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The International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB®) is proud to announce that, as of December 2014, more than 500,000 software testing certification exams has taken place worldwide.

As of December 2014, ISTQB® has issued 380,000 certifications in more than 100 countries world-wide, with a growth rate of more than 13,000 certifications per quarter.

The scheme relies on a Body of Knowledge (Syllabi and Glossary) and exam rules that are applied consistently all over the world, with exams and supporting material being available in many languages.

See more facts & figures: http://www.istqb.org/about-istqb/facts-and-figures.html

The Advanced Level qualification is aimed at people who have achieved an advanced point in their careers in software testing. This includes people in roles such as testers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test managers, user acceptance testers and software developers.

This Advanced Level qualification is also appropriate for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of software testing, such as project managers, quality managers, software development managers, business analysts, IT directors and management consultants.

To receive Advanced Level certification, candidates must hold the Foundation Certificate and satisfy the Exam Board which examines them that they have sufficient practical experience to be considered Advanced Level qualified. Refer to the relevant Exam Board to understand their specific practical experience criteria.

See more in http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/advanced-level/advanced-level-in-a-nutshell.html

Agile testing is a relatively new approach to software testing that follows the principles of agile software development as outlined in the Agile Manifesto.

A tester on an Agile project will work differently than one working on a traditional project. Testers must understand the values and principles that underpin Agile projects, and how testers are an integral part of a whole-team approach together with developers and business representatives. There is a lot of confusion concerning agile testing – which means there's an educational opportunity as well.

The Agile Extension will give the tester the knowledge to be part of agile testing teams and achieve high performance.

See more in http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/agile-tester-extension/agile-tester-extension-in-a-nutshell.html

ISTQB ® is proud to invite you to take part in a survey to assess the current trends in the testing industry.

By completing this survey (http://sgiz.mobi/s3/WSTR2015), you will:

• contribute to a better understanding of the software testing industry,
• help decision makers make the right investments,
• help you make more informed career decisions,
• see the software testing trends in industry.

To thank you and to recognize your valuable contribution, you will receive an email with a summary of the results one month in advance of the report becoming publicly available.

Belatrix Software has joined the program at the Silver Partnership level.

See www.belatrixsf.com

Evry Asa has joined the program at the Platinum Partnership level.

See http://www.evry.com/

Seidor Technologies S.A. has joined the program at the Silver Partnership level.

See http://www.seidor.cl/ 

ISTQB ® is proud to invite you to take part in a survey to assess the current trends in the testing industry. By completing this survey (http://sgiz.mobi/s3/WSTR2015/), you will:

• contribute to a better understanding of the software testing industry,
• help decision makers make the right investments,
• help you make more informed career decisions,
• see the software testing trends in industry.

To thank you and to recognize your valuable contribution, you will receive an email with a summary of the results one month in advance of the report becoming publicly available.

• ISTQB® certification can provide a competitive advantage for companies, promising a higher level of reliability of the applications being developed due to efficient and cost effective testing practices derived from the ISTQB® competencies
• Consulting companies with certified staff can offer higher-level services to customers, increasing revenues and brand value
• ISTQB® has defined a “Partner Program” for companies that engage a large number of certified testers

See more interesting topics here www.istqb.org/about-istqb/istqb-slides.html

• International recognition of acquired competencies and skills
• Authorized to use the "Certified Tester" logo (specifying the level of certification)
• Whole of career path support, from Foundation to Expert level
• Higher appeal in the labor market

See more interesting topics here www.istqb.org/about-istqb/istqb-slides.html

The event, organized by SQS (Software Quality Systems), is held annually in German, covering the topics of Software Testing and Quality.

A discount of 20% on the fair price will be offered to all ISTQB® Certificates Holder.

See more in http://www.istqb.org/special-initiatives/istqb-conference-network/iqnite-europe.html 

See all the benefits that come with ISTQB® certification and other interesting topics here: http://www.istqb.org/about-istqb/istqb-slides.html 

ISTQB® General Assembly will meet in October 2015 in Shanghai, China.

The meeting will be preceded by Working Groups meetings as well as an International Conference.

ISTQB® General Assembly will meet in June 12th 2015 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The meeting will be preceded by Working Groups meetings as well as an International Conference.

ISTQB® General Assembly will meet in March 26th 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The meeting will be preceded by Working Groups meetings as well as an International Conference.

Symbio Finland Oy has joined the program at the Platinum Partnership level.

See http://www.awsys-i.com/ 

Advanced World Systems, Inc. has joined the program at the Silver Partnership level.

See http://www.awsys-i.com/ 

Technavio, an independent technology research and advisory company, analyzed the key challenges faced by the Global Software Testing Services market, highlighting in particular the “Shortage of Skilled Labor”.

• The Global Pure Play Software Testing Services market is growing rapidly, thus increasing the demand for skilled labor. However, this has created a disparity in supply and demand, as a result of which, sourcing and retaining skilled labor has become a challenge.
• The shortage of availability of required skills is now becoming a major challenge for the software testing organizations.

(Global Software Testing Services Market 2011-2015, Technavio)

See the latest ISTQB® in a Nutshell presentation here: http://www.slideshare.net/ISTQBORG?atl_token=4lFQ1891qx 

Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc. (RBCS) has joined the program at the Platinum Partnership level.

See http://www.rbcs-us.com/

Software engineering and software project management are complex activities. Both software development and software management have dozens of methodologies and scores of tools available that are beneficial. In addition, there are quite a few methods and practices that have been shown to be harmful.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness or harm of various methods and practices Capers Jones has developed a scoring method. The data for the scoring comes from observations among about 150 Fortune 500 companies, some 400 smaller companies, and 30 government organizations. Negative scores also include data from 15 lawsuits. The rankings are based on about 20,000 projects that span 50 industries and 24 countries. The analysis is based on the author's book Software Engineering Best Practices published by McGraw Hill in 2010. Some new data is taken from The Economics of Software Quality published by Addison Wesley in 2012. This version is current through mid-2014.

See the latest ISTQB® in a Nutshell presentation here http://www.slideshare.net/ISTQBORG?atl_token=4lFQ1891qx

2014 was a pretty intensive year for the ISTQB®, resulting in many visible outcomes amongst which:

• The new Foundation Agile Extension has been released and the first certifications already happened all over the world.
• The ISTQB® Expert Level Syllabus: Test Automation - Engineering has been released.
• The ISTQB® Standard Glossary of Testing terms has been kept up-to-date with issue of version 2.4.
• Considerable work has been done on 2 new Syllabi, that will be released in 2015: Foundation Model Based Testing Extension, and Expert Security Testing.
• More than 50.000 certifications were achieved in over 100 countries world-wide, bringing the total to over 350.000
• 3 new Member boards joined our community worldwide: Ethiopia, Morocco and Azerbaijan.
• More than 30 new partners joined the ISTQB® Partner program.
• The first Expert Level courses and certifications have been given.
• The ISTQB® Effectiveness Survey was published. Valuable results were shared with the testing community; comments and expectations from the respondents were analysed and integrated in our product development process.
• We issued a series of short videos dedicated the "ISTQB® certifications in a Nutshell!", "ISTQB® Advanced Level", "ISTQB® Agile Tester" and "ISTQB® Partner Program".
• Capers Jones received the ISTQB® Award!

Share your expectations for 2015 with us and, please remember to join and follow official ISTQB® social media communities!

According to the ISTQB® Effectiveness survey in addition to Agile Testing, the following have emerged as the most important topics for the future: Performance Testing, Testing for Mobile Devices, and Usability Testing. See the full report here

According to the ISTQB® Effectiveness survey approximately 70% of Test Managers consider it important to obtain Advanced Level certifications, and this opinion is shared by 63% of Test Engineers. See the full report.

According to the ISTQB® Effectiveness survey Test Managers would like to have most of their staff certified at the Foundation Level. See the full report.

ITEXICO LLC. has joined the program at the Silver Partnership level.

See http://www.itexico.com/

iTree Finance JSC has joined the program at the Gold Partnership level.

See http://www.itreegroup.eu/

As of June 2014, ISTQB® has issued almost 354,000 certifications in over 100 countries world-wide, with a growth rate of more than 12,000 certifications per quarter.

See more facts and figures here: http://www.istqb.org/about-istqb/facts-and-figures.html

Qytera Software Testing Solutions has joined the program at the Gold Partnership level.

See http://www.qytera.de/

Follow our 3 step process for applying for ISTQB® Partner Program.

Today almost 80 companies all over the world have been applied for ISTQB® Partner Program!

See more in http://www.istqb.org/partner/become-a-partner/how-to-become-a-partner.html