Shifting Testing beyond the Deployment Boundary

Abstract

Optimization of software testing has typically relied on a philosophy of 'shift left' where the focus is on using automation to start testing as early as possible in a software development life-cycle. With enterprises striving for continual business transformation, it becomes essential to focus on rapid and iterative software development. Moreover, understanding customer reactions, feedback and needs, and translating them as actionable insights to software development teams. This requires testing to 'shift right', i.e. move beyond the deployment boundary, and adopt a data-driven approach leveraging post-release production data and customer feedback. In this position paper we articulate the need for continuous, shift right testing, define a taxonomy for structuring testing types, analyses and data requirements. We end by providing a conceptual framework for applying shift right testing for Digital apps.