Software testing-boredom to boom

Narayanan Madhavan

BANGALORE: Testing software to ferret out bugs that drive consumers crazy was once seen as dull and dreary work to be shunned by brainy technology experts.

But the need to ensure electronic products' quality has spawned the latest hiring boom in the $16 billion outsourcing industry that already employs some 500,000 people in India's technology capital.

Software glitches are estimated to cost nearly $60 billion a year in the United States alone, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Companies such as online share brokers and handset makers are willing to spend a lot to avoid them.

"They used to say this is where failed programmers went. Not anymore," said Vidur Kohli, head of testing at MphasiS BFL Ltd, adding that testers now often make as much as programmers.

For a long time, giants like Microsoft Corp did their testing in-house. But analysts say independent experts are increasingly being sought out to ensure neutrality and to keep costs down.

A key sign of the new wave was sounded last year when India's Aztec Software and Technology Services acquired privately held testing firm Disha Technologies for $12 million.

Now Aztec is in the market for more.

"We are quite interested in acquiring companies that have strong engineering skills, and managements that can scale," said Sanjiv Pande, general manager at Disha, now a unit of Aztec.

C.P. Gangadharaiah, vice-president of testing services at Wipro, said his team has jumped four-fold to 2,400 in two years. In the nine months to December, revenue grew 90 percent to $64 million, three times the industry average.

"We are expected to grow in a similar way," he told Reuters.

Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, which rank ahead of Wipro in Indian software sales, acknowledged testing was a growing business, but declined to provide details, citing the quiet period ahead of quarterly results.

Aztec officials say some $3.0 billion of $4.6 billion in outsourced testing is sent offshore, throwing up opportunities for companies in India that thrive on low-cost knowledge workers.

Testing could make up 25-50 percent of software budgets, said Partha Iyengar, vice-president at industry researcher Gartner. Independent testing is growing at 50-65 percent while the part of work done offshore is growing at 35-40 percent, he said.

Indo-American firm Cognizant Technology's testing staff grew five-fold to 1,000 in 2004 and aims to double the staff in 2005, said R. Chandrasekaran, its managing director.

"We see an increasing portion of our customers' IT spend earmarked for testing services," he told Reuters.

COSTLY BUGS

Bug testing is no longer about routine, random checks. Apart from analytical skills, engineers get trained in tools made by companies such as Mercury Interactive and BMC.

Wipro, which develops products for network gear makers like Nortel and Cisco offers "labs on hire" to test features such as push-to-talk handsets and video streaming.

Sohrab Azad, an executive at head-hunting firm eQURA Consulting, told Reuters that industry estimates say Bangalore alone would need 10,000 testing engineers in the next six months.

The city is pulling talent from northern cities such as Delhi and Pune by doubling annual salaries to 800,000-1,000,000 rupees ($18,265-$22,831) for those with 6-8 years' experience, he said. This is still only a fraction of what U.S. counterparts earn.

Russia, China and Ireland are among potential competitors, but India is a seen ahead in the race.

"Once China crosses the language barrier, it is likely to pose a threat due to cost advantage," said Pradeep Waychal, head of quality at Patni Computer Systems.