Andrew Daly - Solutions Engineer
1. How long have you been working in the financial services industry?
I’ve worked in the financial services industry for 22 years. In that time I’ve seen lots of change. And it’s never been boring! Life in financial services is a constant intellectual challenge – and it keeps me on my toes.
2. How does your experience in this industry drive your role at AppLabs?
My role at AppLabs bridges the understanding of the business client and what the IT application does for them with what the technology team is trying to achieve for them. I liaise with both sides and make sure that everyone is on the same page and that the technical team has a full understanding of what the business requires from the application. This makes sure the testing is tighter and more focused.
3. How integral do you think quality assurance and testing are to any financial technology implementation?
Essential. It plays a vital role. Testing makes sure that an application does what it says it’s going to do. Take on-line banking as an example. A customer may want to transfer a sum of money between one account and another. Business logic and algorithms will ensure that what you say on the front page is executed efficiently and accurately but only if testing and quality assurance is involved. Banks can’t afford to make mistakes of this nature – it’s bad publicity for them and damages their reputation in the eyes of their customers.
4. What do you think is the biggest challenge in your job at the moment?
It’s been an exciting move for me into the quality assurance and testing industry. It’s a real challenge getting to know this element of technology and marrying the new knowledge with my experience in the finance markets.
I am especially interested in the offshore delivery aspect and the benefits that it brings to our clients. The globalization of business practices is such a burgeoning area for IT in particular.
5. What do you think is the hottest issue in financial IT at the moment?
Compliance has always been a hot potato and it will continue to be so. IFRS (international financial reporting standards) is a global issue for all public companies and dictates how they report their financial performance. Technology is fundamental in enabling companies to comply to IFRS standards and testing and quality assurance ensure that all applications geared around compliance do what they are supposed to do.
6. How do you think the testing industry will look in five years time?
The global delivery of testing is beginning to have a positive effect, so we anticipate that there will be a continued increase in the use of offshore capabilities.
We also foresee more companies realizing that an independent approach to testing is much more valuable. An independent tester is able to make an independent assessment of application quality. Outsourcing validation & verification function does even more to increase independence. Independence and objectivity is the key to good quality assurance.
What our clients say
"The people at AppLabs realize that what we need is more than just testing expertise. It is an organization we can work with which understands our business, the way we work and can provide a service that adds value to our organization."
Pauline Smith
Test Manager, National Australia Group