As with many other industries, the insurance business has long been aware of the benefits good software can deliver and has understood the importance of proper testing.
As companies shift to using new technologies such as mobile access and as-a-service delivery models, so testing techniques need to keep up if they are to remain effective. Some of this testing may need to be specific to the insurance sector and here we look at the argument for bringing the industry’s software testing up to date.
Embracing change
No business stands still, with insurance no exception. Today’s insurers need to be more agile, which means having core systems that can cope with the demands placed upon them by new products and changes in working practices.
While insurers need to cope with new challenges, such as driverless vehicles, their systems need to be able to support increasingly mobile individuals accessing their systems. This not only applies to the workforce but also to the consumers who are increasingly demanding self-service online options for servicing their policies.
Cutting risk
Insurance is all about managing risk, and transitioning to new platforms should be no exception. Using a software testing service such as http://www.mytesters.com/ ensures that investment in quality software pays off.
It is important that any testing partner has the experience necessary to work with the constraints imposed by working in the financial sector. It is also important to note that the tools that have been relied upon to deliver useful results in the past may no longer be effective in an agile development environment. A well-designed, modern quality assurance strategy is necessary to protect investment in new software.
Automation matters
While there is still a key role for manual testing, it is increasingly the case – in insurance as elsewhere – that automation bears the brunt of the testing task. The approach that developers need to take is to run both automated and manual testing in parallel with the development process.
Automation can help with tasks such as measuring the effects of system load on software performance. It can also allow different business departments to have their own test facilities to benchmark products before release. A testing system that is able to learn and allow tests to be easily repeated can help to significantly shorten development times.