The ability to rapidly roll out high-quality products and services in fast-moving, competitive markets is now, more than ever before, critical to business success. However, for products to be high-performing, stable, and free of defects, a redefined focus on quality is required. In this age of fast releases and high customer expectations, embracing innovations in testing has become crucial.
Over the past few years, the realm of testing has undergone numerous tectonic shifts. In 2024, both testing and test automation are no longer what they used to be.
As new trends emerge, firms need to incorporate them into their testing strategies, workflows, and processes. The aim must be to identify and rectify issues early in the lifecycle to enable them to deliver high-quality code at speed and with scale. They must also be wary of emerging risks and concerns and plan for corrective action accordingly. That said, here are 8 ways in which testing and test automation are different in 2024:
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AI-augmented Testing: The use of Generative AI in designing, coding, and testing applications will be a global trend in 2024. AI-assisted test automation improves tester productivity, enabling teams to meet the increasing demand for quality. It allows test engineers to spend less time creating test suites and more time on strategic activities. For instance, using natural language, testers can give GenAI tools commands to create complex test cases or run automated tests at scheduled intervals. Teams can also leverage the self-healing capabilities of AI testing tools to automate the process of finding and rectifying common defects.
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DevSecOps: With cyberattacks getting more and more advanced, DevSecOps will continue to gain prominence. In 2024, DevSecOps will comprise a greater degree of automation, with common security tasks like code analysis and vulnerability scanning getting automated. There will also be greater adoption of the shift-left testing mindset, allowing for earlier identification and remediation of security flaws. Cloud-native security considerations will also be an integral part of DevSecOps, which will ensure proper configuration, authentication, and threat detection of platforms in the cloud.
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QAOps: As teams realize the pitfalls of siloed development and testing operations, the concept of QAOps is fast picking up steam. It empowers teams to adopt a DevOps mindset in software testing, integrating QA processes across the software development lifecycle. Teams can analyze test requirements quickly, find issues early in the lifecycle, and deploy bug-free products. By integrating Quality Assurance (QA) into software development and delivery pipelines, QAOps allows for increased collaboration between testers and developers.
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IoT Vulnerabilities: As the Internet of Things landscape continues to expand, it is poised to introduce new vulnerabilities in 2024 and beyond. Testing teams will need to incorporate adequate security measures into IoT devices to protect them from cybersecurity attacks. They must prioritize security features, firmware updates, and robust authentication mechanisms to thwart IoT-related threats and ensure a seamless and secure end-user experience.
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Low-code/No-code Testing: As the frequency of launching software features and updates increases, testing teams will need to up their low-code/no-code testing game. Modern tools with drag-and-drop visual interfaces and pre-built templates will simplify the process of creating, executing, and maintaining automated test scripts. This will help teams keep up with the pace of software changes and uphold the quality and security of modern-day products.
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Zero Trust: Zero Trust principles have been around for a while, but in 2024, the focus will be on building standardized zero trust architecture testing frameworks. These frameworks will aid in enhancing the overall security of software products while effectively adapting to the complexity of the modern environment. By protecting people, devices, apps, and data wherever they’re located, zero-trust architectures will minimize the impact of breaches and strengthen the overall security posture of businesses.
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Quantum Computing: The growing power of quantum computing brings with it a whole new range of challenges. Since current encryption methods will be deemed ineffective, testing teams will need to embrace new and effective approaches to testing. They must build awareness of the threats that quantum computing presents, while also developing a more cohesive response across different levels and stakeholders. Teams must also focus on enabling crypto agility, which allows them to switch between crypto algorithms seamlessly in case one or more come under attack.
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Identity and Access Management: Weak passwords and poor security hygiene have made it easy for hackers to log in to accounts instead of hacking into them. According to a report by IBM, there has been a 71% year-over-year increase in cyberattacks that use stolen or compromised credentials. In 2024, testers will be seen embracing AI-powered approaches for spotting patterns and analyzing user behavior. Integrating AI into testing processes will allow them to spot and investigate compromised credentials and other malicious behavior - helping transform governance and demonstrate compliance.
In Summary
Software products form the bedrock of every business today. However, for these products to transform business outcomes, they need to meet a sundry list of performance, availability, quality, security, and scalability requirements. While test automation has been an integral part of QA, the many innovations have changed the face of testing in 2024. Staying abreast of the latest testing and test automation trends, predictions, and concerns will go a long way in strengthening the quality of tomorrow’s products today! Connect with us for a look at how we help software companies deliver high-quality code by utilizing the latest innovations in software testing.
