We wanted to explore the current state and future prospects of testing and quality assurance in Finnish organizations. Although one might quickly imagine that testing of information systems is seen as a necessary evil before the system is put into use, the fresh research by Gofore shows otherwise. It also revealed what sets pioneering organizations apart from test-automation late adopters.
Take a moment to think about the latest information system you used. Perhaps it was a system you use daily at work. Maybe you entered grocery shopping details into a shopping cart system. Or bought goods from a foreign online store, for which you had to handle customs and tax formalities through a system provided by the authorities. Perhaps you were looking for information on dental services and ended up booking an appointment for yourself.
There are vast amounts of information systems around us. And isn’t it nice when the system works smoothly and reliably? Ultimately, this experience is made possible by the testing and quality assurance of information systems.
Testing and quality assurance are valued and considered an important part of development work. This was a great research finding! But we found out also other topics. Let’s look into them.
Increasingly complex systems, the cycle of digital development, and growing user expectations
– Manual testing activities are no longer sufficient
In the big picture, however, we have a problem to tackle. In many organizations, testing and quality assurance are done at the final stages of system or software development. To put it bluntly, the job is handled as a couple of weeks of intense manual testing, where testers and a few end-users run the system to find points where it doesn’t work. Then corrections are made, and it is hoped that the testing was sufficient. (We’ll eventually see when the system gets into everyday use, right?)
If this was enough in the past, good.
In today’s world, however, manual testing is no longer sufficient.
There are at least two reasons for this:
- Firstly, information systems are constantly becoming more complex. They have more integration points, the quality of which is difficult, even impossible, to ensure without test automation.
2. The second reason relates to the digital development cycle demanded by today’s markets. Market demands can only be met if testing activities are automated and preferably AI-driven.
High-quality testing activities are rapidly becoming a bottleneck in system development
The key challenge is a change in mindset. Testing should not be thought of as an expense but as an investment that brings business benefits. There is still work to be done here, as many organizations do not know how to identify a business case for testing activities, which would help define goals and metrics for the activities.
Study confirms; Testing is too often seen as a cost, not as an investment. In that spirit, the business benefits of testing activities are also rarely measured.
Business benefits are also linked to many things such as system reliability, organizational risk management, and the smoothness or uninterruptedness of business operations. In the public sector, this is ahead of the private sector.
Measuring the business benefits of testing in the future was considered interesting. Similarly, the utilization of AI, although the reliability of this new technology is a concern. Some organizations have already started AI experiments. As a result of the experiments, AI-driven test automation had performed the work up to 600% more efficiently.
If system and software testing is operated manually and without the use of AI, many organizations are at risk of falling behind in comparison to international development work.
Testing and quality assurance activities are at the brink of transformation
The key is investment balance: what do we need to achieve to stay competitive, what will be required of us tomorrow? It is clear that customer expectations for the functionality, seamlessness, and security of various systems are constantly increasing. And ultimately, a poor experience will be particularly costly.
The essential conclusion is that testing and quality assurance are part of successful, modern information system development activities. Testing should be done as an integral part of development work from the beginning; the earlier testing and quality assurance are considered in the development process, the more successful and smoother the project can be expected to become. And if testing is not invested in, it will also become apparent. At the latest, with the end-user.
- About the research set-up: The research institute Verian interviewed decision-makers and experts in testing and quality assurance from 11 organizations on behalf of Gofore between January 31 and February 25, 2025.
Dive deeper! Read a summary of a recent interview study conducted by Gofore on the current state and future business benefit prospects are reached.
