Business analysts are placing too little emphasis on software testing, said Wayne Mallinson, MD of Test and Data Services, speaking at a monthly business analyst special interest group meeting.
Mallinson mentioned that developers should not be testing at all - it is largely the job of the business analyst.
"Developers may say they are testing, but what they are in fact doing is debugging," he explained.
"Business analyst should spend at least 20% to 30% of their day testing," Mallinson added.
Mallinson also explained there is not enough focus on software testing as a whole. Many companies start testing right at the end of a project, and this can result in huge losses in money and time.
"Companies should test at the start and at the end of a project," he said. "Failure to plan is time wasted."
Mallinson explained that 80% of testing can be done without the code. A process chart can be set up, including the steps concerned, operators to be used, the procedure involved, as well as the expected result, before the code is even implemented. The only step left thereafter would be whether the test result was positive or negative.
"Never conduct a test without having exact expected results," Mallinson warned.
"And remember, 70% of security breaches are not due to flaws in your operating system, but to badly written and badly tested applications," he concluded.