11 Internet of Things Stats That Will Blow You Away

The Internet of Things (or IoT) sounds like one of those futuristic buzzwords that's still just a little too far off to think much about. But the IoT -- where once-unconnected things like watches, cars, healthcare equipment, etc. will be connected to the Internet -- is already here, and it's changing our health, how we build things, and how we get around, and creating billions of dollars in value across multiple sectors.

So let's take a look at some of the most mind-blowing IoT stats and why all of it matters for investors.

1. Research firm Gartner says that IoT devices have increased 31% from 2016 to 2017, hitting 8.4 billion connected "things" this year, and that the number will surge to 20.4 billion by 2020.

2. To help put the amount of IoT devices into context, consider that Ericsson predicts that the amount of IoT devices will surpass mobile devices by next year.

3. Spending on IoT devices and services will reach nearly $2 trillion this year. That spending will mostly be spread across North America, China, and Western Europe, where  about 67% of IoT devices exist.

4. Consumers are still driving IoT device growth right now, and will account for 5.2 billion IoT devices this year, which represents 63% of the market.

5. Wearable devices like Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple Watch and Fitbit's (NYSE:FIT) fitness trackers are growing in popularity, and wearable until sales will reach 82.5 million in 2020, according to IDC. The competition is already heating up in this segment, with China-based Xiaomi's wearable devices leapfrogging shipments of Apple's wearables and Fitibit's devices for the first time last quarter.

6. Consumers may be the early adopters for IoT devices, but business are spending more on the IoT market overall. Companies will spend $964 billion on IoT hardware this year, compared to consumer spending of $725 billion. And in just three years the combined consumer and business markets will spend $3 trillion on IoT hardware.

7. According to a PTC report, manufacturing will be the biggest IoT platform by 2021, reaching $438 million as the Industrial Internet of Things (or IIoT) increases efficiency and decreases downtime for manufacturing companies. A separate study by Accenture says the IIoT could help reduce machinery breakdowns by 70% and reduce overall maintenance costs by 30%.

 8. The surge from industrial companies using IoT devices should have very positive results for economies around the world. Accenture estimates the the IIoT will add $14.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030. That's great news for IoT pure plays like CalAmp (NASDAQ:CAMP), which sells hardware, software, and services that connect industrial equipment to the Internet. CalAmp made about 86% of its total 2016 revenue from its mobile resource management (MRM) technologies and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications tech.

9. IDC expects 80% of consumer service interactions in the healthcare industry (like meeting with your doctor) to use IoT and other analytics services by 2020. Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google recently relaunched its Google Glass device and found that that using it allowed doctors to easily access patient information and decrease the amount of time it took them to take notes -- both of which resulted in more time spent with patients.

10. The Internet of Things also has the ability to improve our quality of life beyond the doctor's office. Bosch estimates that Internet-connected cars will reduce traffic accident injuries by 350,000 every year by 2025, and save 11,000 lives each year.

11. According to BI Intelligence research, agricultural IoT device shipments will jump from 43 million this year to 75 million in 2020. Agricultural companies are investing in technology that helps them to know where, when, and how much seed to plant using sensors, pre-planned seeding maps, and GPS-connected equipment. This precision farming and smart agriculture will make growing food more efficient and help farmers keep up with rising food production needs.

What investors should remember

The IoT will transform many different industries, but investors should remember that not all companies are betting on the IoT at the same scale. For example, the Apple Watch leads the smartwatch pack, but Apple brings in just 6% of its total revenue from sales of its "other products" (which include the Watch, Apple TV, Beats headphones, and other accessories). Apple could eventually become a bigger player in the wearable devices space if it launches its rumored augmented reality glasses, but at this point the iPhone maker doesn't have tons of IoT exposure. A better bet may be CalAmp, with its its industrial IoT equipment and services, which makes nearly all of its revenue from the IoT.

Additionally, the IoT faces some serious security risks. The Mirai botnet attack in 2016 targeted IoT devices and used them to make a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack (when a server is flooded with so much traffic that it crashes). That resulted in Netflix, Shopify, Twitter, and other sites going offline for a while. The cost of adding connectivity to devices and other things continues to come down, which is great for IoT device expansion -- but it has also made it easy for smaller players to release devices that aren't secure.

All of this means that IoT investors should look for solid businesses in established markets, and bet on them over the long-term. The Internet of Things is growing quickly, but it will still take years for it it to mature and for some companies to see the benefits.

Source: Fool

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Infrastructure as code: The agile approach to testing

The purpose of testing is to help us to get our work done quickly, however, in many organisations, testing is seen as something that slows work down.

There is a common misconception that quality and delivery speed are opposing forces that must be traded off against each other, with this mind-set leading to the idea that automation can speed up the delivery process by making the act of testing a system go faster. These misconceptions can easily lead to expensive, failed test automation initiatives.

Quality is an enabler of delivery speed, with the goal of automated testing being to help teams focus on keeping the quality of their system high, through fast feedback. When combined with a good team culture and a discipline that prioritises quality, automated tooling can help to find quality issues fast, meaning the team can respond and fix them quickly.

In turn, this keeps the system in a state where changes can be made quickly, easily and confidently, proving that faster delivery speed is a side effect of focusing on quality and automated test tooling is an aid to keeping quality at the forefront of the team’s mind.
Shortening the feedback loop

Agile processes encourage teams to integrate testing with implementation, in order to shorten the feedback loop. Testing takes place continuously, with ongoing changes being made by testers and developers working closely together, combined with automated testing.

The most useful goal for test automation isn’t to make a test phase run faster, but to enable testing and fixing activities as a core part of the workflow. As someone works on changes to the system, whether that is to an application code or infrastructure definitions, they are continuously testing. People test so they can fix each problem as it is discovered, while they’re still working on their changes and everything is fresh in their mind. When the scope of changes are very small, the problems are quick to find and easy to fix.
Automating tests for fast feedback

Teams whose testing process is based around separate implementation and test phases often attempt to adopt automation by automating their test phase. This is often a project owned by the QA team, which aims to create a comprehensive regression test suite. In my experience, automated test suites built by a separate testing team tend to focus on high level testing, but the outcome can sometimes result in an unbalanced test suite.

The key to designing and implementing a well-balanced automated test suite is for the entire team, especially the implementers, to be involved in its planning, design and implementation. Big bang test automation initiatives often bite off more than they can chew, and struggle to keep up with ongoing development. The system is a constantly moving and changing target, and before the massive test suite is complete, the system has changed and shifted multiple times. Assuming the test suite can be completed, the system will change again immediately, meaning tests tend to be constantly broken, and the nirvana of a complete test suite is never achieved.

It is rarely effective to aim for the goal of a complete, finished test suite; the goal of an automation initiative should be to embed the habit of continuously writing tests as part of routine changes and implementation work. The outcome of an automated testing initiative is not a completed test suite, but a set of working habits and routines. When automated testing has been successfully adopted by a team, tests are written or updated whenever a change is made to the system. CI and CD regimes run the relevant tests for every change continuously, and the team responds immediately by fixing failing tests.
Organically building a test suite

The best way to start an initiative that results in embedding these kinds of testing habits is to write tests for each new change as it comes up. When a bug is found, write a test that exposes that bug, and then fix it. When a new feature or capability is needed, begin implementing tests as you go, possibly even using TDD. Building the test suite organically as a part of making routine changes forces everyone to learn the habits and skills of sustainable, continuous testing.

The outcome to aim for is not a “finished” test suite, but the routine of testing each change, and a comprehensive test suite will emerge from this approach. Interestingly, the test suite that emerges will be focused on the areas of the system that need tests more urgently and the ones which change and/or break the most.
Implementing automated infrastructure testing

There is a variety of tooling available to implement automated infrastructure testing, and in many cases, tools designed for software testing can be directly adopted and applied to infrastructure. Some of these tools have been extended to add infrastructure specific functionality; Serverspec, for example, extends the RSpec Ruby-based testing tool with features for checking server configuration. It’s important to avoid getting hung up on the tooling, however, and you should avoid choosing a tool and basing your entire testing strategy around it.

Instead, analyse the systems and components at hand to decide how you need to approach testing them, and then find tools to carry out your approach. As with any part of your infrastructure, you should assume that you will continuously change parts of your test tooling over time.
Roles and workflow for testing

Infrastructure teams tend to find testing a challenge, with the typical systems administrator’s QA process being: 1) make a change, 2) do some ad-hoc testing (if there’s time), 3) keep an eye on it for a little while afterwards. On the flip side, some testers don’t understand infrastructure very well, and as a result, most testing in IT operations tends to be at a fairly high level. One of the big wins of agile software development is the breaking down of silos between developers and testers, and rather than making quality the responsibility of a separate team, developers and testers share ownership. Similarly, rather than allocating a large block of time to test the system when it’s almost done, agile teams begin testing when they start coding.

There is still some disagreement over what the role of a QA (Quality Analyst) or tester should entail, even within an agile team, with some teams deciding that, since developers write their own automated tests, there is no need for a separate role. Personally, I find that even within a highly functioning team, QAs bring a valuable perspective and level of expertise for discovering the gaps and holes in what I build.
Conclusion

Automated testing is arguably the most challenging aspect of infrastructure as code, whilst also being the most important for supporting a reliable and adaptable infrastructure.

Teams should build the aforementioned habits and processes to routinely incorporate testing as a core part of their infrastructure, but should recognise that this will require the highest degree of openness to change.

Source: http://www.itproportal.com/2016/04/24/infrastructure-as-code-the-agile-approach-to-testing/

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Software Testing Myths and Realities

Many companies see software testing at in a different way that depend on web applications for business operations in today’s rapidly transforming technology. These companies think software testing as a mysterious thing which has factors that are difficult to understand. Things like why and when they need to have pool of expert test engineers, next-generation testing tools with modern infrastructure and a key thing is that difficulty in finding the priorities of testing. The most common myths are that testing is time-consuming, it is too costly, it requires a lot of effort, testers are responsible for the inadequate quality of application, testing in agile environment is purely ad-hoc etc.

Companies that looking out for testing their applications or the companies that looking out to outsourcing testing activities would face a lot of factors which keep hitting their minds. Companies that are not aware of capability of software testing would be completely puzzled. It is not easy to have all the right things in place at the right time.

Some people think it is too boring at times when the need of being creative in work is very limited. It could happen when the software project is very small with only few functions and user input fields here and there. Of course it will not last long, but it’s not very exciting either. However, if a project is a large one with a lot functions and features, it would be very interesting and challenging to test. It needs applying a lot of creativity to be productive.

Some software testing stories that could really confuse one with certain misconceptions like some; people think that testing is too costly, but for the reality it is something like you pay less for testing during software development or pay more for identifying issues later. Introducing software testing at the early stages would help in reducing both time and cost. Some companies think that testing is time-consuming, but for the reality when it is introduced during the development life cycle, it is never a time-consuming activity. Testing and identifying bugs throughout SDLC is always very productive.
Some companies think that tester’s only job is to find bugs, if bugs are not identified, they would be responsible for quality of application. But the reality is that, there cannot be anything like that an application is defect-free even through when it is tested through the specialist team. With an advent of Automation Testing, people started thinking that it can be used anywhere during SDLC. But the reality is that, it can help only in reducing the repetitive tests.

Another thought is that automation can eliminate the need for manual testing. Doubtlessly, there is no replacement for manual testing, whereas automation testing is relied on manual test plans only. Generally, automation is deployed only when tests are repetitive and time-consuming. A better test coverage can be reaped using the combination of manual and automated testing. Some myths around Testing in Agile environment like, since agile development methodologies have been focused point for many companies, testing in agile environments has become important.

Some myths are; Testing in Agile is ad hoc, less documentation, and it does not have strategies. For the reality, an agile environment involves planning sprints, budget and resources ahead of time. It brings testers and developers together helps to improve quality, achieve faster time to market at reduced costs. However, the testing has moved on. Testing cannot be ignored. We should be focusing at increasing complexity of applications and how can we test them to identify all defects.

Source: https://www.clictest.com/

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The Top 5 Skills for Future Software Testers

The software field grows every year, and so do all of the individual facets it contains. We can personally attest that software testing companies are expanding, looking for talented folks interested in pursuing a career in testing and QA. That’s why we just published a QA jobs website , to help guide those who are interested in joining us here at the US’s largest software testing company. Careers in this industry are satisfying and fast-paced, but they aren’t for everyone; here on the QualiTest Blog we decided to look at the top 5 skills for future software testers today.

A software tester’s biggest job is to mentally get inside a system, figure out what makes it work, and come up with interesting ways to “break” it.

1. Logic and analytics – any career in the tech field will need this one; figuring out how things work correctly and independently is a godsend to software-related teamwork, as it means you’re likely to come to the right conclusions with little to no handholding.
2. Communication – It’s by far the most important skill for software testers old and new, as without it, testers have no idea what they’re supposed to be doing, and stakeholders have no idea what’s going on with their project.
3. Creativity/ability to think outside the box – a software tester’s biggest job is to mentally get inside a system, figure out what makes it work, and come up with interesting ways to “break” it.
4. Understanding of business processes – similar to the above, this skill allows you to better understand a system, and how can you test the functionality of a system you don’t understand?
5. Some amount of technical understanding – your employer won’t expect you to be their new IT admin, but you should have some basic understanding of how the program you’re testing works, and how the hardware you’re using to do so works as well.

If you have these five skills, congratulations! You’ll probably be an awesome software tester (and you’d also be great at a bunch of other careers in IT/technology). If you don’t, you’ll definitely be at a slight disadvantage, but most of them can be picked up with a bit of hard work. The best thing about these skills is that they don’t necessarily require prior hands-on experience in software development or testing; sure, the only real way to learn to test is by actually testing, but the above skills can be sharped from just about anything – college schoolwork, part time jobs, or experimenting with technology in your own free time. Software testing is great like that.

Source: http://www.qualitestgroup.com/blog/test-methodologies-and-philosophies/top-5-skills-future-software-testers/

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How to Write Test Documents

When beginning a Software Testing project, several documents must be prepared as part of the process. These documents include a Test Plan, Test Scenarios and Test Cases.
It can be difficult to start these documents from scratch each time that you begin a new software testing project. Knowing where to begin is one of the greatest challenges in writing these plans. Using a template that has a detailed outline of required information can assist in this process.

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Creating a Test Plan

A Software Test Plan (STP) documents the requirements that will be used to verify that a product or system meets its design specifications and other requirements.
The STP prescribes the objectives, approach, resources and schedule of all testing activities. The plan must identify the items to be tested, the features to be tested, the types of testing to be performed, the personnel responsible for testing, the resources and schedule required to complete testing, and the risks associated with the plan. The Test Plan should also discuss any deliverables for testing, including references to test scenarios.
A test plan is usually prepared by a team lead or test engineer, with significant input from developers.
For an example of a Test Plan template that has been assembled by QualiTest, please refer to the link above.

Creating a Test Scenario

A Scenario, also known as a Test Condition or Test Possibility, identifies the functionality to be tested. A Scenario includes a set of test cases to ensure that the business process flows are tested from end to end. They may be independent tests, or a series of succeeding tests, each dependent on the output of the previous one. Any connection to the test plan should be referenced in the test scenario.
For an example of a Test Scenario template that has been assembled by QualiTest, please refer to the link above.

Creating a Test Case

A test case is a set of conditions or variables from which a software tester will determine whether an application, software system or a feature is working as it was intended. It may take many test cases to determine that a software program or system has been sufficiently scrutinized before released. Test cases are often referred to as test scripts after being written and collected into test suites.
The characteristics of a good test case are:

• Accurate: Expressly articulates the purpose.
• Economical: No unnecessary steps or words.
• Traceable: Capable of being traced to requirements.
• Repeatable: Can be used to perform the test as many times as necessary.
• Reusable: Can be reused if necessary.
• Independent: Each test case should be executable in any order, without any dependency on other test cases.
• Concise: The description of a test case should be simple and clear. A tester should be able to understand it by reading it once.

For an example of a Test Case template that has been assembled by QualiTest, please refer to the link above.

Tips For Templates

• Before writing any test cases, one should concentrate on the various scenarios which the product will face at a customer’s site.
• Because plans, scenarios and cases form the base for future test cases and testing, you should designate sufficient writing time, followed by a thorough review process.
• Scenarios should be brief and succinct. The purpose of a test scenario is not to provide details, but to convey a specific idea about testing a particular case.

Source: http://www.qualitestgroup.com/blog/testing-tools/write-test-documents/

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The Perks Of Cloud based Test Automation Tools

The future belongs to everything ‘Cloud’. Take the example of the Hybrid Cloud Model, which is gaining traction in many enterprises. The same can be said for cloud-based software testing tools, which are making their presence felt on the development scene.
Let us find out more about what advantages mobile app developers can avail by using such tools.

Multiple uses
Cloud-based versions of the tools can be used for functional testing, performance testing, and many other testing types. In short, they can be used as a complete test management tools. This means that for all these kinds of testing, you don’t need to procure different kinds of testing tools, but rather one that fits all of your requirements.

Start using almost instantly
Cloud-based test automation tools are ready for use the very moment you buy them. No more installation woes, setup requirements, hunting for servers, or prepping of hardware to start using them. This means that it reduces a lot of effort required from the IT management teams and puts the focus back on the core functionalities of an enterprise.


A user-friendly interface
More often than not, cloud-based automation tools have an incredibly user-friendly interface. This makes them quite easy to use, even for novice developers, as there is hardly any special training required for the software.

Speeds up the testing process
While automation tools are known for increasing productivity in general and shortening test cycles, the cloud-based version of these tools brings forth even more advantages. They not only speed up the entire testing process by being independent of browsers and devices, and getting rid of installation hassles, but they also come with seamless upgrades (leading to a reduced downtime).
All of these features allow you complete the testing process within the stipulated time frame, or possibly even before that. The additional time on hand can be spent on targeting other steps of the app development process, for instance various marketing and promotional activities.

Competitive price range
When you compare them to the regular test automation tools, you will find that the cloud-based ones are available at a competitive price. This is obvious from the fact that you need not spend a considerable amount of money to upgrade the hardware of your device(s).
There is practically zero expenditure for expensive licenses and most importantly, you save up by not having to pay for a manual testing team. This works for most companies, especially the ones who are looking to cut down on their expenses.
Moreover, the option of ‘pay as you use’ lets you use the tools only when it is necessary, and therefore, saves on the costs later when you are not using them.

Ease of collaboration
Since cloud-based automation tools provide the option to work anywhere and using any device, it makes it easy for teams in different locations to go through test reports, make modifications, or ask queries without any hassle. This significantly reduces the steps in completing testing, saving yet another valuable resource for companies – time.
This gives numerous companies, especially startups, a competitive edge. For instance, if they have a globally dispersed team located at the opposite ends of the world, they can still collaborate on the most complex projects using cloud-based tools to test their applications.
Think of it this way – there is going to be less paperwork (albeit virtually) when you don’t need to constantly send or receive and go through endless test reports regarding your project. All in all, this speeds up decision-making, and hence helps in speedy delivery of the project.

Greater control to development teams
There is no doubt about the fact that cloud-based testing systems give you more control to schedule and execute tests in the best possible way. You can use them to conduct a thorough analysis of applications and check them for possible bottlenecks. This is good news for development teams, who appreciate tools that offer them greater control over their projects and allow them to handle them in the way they want.

Immense flexibility
One of the benefits of cloud-based test automation tools is that they can operate without depending on a specific browser or an operating system. This gives you the freedom to test your software anywhere and everywhere, using just about any device.
Through using these tools, you can easily run all your test cases and report them in the cloud, which can be an enterprise’s private cloud or a hosted one. Such flexibility is rarely offered by any other test automation tool on the market.

Scalability
Another important benefit is that the use of such tools never depends on the scale of the project, or even the complexity of the project for that matter. This makes it easy for you to test complex mobile apps as well as the simple ones. There is no end to the testing scenarios that you can explore, owing to the scalability offered by these tools.

Enhanced security
One of the biggest concerns that hover around all topics ‘cloud’ is security! It is true that cloud computing does have security issues, especially when it comes to larger enterprises, however most of them are nothing but general misconceptions. You can be assured that security concerns are being addressed by the higher-ups in the technology industry, which makes these tools secure for usage.

Conclusion
Although the combination of cloud with tried-and-tested approaches does work in the favor of enterprises and developers, it does come with a red flag. While it can cut down on costs, resources, and time expenditures, improper use of such testing environments can do just the opposite. The solution is to analyze your requirements, and complete a thorough round of research about the tools on the market before making a decision.

Source: http://blog.utest.com/2015/09/24/the-perks-of-cloud-based-test-automation-tools/

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