PAC Market Research Finds Growing Automation Coverage and Business Process-Centric Testing for Digital Projects at European Firms

LONDON (Oct. 1, 2015) – Worksoft®, a leading global provider of automation software for business process discovery and validation, today announced results of a new independent study on the future of digital testing in Europe.  The report on latest trends by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), a global market research and strategic consulting firm for the software and IT services industry, found test automation is set to be a major focus for European businesses during the next 12 months.  As the pace of digital change accelerates, the study found there’s a trend toward greater levels of automation, higher test frequency, and an increased focus on business process-centric approaches to quality assurance.

Trend: Growing Automation Coverage. According to the report, Digital Testing in Europe: Strategies, Challenges & Measuring Success, automation coverage is expected to expand rapidly in Europe over the next 12 months. Respondents indicated that in 2016 a growing number of business processes will be protected with functional test automation. Twenty-eight percent of respondents indicated that more than half of their business processes will be covered by automation in 2016, up from just 8% in 2015. Seventy-four percent will have some level of test automation in place in 2016, up from 59% this year.

Trend: Increasing Test Frequency. The study found that about half of European firms (51%) test their digital processes on a project basis, while more than a quarter (27%) test on a more regular basis - monthly or daily. As the need for more agile testing becomes paramount, the level of testing on a daily basis is expected to increase, according to PAC.

“At European companies, continuous testing was identified as the number one driver in keeping the testing function closely engaged with business leadership, because both sides need to keep pace with increasingly rapid innovation cycles,” said Nick Mayes, principal analyst, PAC. “We expect to see more and more organizations turning to high velocity automation to ensure quality across business processes that span digital platforms, as well as traditional enterprise apps,” he said.

Trend: Business Process-Centric Testing. When asked how digital strategies will change testing and QA approaches, 60% of study respondents indicated they will become more business process-centric, while 40% indicated they will become more applications-centric. The trend was strongest in the UK (74%) and Benelux (67%) with majorities favoring a business process-based approach. The need to improve quality remains the number one driver for digital testing projects overall, along with the push for greater efficiency in the way testing is performed.

“The findings support exactly what we are seeing in the marketplace – rapid adoption of automation and the high velocity testing of critical business processes,” said Shoeb Javed, chief technology officer, Worksoft.  “Businesses can’t afford disruption, and need to deploy new digital technologies quickly and with high quality. As European organizations accelerate their digital agendas, Worksoft makes it possible to keep pace with technology change and ensure end-to-end business process quality across complex digital landscapes,” he said.

Find an Executive Summary of the market research report and latest trends here. For the full study findings, visit www.pac-online.com. 

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About PAC

Founded in 1976, Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) is part of CXP Group, the leading independent European research and consulting firm for the software, IT services and digital transformation industry. CXP Group offers its customers comprehensive support services for the evaluation, selection and optimization of their software solutions and for the evaluation and selection of IT services providers, and accompanies them in optimizing their sourcing and investment strategies. As such, CXP Group supports ICT decision makers in their digital transformation journey.