EDI to fill skill gap in testing

BANGALORE, INDIA: EdistaTesting Institute (EDI), rolled out by QAI as an independent academia collaborative venture, is targeting to tap the $4.5 billion testing market in India and is developing a competency framework.

EDI was setup with the focus on training, certifications and assessments in the field of software testing.

“The outsourceable testing market to India is estimated to be $32 billion and there is 18000 professionals’ shortage in testing industry. We are targeting to tap this potential market,” said Mohan Panguluri, vice president –operations, EDI.

“The competency framework will help to manage the talent pool and resources better and helps in providing specialized training according to the requirements of the industry as well as to the professional, which helps them to build competencies and move up in the career path,” he added.

The framework will be released in January 2008 and EDI plans to present it to the industry and academia to get more inputs, informed Panguluri.

“We are targeting to train over 1500 professionals in next 12-18 months,” he added.

He further informed that there are no institutes of this scale specializing only on testing. “Training is mostly provided in-house by respective companies. EDI is formed to address this huge skill gap that exists in this industry.”

“The three-months-old institute is looking to collaborate with all the universities starting from Bangalore to design the curriculum and to evangelize the potential of testing profession,” said Panguluri.

“The course is for a duration of two months, one month training and one month internship. The fee details are yet to be decided,” informed Panguluri.

“We are in the process of finalizing curriculum and the framework. By early next year we should roll out our programs,” he added.

The learning framework would include e-learning courses to impart basic skills and knowledge in software testing, and Blended Learning Programs - mixing e-learning and instructor-led training components - for Intermediate requirements. For expert users, it would offer comprehensive instructor-led training. “They are also planning to adopt open source so it is open for any amendments,” Panguluri said.