What Does BizDevOps Mean for Testing?

Hey folks, it’s time for buzzword bingo! Introducing….BizDevOps, the shiny new buzzword that takes your DevOps and raises it to the next level!

It’s inevitable we feel a little jaded when confronted with newly coined phrases that seem to imply we should be doing things differently. While BizDevOps certainly sounds like a buzzword, it signifies an important shift in how software development and testing operates. Just as with DevOps, the aim is to create better products faster by breaking down the siloes that exist between developers and operations teams. BizDevOps takes the idea one step further in order to break down the barriers between the business  and developers. In a BizDevOps world, business requirements mesh directly onto the design and development process.

This kind of seismic shift will impact the world of testing profoundly. Many testers will already have noticed how their workload and job description is moving away from manual processes to increased automation with a focus on QA/QE.

The BizDevOps skillset

Testers will need to widen their skillset to succeed in a BizDevOps culture. Collaboration is paramount, and those with DevOps experience will likely find this part easier. In terms of core skills, BizDevOps testers should expand their repertoire to include development (coding), QA/QE and analysis. With increasing levels of automation seen as a prerequisite for effective QE, testers will need to swap a lot of their black belt manual testing skills for some great performance analysis abilities. Add to that mix the ability to communicate clearly and to troubleshoot, and you have the makings of a great BizDevOps team player.

Will BizDevOps automate me out of a job?

A recent poll by recruitment firm Harvey Nash reflected just this anxiety. It showed 70% of testers think they’ll be automated out of a job in the next decade. More than that – nearly half of all developers feel the same. When we, at Apexon, focus on automation we do so because it’s a key component in achieving faster, better results. Understandably, some of those working in the industry feel threatened by it.

It’s a fact that the traditional job specs are evolving to favor flexible skills. It’s also true that automation, AI and robotics are affecting more than just the software industry. In this regard, we’re not all that different from other industries in that attributes like interpretative skills, collaboration and troubleshooting will always be sought after, especially when applied to complex systems.

Indeed, there are many reasons for optimism. The demand for digital shows no signs of abating. With the advent of faster mobile speeds and the IoT, developers and testers will be in great demand. It’s just that their job descriptions may look a little different.

BizDevOps will propel dev and test teams far closer to the business end of an enterprise. This means, with better collaboration and more accurate inputs from the business side, digital initiatives will be better tuned in to customer needs and better able to respond to change, resulting in better quality. In turn, we anticipate a rise in status for QE / dev / test within organizations as their true role in delivering customer happiness is understood.

Transition to QE to fast-track BizDevOps

You’ve probably noticed that the role of tester is now often combined with that of a QA practitioner. Increasingly, the role of QA is morphing to that of a QE expert; that is, someone who extracts quality by examining the whole process of software design, development and testing. It’s a shift away from the traditional focus on quality assurance at the testing phase. Although we often talk of DevOps, QE and even BizDevOps as a process, it’s really all about a methodology — finding a way of working that delivers better business results. (Check out our recent post on why QE should be about customer focus). The bottom line is that QE is going to be a necessary foundation for organizations undertaking to merge their business, dev and ops teams.

If making the transition to DevOps or BizDevOps is a goal for this year, but you’re struggling to make the first move, why not get in touch? You’re not alone. Digital transformation demands a different approach to application testing and QA. Let us show you how to implement QE.