SOFTWARE TESTING AND QA SERVICES MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2023 - 2030)

The global software testing and QA services market size was valued at US$ 38.42 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 90.39 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% from 2023 to 2030. Software testing and QA services include functional testing, compatibility testing, usability testing, security testing, load testing, and other types of testing and quality assurance services for software applications, platforms, and systems. The market is driven by factors such as rapid digital transformation across industries, shift left testing, adoption of agile and DevOps methodologies, and increasing need for automated testing. Software testing helps ensure software quality, reliability, and performance before deployment. It is an essential part of the software development lifecycle.

The software testing and QA services market is segmented by testing type, endpoint interface, organization size, verticals, and region. By testing type, the market is segmented into functional testing, non-functional testing, manual testing, automation testing, compatibility testing, security testing, and others. Functional testing accounted for the largest share of the market in 2022. The growth is attributed to the increasing use of functional testing to validate software against functional requirements and ensure intended behaviors and functions.

Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Regional Insights

North America is expected to be the largest market for software testing and QA services during the forecast period, accounting for over 40.5% of the market share in 2022. The growth of the market in North America is attributed to the early adoption of software testing services, the presence of leading IT companies, and increasing investments in software testing.

Europe is expected to be the second-largest market for software testing and QA services, accounting for over 25.2% of the market share in 2022. The growth of the market is attributed to the stringent regulatory landscape, focus on digital transformation by enterprises, and increasing testing activities.

Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing market for software testing and QA services, growing with a CAGR of over 23.1% during the forecast period. The growth of the market in Asia Pacific is attributed to rapid economic growth, increasing penetration of internet and mobile devices, and focus on enhancing customer experience.

Figure 1. Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Share (%), by Region, 2022

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Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Analyst Viewpoint:

The global software testing and QA services market is poised to grow significantly in the coming years. Spending on software testing and QA is expected to rise as organizations aim to deliver higher-quality software and minimize post-release bugs and defects. Growth in digitization initiatives across industries will drive more companies to outsource testing services to managed service providers. The adoption of agile testing methodologies and DevOps will also contribute to market expansion.

The rise of user-centric applications, mobile-first strategy of businesses, and advancement in AI and analytics will open up new opportunities for testing vendors. However, the shortage of skilled testing professionals and resistance to change legacy processes still hinder faster market adoption in some sectors. Integrating testing early in the development process and implementing tools to automate repetitive tasks helps alleviate these challenges to a large extent.

Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Drivers:

• Digital Transformation and Shift toward Cloud-Based Testing: The rapid digital transformation across industries is driving the growth of the software testing and QA services market. Enterprises are modernizing their legacy systems and migrating their IT infrastructure to cloud platforms. This is creating significant demand for testing and QA of new digital products, cloud-based applications, web and mobile apps. Cloud-based testing minimizes infrastructure costs and offers flexibility. The shift towards cloud-based testing is a major driver for the software testing and QA services market.
• Adoption of Agile and DevOps Methodologies: The growing adoption of agile and DevOps methodologies in software development is fueling the demand for agile testing services. Agile methodologies involve continuous development, integration, testing and release of software in rapid iterations. This requires test automation tools and frameworks to perform frequent regression testing. DevOps integration of development and operations also relies heavily on test automation. Agile and DevOps help accelerate software delivery and responding faster to changing business requirements which is driving testing activities.
• Emergence of Mobile and Web Applications: The exponential rise in mobile devices and internet penetration globally has led to significant growth in mobile and web applications. These apps need to be thoroughly tested across different devices, operating systems, networks, and usage scenarios before launch. Enterprises are partnering with software testing service providers to leverage their expertise and resources for mobile app testing. The emergence of mobile and web applications is expected to continue driving growth for software testing and QA services.
• Rise in Security Threats and Need for Secured Software: The increasing cybersecurity threats, data breaches, and attacks have led to greater importance of software security. Software vulnerabilities can cause financial losses and reputational damage to enterprises. This has compelled organizations to allocate a significant portion of their QA budget to security testing activities such as penetration testing, security audits, and building security into the SDLC. The rise in security incidents globally has led to growth in demand for security testing services.

Software Testing and QA Services Market Opportunities:

Increasing Adoption of Test Automation: Test automation is gaining significant traction driven by the benefits of faster feedback, increased efficiency, and coverage in software testing. AI and ML are revolutionizing test automation through auto-generation of test scripts, intelligent test case prioritization, self-healing, and more. As per a survey, around 40% of organizations use AI in testing currently. The increasing adoption of test automation presents huge opportunities for software testing service providers to develop new AI-powered offerings for clients.

Growing Demand for Testing-as-a-Service: Testing-as-a-service (TaaS) model is gaining popularity driven by benefits such as usage-based pricing, faster deployment, reduced overhead, and leveraging external testing expertise. TaaS allows on-demand access to shared test environments, resources, data, and testing tools on the cloud. The pay-per-use model also helps in reducing the total cost of ownership. The growing demand for TaaS offerings provides major opportunities for specialized testing vendors.

Emerging Technologies such as IoT, AI, and Big Data: The adoption of emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, big data and analytics is growing across industries. This presents opportunities for testing companies to provide QA services for solutions built using these next-gen technologies. Testing of connected IoT ecosystems, intelligent algorithms, data security is complex and requires niche expertise. Software testing firms are enhancing their capabilities to capitalize on the new revenue opportunities presented by these emerging technology domains.

Geographic Expansion into Emerging Markets: Emerging countries across Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and Middle East are expected to see increased technology investments driven by economic growth. Global testing companies have significant opportunities to expand into these markets and partner with local companies for growth. Emerging regions have large talent pools which can help drive cost optimization. Geographic expansion into high growth emerging markets provides huge growth potential for the software testing and QA services industry.

Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Trends:

• Shift Left Testing: Shift-left testing is a growing trend that involves testing earlier in the software development lifecycle. It aims to improve software quality by detecting defects and vulnerabilities early. Unit testing, integration testing, and static code analysis are done as developers’ code. This trend reduces the number of defects down the lifecycle and enables faster feedback. Shift left testing along with test automation enables continuous testing which is essential for agile and DevOps adoption.
• Growth in Multi-Channel and Omnichannel Testing: Enterprises are adopting multi-channel and omnichannel customer engagement strategies across web, mobile, social media, etc. This requires comprehensive testing across channels to deliver seamless user experience. There is a growing need for customer journey mapping and end-to-end testing across touchpoints. Testing across multiple platforms simultaneously is complex and drives demand for specialist testing services. Intelligent test automation is essential for omnichannel testing.
• Increased Adoption of Crowdtesting: Crowdtesting solutions leverage a diverse global community of testers to provide on-demand testing services. They enable cost-effective functional, usability and localization testing through crowd wisdom. Companies are adopting crowdtesting platforms to supplement their in-house capabilities and achieve greater test coverage. Crowdtesting also provides quicker feedback and reduces time-to-market. The growth in adoption of crowdtesting solutions is a key trend in the industry.
• Testing Increasingly Moving to DevOps Teams: Traditionally testing was conducted by independent QA teams subsequently after development. But with agile and DevOps gaining traction, testing activities are increasingly being performed by dev teams. A collaborative dev and testing workflow enables continuous testing and rapid feedback. Test automation skills are becoming imperative for developers. The growing trend of testing transitioning to dev teams also creates opportunities for new testing tools and frameworks tailored for dev and ops engineers.

Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Restraints:

• Skill Shortages in Testing: The increasing pace of technology change has created a widening skills gap in software testing. There is growing demand for testers skilled in domains like DevOps, cloud, security, automation, AI etc. Building competencies in next-gen technologies requires significant training investments and time. Educational institutes are also unable to equip students with in-demand testing skills at the rate of change. The skill shortage in software testing impacts the speed of QA activities and acts as a key restraint for market growth.
• Perception as Cost Center and Lengthy Process: While governance regulations are emphasizing software testing, some companies still perceive testing as an avoidable cost center that hampers the speed of software delivery. Complex or lengthy testing processes reduce the agility of DevOps initiatives. These perceptions result in the lack of executive buy-in, inadequate budget, and delays in testing activities – impacting market growth. There is a need to highlight ROI from software testing and adopt agile processes.
• Complex and Dynamic IT Landscapes: The complexity of modern IT landscapes arising from technologies like cloud, IoT, microservices, etc. pose challenges for testing teams. The dynamic nature of systems and frequent changes also makes test maintenance difficult. Frequent version updates of devices, OS, and browsers further complicate testing. Lack of automated test environments, and cross-platform support are other challenges. These testing complexities act as a hindrance to the market growth. Companies need robust testing frameworks tailored for complex IT systems.

Counterbalance: To address the widening skills gap in software testing, industry stakeholders should prioritize continuous training programs, upskilling initiatives, and partnerships with educational institutions. By investing in the development of expertise in emerging domains like DevOps, cloud, security, automation, and AI, organizations can bridge the skill shortage, enhance the speed of QA activities, and foster market growth.

Recent Developments

New product launches

• On June 22, 2022, Cyient, a global digital engineering and technology solutions company, announced the launch of an AI-Powered Framework for Automated System and Software Testing (CyFAST), to accelerate end-to-end test automation. The platform enables end-to-end test automation across web, mobile, desktop, and embedded application and hardware devices, providing a comprehensive environment for managing testing projects.

Acquisition and partnerships

• On August 11, 2022, Qualitest, a global leader in providing AI-powered quality engineering services, announced the acquisition of ZenQ, an India-based software testing company. This acquisition will extend Qualitest geographical footprint in India with ZenQ’s facilities in Hyderabad and add ZenQ’s 600+ quality engineers to Qualitest employees.
• On February 10, 2022, Tricentis, a software test automation company used by companies such as Merck, ANZ, and Dell, acquired AI-enabled Testim Company.
• In April 2022, HCL Technologies, an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company partnered with Broadcom to offer automated 5G testing for enterprises. It will enable accelerated 5G adoption.

Figure 2. Global Software Testing and QA Services Market Share (%), by Endpoint Interface, 2022

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Top Companies in Software Testing and QA Services Market

• TCS
• Wipro
• Cognizant
• Infosys
• Capgemini
• Accenture
• HCL Technologies
• Atos
• DXC Technology
• Tech Mahindra
• IBM
• Qualitest
• CGI
• Mindtree
• Cygnet Infotech
• Maveric Systems
• QA Mentor
• A1QA
• QA Source

Definition: The software testing and QA services market refers to the global market for outsourced software testing and quality assurance services across different testing types, endpoint interfaces, organization sizes, and industry Verticals. Software testing and QA services help ensure the functional and non-functional quality aspects of a software application before its launch. It is an integral part of the software development lifecycle. Leading IT services companies provide a range of testing services to enterprises worldwide.

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