement which sees the latter named M&S’ “principle technology partner”. Approximately 250 of M&S’s current 430 IT staff will now be employed by TCS, though will continue to work from the retailer’s Stockley Park, London offices, according to a company statement; meanwhile, a spokeswoman said that M&S is “not moving any additional services offshore as a result” of the deal.

The agreement means that M&S’ “core supplier services will transfer directly to TCS and the day-to-day relationship and project management of specialist suppliers will move under the control of TCS”, the retailer announced.

According to M&S CEO Steve Rowe, the company’s transformation of its technology team will save the company up to £30m annually by 2022 – making a significant contribution to Rowe’s five-year turnaround plans.

“Technology plays a huge role in this transformation – and having the right partners and model will enable us to be more agile, flexible and responsive,” he said. “Through our technology transformation program our business will be faster, simpler and more focused on achieving a seamless customer experience.”

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Proximus, Belgium’s largest telco, has selected Indian IT and outsourcing major Infosys to carry out a large-scale business transformation – named Excite - which among other things will see a reduction from Proximus’ current 40 legacy systems down to a mere six.

The “multi-year” deal (precise details were not available at press time) will also see Infosys deploying tools across a variety of finance and procurement activities, realigning business processes and remodelling Proximus’ portfolio of enterprise-level offerings.

Proximus CIO Geert Goethals enthused that the Excite project will “establish greater agility, collaboration, and bring in superior quality and efficiency in the way IT and business interacts”, adding that Excite will “transform the way we sell professional services to our enterprise clients”.

Meanwhile Infosys’ President and Head of Energy, Utilities, Telecommunications and Services said that his firm is “pleased to be a part of Proximus’ journey of becoming a digital services provider”, adding that today’s companies “need to continuously deliver more value and superior experiences to its customers, and the same applies to the telecommunications industry especially given the highly competitive nature of its business.”

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Customer Experience Pioneer TeleTech Announces Name Change to TTEC (pronounced T-tec), Launches New Brand in Europe

LONDON, 9th January 2018 -- TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEC) a global customer experience company that designs, builds and operates captivating omnichannel customer experiences on behalf of the world’s most prestigious and innovative brands announced today that it has changed its name to TTEC (pronounced T-tec). With this new name, the company is affirming that it has successfully evolved to become an end-to-end strategic business partner in the design and delivery of world-class customer experience, engagement, growth, and digital trust and safety services.

TTEC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Tuchman explains, “Our clients are relying on us for transformative services that engage and strengthen their customer relationships day in and day out. Companies are seeking omnichannel customer experience solutions to acquire and retain customers that increase revenue, profitability, customer satisfaction and loyalty. After eight years of innovation and investment to build a holistic technology-enabled, data-rich customer engagement services platform, TTEC is uniquely positioned to respond to growing market demand.” Tuchman continues, “While we remain proud of the industry we pioneered and helped to build, we chose to part with our old name because it limited the perception and understanding of our full capabilities, potential and value.”

While the Company will still operate its four business segments, Customer Strategy Services (CSS), Customer Technology Services (CTS), Customer Growth Services (CGS) and Customer Management Services (CMS), TTEC is streamlining its go-to-market to make it easier for clients to understand how its capabilities integrate together. TTEC Digital is the company’s digital centre of excellence, blending strategic consulting services and cloud-based technology platforms to design and build innovative customer experiences, all powered by insights. TTEC Engage is the company’s global hub of operational excellence providing clients award-winning, turnkey customer acquisition, care, revenue growth, and digital trust and safety services. This brand launch follows the company’s expansion of operations in the EMEA region in late 2017.

“Business leaders across the globe are facing massive technological disruption in the race to modernise their approach to customer experience. Brands are seeking holistic solutions and they are investing in the strategic guidance, technology expertise and operational excellence they need to succeed,” explained Kyle Priest, TTEC’s Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer. “Through TTEC Digital, we are helping clients design and build a seamless customer experience platform. Through TTEC Engage, we are providing the people and processes, critical thinking and compassion needed to solve complex challenges and create opportunities at scale. With TTEC Digital plus TTEC Engage, we are delivering captivating experiences as brand ambassadors to our clients’ customers. We are providing the optimised digital services that yield bottom line savings, topline growth and improved customer retention, protection and affinity.”

To learn more about TTEC and the company’s new positioning visit www.ttec.com/emea.

About TTEC (pronounced T-tec):

TTEC (NASDAQ: TTEC) is a global customer experience company that designs, builds and operates captivating omnichannel customer experiences on behalf of the world’s most innovative brands. The Company provides its outcome-based customer engagement solutions through TTEC Digital which designs and builds customer experience consulting and technology solutions and TTEC Engage which operates customer care, growth and trust and safety services. Founded in 1982, TTEC partners with business leadership across marketing, sales and customer care to design and deliver a simple, more human customer experience across every interaction channel. The Company’s 49,500 employees operate on six continents across the globe and live by a set of customer-focused values that guide relationships with clients, their customers, and each other. To learn more about how TTEC is bringing humanity to the customer experience, visit www.ttec.com/emea.