As we step into the new year, it's time to explore the exciting trends that will shape the world of Quality Engineering in 2024. Here’s what we’ve been seeing in our work with Quality Engineering teams around the globe.
1. Shift-Left Testing will increase and change the role of QA
Given the financial and resource constraints of organizations, there will be more of a push to have developers test their own code. This will be good for some QA testers and not so good for others. While it may jeopardize some QA teams, mature QA teams will understand that this eliminates a lot of the basic back and forth for easy-to-catch bugs.
QA teams will need to evolve beyond order takers from Dev-defined use cases and be a part of the entire QA process including: coming up with cases that the dev team did not think of; sourcing the data that they need to test with; and beginning shift-right testing (testing in post-production) for new cases. QA will be more of an end-to-end process.
2. DevOps Integration: The synergy between DevOps and Quality Engineering will strengthen
Quality assurance will integrate seamlessly into the DevOps pipeline, allowing for continuous testing and rapid feedback loops. This collaboration will ensure that products are not only bug-free but also meet evolving customer expectations. QA will play a more active part in keeping lower environments refreshed and ready for effective testing.
3. AI-Powered Testing: QA will need to have an answer to AI/ML
We anticipate a surge in AI-driven test automation tools, reducing manual efforts and enhancing test coverage. While full ML might not make sense in most situations, there will be questions from Leadership about how QA teams are utilizing AI to improve efficiency. Generally the answer will fall into either quality of data or speed in the QA process.
4. Security Testing: With the growing threat landscape, security testing will be a top priority
QA teams will incorporate security testing early in the development process to identify vulnerabilities and protect against cyber threats. With increasing regulations and bad actors, Quality Engineers will be asked to do their part to protect sensitive data.
5. Remote and Hybrid Work will still be here
Remote and hybrid work setups will continue to be the norm, demanding agile testing methodologies and collaboration tools. Data provisioning workflows and data pipelines leaving secure networks might come under greater scrutiny.
At Tonic, we're excited about these trends and ready to empower Quality Engineering teams to thrive in this ever-evolving landscape. Our solutions are designed to help QA teams innovate and adapt to the changes in QA. What's top of mind for you in Quality Engineering at your organization this year? We'd love to hear about your team's goals—let's connect.
