The new ISTQB President Yaron Tsubery on testing professionals, the Board’s growth and the IT world in 2020

Congratulations once more, Mr. Tsubery, on your election as the new ISTQB president! How did you succeed in convincing the Board meeting of your strong points?

I am not exactly a newcomer to the ISTQB any more. I have many years of experience on both the ISTQB and the Israeli Testing Board. So I didn’t have to drum up much support because the other ISTQB members already know me well via our joint work. But a number of colleagues supported me very strongly and advised me well when I ran for president.

What motivated you to run for president?

In the final analysis my ISTQB motivation is the same as at the national level. How can the software testing community be strengthened both nationally and internationally? And how do we take professionalism forward in our profession? That can only be achieved by means of a powerful umbrella organisation such as the ISTQB and by the national boards. Cooperation is the beginning and end of the success of our endeavours to establish and consolidate software testing as an internationally recognised professional and standardised task. I will continue to champion that cause.

How did you come to the ISQTB?

Back then the Israeli Testing Board, along with the Indian Testing Board, was one of the first members of the ISTQB. We were the sixteenth country to gain membership. So I have many years experience of the International Board. From the outset the focus of our work was on sharing experiences. I myself began with the Foundation Level, which I played an active role in helping to establish. I later joined the Processes Working Party, of which I continue to be the chairman.

Why that particular working party?

Because it again involves cooperation between the different parties concerned. Collaboration between testing boards that in some cases differ greatly from one another can only work if the processes that are available are good enough. By working in that working party I got to know the ISTQB and some of my closest friends too. We were and in a way still are responsible for harmonising the activities of all the different groupings. That was also the reason why I have attended all the semi-annual ISTQB meetings but one – the one at which I was elected president (laughs). I would interpret that as a vote of confidence – unless you prefer to call it a leap of faith.

Can you contribute from Israel with its very strong IT industry any special experience toward your work as ISTQB president?

In Israel the situation is much the same as elsewhere. When we set up our national testing board, software testing as such barely existed as an issue. Over the past few years we have experienced a marked change for the better, both in Israel and around the world. Separate and standardised training of testers had first to be launched and then to gain a foothold in both.

Where do you stand on acceptance of training today?

Feedback from many firms shows us that they appreciate the existence of dedicated training courses and of a transparent and reliable schedule that ensures a professional approach to software testing. In addition, the people we train enjoy a clear career advantage. Nowadays IT and project managers target staff with ISTQB-compliant testing qualifications and training. They equate them with a professional approach to quality assurance. I am pleased to be able to say that the ISTQB standard has gained acceptance as a reference model.

What professional experience do you yourself have?

For over eight years I have been director of quality assurance and testing at Comverse, an internationally active software and system producer that has one of its mainstays in Israel.

What are your plans for the ISTQB?

My main concern, of course, is to extend worldwide the ISTQB’s role as the epitome of independent and professional training for software testers. In the process the ISTQB must become a model of international cooperation. At present that mainly means two points. For one, we face the task of developing our common strategy further to ensure the continuous strengthening of the ISTQB scheme. On the other hand we want above all to expand and improve marketing for the Board.

What do you mean specifically when you refer to further development of the ISTQB’s strategy?

With regard to long-term strategy what we must now do, after the Foundation and Advanced levels, is to establish the Expert level of certified tester training as well. Furthermore, we ought also already to be asking what will come next. Will there be another level even higher than Expert level or will we focus more on developing training courses for specialised areas of testing? These are decisions that must now be taken.
For international marketing we now have a new coordinator at the international level, from which we can launch overall initiatives. The first item on this agenda is how we present ourselves. How can we make the ISTQB’s international appearance uniform and unmistakable? How can we best bundle the many marketing successes that the national boards have achieved? We have now allocated a separate budget for these tasks for the first time.

Will ISTQB expansion continue with the establishment of new national boards?

Yes, many new national testing boards are continuing to join us. That demonstrates the strength of the idea behind the ISTQB, but it is also an obligation. We must further improve internal processes such as the services we provide for individual national boards. In addition I feel it is important for us to extend cooperation with bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Partnerships of this kind open up additional channels via which we can spread our know-how more widely. Conversely, we too benefit from our partners’ know-how.

How do you plan to convince more people of the benefits of certified tester training?

By focussing as the ISTQB on a wider range of overriding economic issues. Take the present economic and financial crisis, for example. We can make it clear that companies which invest in forward-looking training and further training in times of crisis will enjoy a competitive edge when the economy recovers. Testing standards and training courses do, after all, help to ensure that software production and with it corporate value creation in general become more efficient and less expensive. That is why I shall be advocating a regular analysis of our economic environment. What are the market’s specific requirements at any given time?

Would you finally cast a glance at the crystal ball, please? What will the software testing profession look like in 2020?

There is a clear trend toward automation. Software testers will increasingly become test engineers. They will do less and less manual testing and know instead how to initiate the leanest possible largely automated testing processes. In 2020 software testers will still not be able to fall back, like carpenters say, on centuries-old traditions, know-how and standards, but in ten years’ time we will have made further progress in this direction. At the same time, internationalisation of the ISTQB standard will make further headway. Testing requirements will be further standardised and more widespread. And last but not least, we will have a larger number of different testing professions, such as testing managers for one and specialists in security testing for another.

Thank you very much for this interview, Mr. Tsubery.

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