Is software testing necessary?

As software testers, the importance of software testing to the team at eTestware cannot be overstated. We are frequently asked the question, ‘is software testing necessary?’, as if it were optional. Perhaps it is, but the examples laid out in today’s blog might convince you otherwise…

Software glitches lead to financial loss

In fact, a huge number of organisations have lost money as a direct result of software glitches. True, technological growth has certainly had a positive impact for many of those, but it also paves the way for more errors. Today, we are looking back towards the first few years of eTestware’s existence.

Established in 2014 in Estonia, we have come a long way in 7 years. Now, as part of theICEway, we help clients in cruise, travel, healthcare and insurance. Our software testing experts have learned much in that time.

As our brand was finding its feet between 2014 and 2016, many others were making discoveries of a different kind. Discoveries which may well have urged them to speak with us…

Software failures during our formative years

In 2014, 2015 and 2016, there were some truly earth-shattering glitches experienced by recognisable brands. Software development and testing in the overall SDLC process gained from these incidents.

2014

This report from The Telegraph looks at a glitch experienced by Screwfix. In January, each item in the online catalogue was priced at £34.99 – including items that should have been more than £1000. Twitter posts fanned the flames until the website was shut down, but imagine if a little more time had been spent on testing?

2015

In July, a technical glitch left Co-operative Food customers complaining after being charged twice. The glitch, described as a “one-off”, prompted the Co-Op to issue an apology and the promise of a refund within 24 hours. A strong enough response perhaps, but was it enough to fully counter the reputational damage caused? Read more in this article from The Guardian.

2016

In September, Cisco Systems announced an IT exposure that could allow unauthenticated users to remotely access its email security appliances. This piece from Threatpost.com offers more detail but if Cisco can make an error of this size, surely anyone can? Which again begs the question, is software testing necessary…? We’ll let you decide!