It won’t be long before it becomes A-android, B-Blackberry, C-Cupcake, D-Donut,-E-Éclair, F-Froyo, G-Gingerbread, if anything, they are words that probably half the planets population (approx. 3.2 billion people) is well versed with. Not only that another 700 million would be over the next 3 years! If you haven’t guessed it by now…I am referring to the explosion of mobile devices into our lives.

At the core of this explosion in mobile devices and here I mean smartphones and tablets; is the innovation in the field of processors. With processing speeds of these mobile devices increasing dramatically, the demand from users to run complex applications has also gone up. Business users want to have the ability to manage their personal and professional lives through a single interface and have apps that allow them to do this. Add the speed at which innovation in devices, processors and OS takes place and it is not a pretty picture for app. manufacturers.

So, what does all of this mean to you if you are an App. manufacturer or an enterprise trying to create mobile apps for your workforce or customer base?

Some of the areas of impact include:

A constant need to keep your app. updated with the latest OS upgrades/ devices in the market

Build high secure applications that lend peace of mind to users/ administrators

Build apps. that are not very heavy on the device resources (for optimum performance)

Constantly upgrade/ enhance your application to keep users engaged

Roll out apps at a speed which would put Formula 1 drivers to shame! Well, just joking on that last one there but for the ones that work in this space, you know what I mean!

Over the years of managing the Quality Assurance programs of multiple Fortune 500 companies and having setup a Mobile Testing Lab fairly early on within this space, I want to share the basic methodology that can be used to mitigate risks for you when developing/ deploying your mobile apps.

•Mobile Configuration Optimization

Choose an optimum no. of configurations to test your app on using statistical techniques like Classification tree, Orthogonal Arrays, etc.

•Mobile Test Automation Automate as much of the core testing as possible right from the get go. We have experienced a reduction between 50-70% in the testing effort while ensuring complete coverage across devices. Automation built in on the right design principles also leads to high reusablity of scripts. •Mobile Performance Testing A holistic approach to performance testing should cover areas such as volume testing, endurance testing, performance monitoring, soak testing and testing under real time scenarios.

An in depth whitepaper has also been written on Mobile is changing the face of Software Testing.I would love to hear from readers on their learning’s when developing or testing mobile apps. Please feel free to write to me

Amol Akotkar | Test Consultant | Zen test Labs