Significant Changes in the QA World: Our Last Year Recap & Happy New Year!

We want to wish a Happy and Healthy New Year to all our readers!

The last year has been a wonderful year for STH – why wouldn’t it be? We had the best of the readers and followers behind us.

Back in December 2006, I started this blog with an intention to help software testers and today – after 15 years – it is helping thousands of Software Testing and Quality Assurance professionals worldwide!

Significant Changes in the QA World

Quick Recap Of What Was Remarkable Last Year

Readership

With over 50,000 RSS subscribers, 68,000 Facebook fans, 7,900 Google+ followers, and 130,000+ email subscribers we are humbled by our readership. Thank you all!

STH Online Software Testing Course

This year we launched ‘Software Testing (Basics + Advanced) + Automation Basics’ online course. With Swati Seela facilitating these classes, we have to say the response has been very encouraging. We had the most wonderful participants and we are proud to say that our alumni (who we lovingly call QA Gladiators) are growing as we read.

When our participants provide us positive feedback, give us the news that they got certified, or found a job, or come to us with questions/concerns, or even provide constructive criticism –we value this interaction with pride and immense joy.

We are sure that our QA Gladiators are going to give each one of us tough competition. Go, Gladiators! 🙂

Ebooks

Overall the year has been a great success for us as we launched some good free and premium ebooks.

#1) Software Testing Career Package ebook:

sth new ebook

This premium ebook was launched in February this year. This presents everything you need to know to successfully carry out Software Testing in a small to large infrastructure. It is 132+ pages full of practical and real-life examples that provide an easy way to master various software testing techniques.

#2) Freelance Software Testing Job Opportunities eBook: If you are yet to check this out, try it. It is awesome! This book made us especially proud as it became the #1 Bestseller in the Software Testing Category shortly after its launch.

#3) Free ebooks: Manual Testing Help ebook versions 1 and 2. The content of both these eBooks is very useful to understand manual testing concepts, testing methodologies and preparing for software testing interviews.

ISTQB Certification Study Package

This premium package comes with everything you need to prepare for ISTQB and achieve success. The study material includes ISTQB exam details and tips, eBooks, 1200 normal practice questions, and 400+ PREMIUM questions with answers.

STH Articles

The articles, both by the STH team and the guest authors have raised the bar on the standard for how QA concepts can be presented in the form of enjoyable reading content.

Significant Changes in the QA World

Well, enough about us. Let us talk a little bit about our habitat – the QA Sphere. 🙂

The initial thought was to highlight certain key points of the QA field’s evolution over the last year. But, for something as vast, a year’s time is almost insignificant and the changes are not so imminent.

So, we chose to sum up a few of the significant changes that have happened in the QA world over the last decade- more or less.

What are the significant changes that happened in the QA world over the last decade?

#1) QA Toolbox Is Getting Lighter

Test/Defect Management tools earlier had to be installed on local machines, had a server, a database configured for them and had a specialized Admin who had to be contacted even to add as much as one user. Despite all this, the tools were pretty heavy on local memory consumption and the overall network load.

While these tools still continue to exist and thrive, the newer, ‘lighter’ versions are a breath of fresh air. They require no installation, can be accessed through a URL via the internet, take minutes to set up and the hosting of the database and servers is optional (the tool companies provide that for a nominal fee). These tools are light on system resources and network- not to forget the pocket. Sold!

#2) People Over Process

Those of us who have been in this field long enough would easily agree that the software development system has moved from being the traditional linear way to the more rapid, iterative models like Agile.

Since changes are fast, business-critical and competitive- there isn’t much scope for checks and measures (processes). This style of project development has realized that the maximum chance of success lies only in choosing the best team out there – self-learning, fast, efficient, responsible team players.

It is more important now than ever to be better than the best at what we do.

#3) Documentation – Relatively Getting Lesser

Don’t you all remember how we used to spend anywhere between 3 weeks – 1-month writing test case documents. Well, that has considerably gone down, with entire project releases being 2 – 5 weeks; we no longer write these detailed documents.

We settle for one or two liner test cases briefing what is to be tested and how. For some, this is a blessing and others it’s a luxury lost. Whichever way we see it, it is surely a substantial change.

#4) QA Tools Are No Longer Hostile with One Another

Well, they weren’t hostile earlier, simply isolated. To elaborate, earlier two tools of the same type or supporting type would not interact with each other leading to isolated data from various teams/processes in different places. That has changed, thankfully! To name one, tools like JIRA, Rally, and HP ALM interact bridging the distance between them. They are friendlier with each other now. 🙂

#5) Mobile Application Testing

Nowadays with every web application coming up with its own sister mobile app, mobile application testing has become huge. Those of us who are not into it yet aren’t going to be able to resist it any longer. It’s coming after us!

While some things have changed, the others remained the same. Teamwork, Positive attitude, a smile – they go a long way.

In the coming year, we hope the QA community spreads its wings wider, soars higher and reaches farther than it ever did before.

Wish you all a safe and fabulous new year!

Over to you

Let us know what went well for you last year and what did not. Also, please feel free to add to the list anything else you think had changed in the QA world over the years.

Recommended Reading

37 thoughts on “Significant Changes in the QA World: Our Last Year Recap & Happy New Year!”

  1. happy new year..

    Reply
  2. Happy new year to you and your team. I have always enjoyed reading your articles, they have been very useful. you have been doing very well for the last 7 years and hope you will continue the same way in the future too.
    Regards

    Reply
  3. STH is playing a vital role in my career. I read each article posted here.
    All the articles are very informative,helpful and easy to understand.
    Wish to read more such posts this year.
    Thanks for this initiative!
    Wish u all a very Happy new year!
    ALL D BEST!!!

    Reply
  4. Wish u all a very very Happy New year !!!
    its best to read all u articals…

    Reply
  5. STH is like my virtual guru. I come here to solution of my problems. You guys are doing great job. Keep it up.

    and wish you happy new year!

    Reply
  6. Happy New Year, and thanks for QA post in 2013

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  7. Happy New Year to all….Great to read your blog

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  8. Happy New Year to all my friends…

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  9. Its a very good platform for newbies as well as for experienced software testers. I found it very helpful to improve my skills.Continue the good work. Wish you all the best Vijay & STH team 🙂

    Reply
  10. Thanks a lot STH and wish you very very happy new year

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  11. Wish you happy new year to you and your Team. I have always enjoyed reading your articles.

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  12. Happy new year to ur team. I wiill be enjoying every articles of your’s and get updated.Expecting more articles like this in this year too…all the best

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  13. its really helpful.. kindly help us to learn about mobile application testing.
    Happy new year..

    Reply
  14. Happy new year friends…. Happy testing…

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  15. Happy new year vijay and all readers.First of all thanks vijay for your valuable software testing articles..Keep continue ..I wish you all the best for your whole effort.

    Reply
  16. Happy New Year to all of you!!!!

    Reply
  17. Happy and Successful New Year Friends….

    Happy Testing…

    Reply
  18. First of all, I would like to thank you for creating this blog. I have read this blog many times when I started out and it is one of the top blogs in my long reading list. 🙂

    I would also like to add a few more changes that happened in the QA industry

    1. Evolution of Context Driven Testing and Rapid Testing principles by a passionate community
    2. Back to focus on the engineering part of the quality process (Testing is no longer complete black box and it is not commodity anymore)
    3. Evolution of crowd based testing ( utest.com, 99tests.com, etc)
    4. QA space becoming more and more challenging as we have to deal with new and evolving technologies/concepts like Big Data, Cloud, etc.

    – Rajaraman Raghuraman

    Reply
  19. Happy New Year.Thank you for providing such insightful articles.

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  20. Happy New Year…STH

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  21. Wish You Happy New Year and you guys keep rocking and my best wishes always there for you. Spl thanks to STH and team.

    Reply
  22. Happy New Year to you and all your team and all my fellow readers.
    Thanks for all the wonderful information you always post. I hope to be placed in a good job soon with all the material you continue to provide.

    Reply
  23. Happy 2014 !!!!

    Something that grows exponential it’s the size of the screens where testers needs to work.
    Another good topic it’s mobile operating systems, each time we have more and more…

    Let’s see what comes next

    Reply
  24. Really thanks a lot to you and your team this blog help me a lot , wis you all Happy new year and the best 🙂

    Reply
  25. Happy new year Vijay and STH team…hope you attain more standards and scale higher..great job and all the best…

    Reply
    • Hello Hari, I’ve read your articles on Software Testing with Decision Tables. We are releasing our new upgrade, LogicGem 4.0 with is a stand alone windows application which is a Decision Table Processor. I would love to send you a copy to obtain your opinion as to its value. I’m sure you’ll be impressed with its simplicity yet power. If you would like a copy please send me your email address.

      Cary Harwin
      President
      Catalyst Development Corp.

      Reply
  26. Happy new year Vijay and swati..

    Reply
  27. Firstly, I would like to say Thanks for the wonderful articles for Testing. Which helps me to enhanced my knowledge in Testing area. You guys are doing great job..Please do continue with new things.

    Wish you all the very best and Happy New Year!!!

    Reply
  28. Dear Friends,
    Happy New Year to all of you ……..

    Reply
  29. Firstly, I would like to say Thanks for the wonderful articles for Testing. Which helps me to enhanced my knowledge in Testing area. You guys are doing great job..Please do continue with new things.

    And Happy New year Vijay and Swati ……

    Reply
  30. Hi Vijay and Swati i wish you a Very Happy New Year….
    Thank you very much for your valuable software testing articles…
    Its really helpful…..

    Reply
  31. Thank you for sharing your thought with us. When I started to read your blog i was a QA tester then and after 2 years I become QA lead now. I also share your blogs with my fellow QA/tester. wish you all the luck and cheers for the brand new year ^_^

    Reply
  32. Thanks for the wonderful articles for Testing.

    Reply
  33. HI,

    Your post helped to get job in manual testing 4 years back, i am working as a senior engineer now, now i want to learn more skills in the field of testing, can you please advise what should be the next step now, should i go for automation or performance testing

    Reply
  34. happy testing and belated wishes of a happy new year to your team.

    Reply
  35. plz give me some names of recent software quality assurance model.olz

    Reply

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