Cape Town, 13 Mar 2017
Everyone likes to have input planning the office party, but nobody's keen on assisting with the setting up. It's a metaphor for the status of testing in the software engineering market, where business analysts dislike doing it, and developers, with the promise, aren't encouraged to pursue software quality assurance (SQA) as an element of career progression.
Head of SQA at EOH Coastal, Lonwabo Ntoni, is a committed SQA convert. Excelling at testing projects during his studies, Ntoni's student business, designing and delivering Web sites for clients, also featured a quality assurance service - something he is passionate about.
"Until recently, it made sense for business analysts to assume the dual role of doing requirement specifications, as well as fulfilling the quality gate role right at the end of the project. Software complexity was minimal, while user awareness and technological apprehension high."
As software solutions have become more intricate and demanding, quality assurance has become an essential software engineering skill, crucial to delivering projects which meet customer expectations and guarantee fulfilment of business requirements. For SQA specialists such as Ntoni, it's not a world of 'testing-1-2-3' anymore. "Systems are a lot more complex and users more technologically inclined, making it easier for software to fail if it's without proper quality gate-keeping. SQA specialists employ sophisticated testing tools and techniques to ensure software quality matches customer expectations."
Skills required to deliver meticulous SQA are often beyond the technical ability of business analysts. It's become a specialised field in software engineering, requiring people of the appropriate promise, expertise and focus. EOH recognises this, and Ntoni's vision of championing the professional opportunities offered by SQA as an alternative career progression to pure development in software engineering is becoming reality. How? EOH has established an SQA centre of excellence.
"There's a huge demand for technical testing skills. Business analysts dislike testing and are often not technically equipped to do it. So, we have created the centre of excellence, structured to develop all software engineers, from graduates with promise to experienced SQA professionals wishing to stay ahead of the trend."
Beyond the centre of excellence, EOH has established a Quality Assurance Academy, specifically targeting graduate development, something close to Ntoni's heart - as his first contact with SQA was during tertiary education. "The Quality Assurance Academy is part of EOH's job creation initiative to create 100 000 jobs by 2020, so look out for opportunities around that over following few months."
Ntoni is a busy man. But in a market where testing skills are scarce, and demand for software quality assurance high, it's hardly a surprise.
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