Software Testing and Global Industry

Today software development has truly become a globally sourced commodity. This trend has been facilitated by the availability of highly skilled software professionals in low cost locations in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Far East. Organisations endeavouring to leverage the opportunities this provides and to avail of the benefits of establishing operations close to emerging markets have embraced this strategy in large numbers. Software testing plays a key role in delivering high quality products and is a labour intensive, complex and expensive activity. In the context of Global Software Development (GSD) to date testing has been perceived as a well defined task that is relatively straightforward and lends itself to being outsourced or offshored. This volume considers this specific topic and demonstrates that testing in a GSD environment is not a simple activity. It is prone to be negatively impacted by all the factors associated with distributed software development. This work also provides practical solutions which can be utilised to address these important issues. While the primary focus of this work is software testing it is also the culmination of 10 years research by the author in the area of GSD. During this period he has considered all aspects of the software development life cycle. This experience and knowledge has been incorporated into this volume. It is therefore relevant to note this work is of value to the wider software community not just to those interested in testing. It specifically considers the establishment of virtual teams and their efficient and effective operation. Therefore this book has relevance to all those interested in implementing or improving a GSD strategy. Its particular strengths are that while it is a scholarly work it is industry based and practical.