Software testing is nothing new. Insurance enterprises have long known the benefits.
As new technologies like mobile are used and the need for agility and speed rises, so does the need for new testing techniques; otherwise testing will hold implementations and organizations back.
Just as today's systems are modernizing, new testing methods and tools are rapidly advancing the quality and speed of development and implementation.
To assess the current state of testing and re-assess the need for insurance-specific testing, Majesco recently reviewed modern testing processes. What they found makes a logical case for enterprise-wide testing modernization. It begins with an understanding about how today's systems will need a different kind of testing.
|Moving from static to dynamic
Modernization holds promise for better insurer efficiency, greater capability and improved agility, but it doesn't mean an insurer will lose the need for Quality Assurance (QA). Consider how rigid systems made tests somewhat easy and often reusable. Today's modern systems are far from rigid.
Insurers need to have core systems that will be able to add capabilities, new products, workflows and more through configuration. They will need an overall approach to system quality that will allow for continuous updates.
Robustness and stability will need to be tested to bolster QA, but a whole new world of testing will arise to cover the various software areas that will be added to the enterprise. Not only will testing needs grow, but also a dynamic framework for understanding enterprise-wide testing will be mandatory.
|Minimizing risk
Ironically, less effective testing on rigid systems has held many organizations back from beginning or completing transformation programs. They are worried about the risks involved in transformation and their inability to have clarity around operations, development, migration and the investments involved.
In order to protect their assets, insurers are realizing that transformation investments must be insured against operation risk by maintaining a well-designed QA process. As they learn about the testing that will protect them, three key components are coming to light:
- Previously tried and true approaches are no longer best practices in testing. (For example, the Waterfall approach to development and testing will no longer provide the results needed.)
- A single testing partner with a framework and methodology and domain expertise is vital.
- The end goal is to employ a single platform that works with a variety of approaches and tools in a way that enables agility and speed.
Reaping the benefits
As digital enhancements grow and system touchpoints and channels are on the rise, test types are also becoming broader. Manual testing is still needed. Automated testing is more frequently employed. Performance testing and digital testing are more important than ever. To cover all of them, insurers need an automation framework that is structured, simplified and process-based. They need a system that "learns" and one that provides long-term efficiency by allowing for the repeatability of tests while increasing the speed with which tests can be executed.
A modern testing framework will give insurers prompt developer feedback and it will support agile development. Testers will have the capability to build automation in parallel to application development. It will give users the ability to conduct continuous and recurring regression tests. Business analysts will be able to get more involved in testing. Scriptless automation techniques will provide business users with their own test automation capabilities. These are just a few of the ways that a modern testing platform will bring insurers into the future and give them a competitive edge.
To dig more deeply into the benefits of expert testing in the transformation process and beyond, download Majesco's recently-released white paper, Putting Insurance Testing to the Test. In addition to Majesco's testing overview, supplemented with industry perspectives from the research firm Novarica, readers will find a valuable example of an agile-friendly test automation approach as well as a helpful list of distinct service elements that should be taken into consideration when picking an IT testing partner.
Dan Mets is the vice president of consulting for Morristown, New Jersey-based Majesco Consulting. Connect with him on LinkedIn. Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own.
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