KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 2): The Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB) has urged local software testing players to tap into the global software testing services market that is forecast to grow to US$70.98 billion by 2018.

In a statement today, MSTB president Mastura Abu Samah said that through its annual Software Testing Conference (SOFTEC) event, MSTB has created a platform for practitioners and businesses to interact with one another and also world leading experts and thought-leaders in software quality assurance (SQA) and testing practices.  

She said increasing demands for SQA and testing services from among global companies as a mean to ensure quality of products and services as well as their operational effectiveness have been identified as a major contributor to the rapid growth of the software testing segment within the larger Information Technology market.

Mastura said the global software testing services market was valued at US$41.84 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach US$70.98 billion by 2018, growing with a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 11.15%.

She said this was according to an independent report by Technavio, a leading technology research and advisory company under the UK-based Infiniti Research group.

Mastura said the theme “Spearheading Business of Testing” had been adopted for SOFTEC Asia 2015, reflecting a broadened scope of discourse at SOFTEC — the biggest English-medium software testing conference in the region.

She said discussions and presentations would include business facets of software testing, in addition to the technology, skills and techniques aspects of the discipline.

“A business networking session is also in the pipeline.

“The same Technavio report also stated that Malaysia is rapidly emerging as one of the most favoured outsourcing destinations for global companies in the realm of software testing. This is testament to the efforts under the Malaysia Software Testing Hub (MSTH) programme,” she said.  

Mastura said that in a 2013 study on global software testing market, commissioned by the Economic Planning Unit, market research company International Data Corporation (IDC) indicated that Malaysia had what it takes to capitalise on the global software testing opportunities.

She said the report suggested that with the right kind of investment and intervention programmes, Malaysia could rake in revenues of up to US$4.7 billion by 2020.