Risky Software in GCC

Most of the large business establishments, including banks in the GCC, are exposed to the risk of software crash in the absence of a testing by independent agencies, according to an expert from the field.

Talking to The Business Weekly, Sug Sahadevan, CEO of the London-based Testhouse, a company specializing in quality assurance consulting, testing solutions and training, said most of these firms never bother to take third-party testing seriously, thus leaving the entire software system to a risk of collapse.

"The tests have to be carried out basically to verify whether the new software meets the clients' requirements on the areas of security and safety, performance and scalability and resilience and reliability," Sahadevan added.

The problem typical to this market, according to Sahadevan, is that an independent testing is not viewed as an essential exercise though some may seek third-party testing on functionality or at the most, for security.

"Other areas such as scalability and resilience are immaterial to them and are mostly ignored," he added. He said firms, including large banks, are facing problems on this count, but most of them do not want to disclose issues as it is embarrassing to them.

The GCC is going through a growth phase and companies are getting new software systems installed or existing ones upgraded, and hence independent testing can play a big role in the market.

"This is a growing market and integration and data migrations are regularly required. There are times when software testing and authentication are compulsorily required. "If you don't transfer your data in an efficient and professional way, there is a hidden danger in it. When the legacy systems are upgraded or replaced with new ones, they need to be tested before they are put into use."

By Rajni. C

© The Business Weekly 2007