CEOs risk competitive advantage (and jobs) by skimping on software testing

This summer, turning the software unit from Volkswagen to CEO did not fail Herbert Dies his work. Volkswagen, a household name, risked losing its competitive advantage to China, Japan and other markets by failing to modernize, in addition to the reputational damage of producing cars that cannot meet competitors’ software standards. Diess became perhaps the most high-profile executive to pay the price for not modernizing an organization. He won’t be the last.

The automotive industry is just one of many that have become software-centric. Retail is now online, not physical. Banking is done through apps, not over the counter. Executives must balance a different set of priorities than those of their predecessors if they are to weather the oncoming economic storm.

Diess’s departure was not due to sheer ignorance, nor a lack of recognition of the importance of software development to the future of the automotive industry. On his appointment, Diess seemed to see the need for change. He said that VW “needs a software culture.” However, what that means in practice is difficult to define, and often the experience of the top is not reflected by the experience.

A solid software base

Most software problems are not due to the inability to build; they are usually caused by a problem in the code that causes a program to crash or return false results. In other words, problems are caused by an inability to test. While some application errors can be resolved quickly, many companies can be time-consuming, losing competitive advantage and revenue, and ultimately damaging reputation.

As companies accelerate their digital transformation to gain a competitive advantage, the pace of software development continues to accelerate at an overwhelming rate. This puts tremendous pressure on IT teams to develop and release software quickly, often with limited resources. However, a crucial step in the release of new software is to use the right testing capabilities to detect and fix any errors in advance. Nevertheless, risks are taken and cuts are made. This is where CEOs who are not immersed in a software-centric culture fail to understand the steps required to digitally transform a company.

You have to build from a solid foundation. To use a football metaphor, you have to build from the back. Quality assurance and testing teams are like the keepers, the safe pair of hands that prevent them from falling behind and allow others in the business to focus on scoring. Too often executives wind up in a company and focus on rushing poorly developed software to catch up. You can attract as many star attackers as you want, but having a weak defense will hurt you in the long run.

The crucial test

The understanding of where software problems lie can vary. In banking, failures are often attributed to large banks’ complex IT systems, which are built on incremental upgrades of outdated systems. There is less accountability for substandard software testing, despite the huge impact on customers, reputational damage and hefty fines.

Software testing is critical to identifying defects and bugs in the code. It also allows you to see if the program meets the expected requirements for function, compatibility and design. Historically, software testing was done manually, with testers taking the role of end user and using the application’s features to ensure correct behavior. But as software development becomes faster and more complex, manual testing can no longer keep up. Companies are trying to move to automated testing to manage more sophisticated requirements.

With a major global developer skills shortage and companies making layoffs, there are serious testing bottlenecks, increased costs and delays in project completion time as development teams try to upskill manual testers, reposition remaining talent and lean on their existing developers for support. At the same time, companies are navigating tight deadlines to deliver quality quickly and meet new customer demands. All this culminates in an underwhelming 15% of software testing successfully automated today, despite the rapid pace of digital transformation.

Avoiding the reckless path

Despite the critical nature of software testing, a significant number of companies still rely on manual processes to test their software. This means that they are vulnerable to risks such as 70-75% by disturbances are caused by human error. Manual testing is also labor intensive and requires specialist skills, which many companies do not have. So instead they cut corners and release software that has not been properly tested.

CEOs and testers don’t sing the same hymn when it comes to testing, and a “fix it in post” mentality is dangerously creeping into institutions that can’t afford to take risks. On the current trajectory, more and more companies will struggle with outages and outages, which can cause them significant financial and reputational damage. It will also cause them to fall behind competitors, and for decision makers that is rarely good news for their own prospects.

Staying on the current path is reckless, but even worse, easy to avoid. Companies need to sharpen their software testing practices by considering a different approach and embracing solutions such as test automation systems that do not require coding skills. This opens the barrier to entry for software testing and ensures companies have access to a wider range of talent to manage the process. Only then can the testing process be improved, challenges overcome and attitudes changed.

Christian Brink Frederiksen is co-founder and CEO of Leapwork.