Mumbai: The worldwide software testing outsourcing market is expected to grow from $30 Billion in 2010 to $50 Billion in 2020 and India is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of this growth according to a NASSCOM report. The ‘skills gap’ is a problem that pervades the IT industry (don’t hyperlink since report had US data only). The heavy investment in critical business applications that keep large corporations moving is at risk because engineering qualifications today bear little resemblance to the needs of the market. With India becoming a hub for Testing-as-a-Service, Testing skills shortage likelihood as demand increases exponentially; is bound to improve employability of trained Testers.
Additionally, COBOL which is one of the oldest programming languages, continues to play a pivotal role in running many of the world’s businesses and public services. But sadly, COBOL seems to be missing from curriculums in Engineering and MCA institutes these days.
In response, Micro Focus (LSE: MCRO.L), the leading provider of enterprise application modernization, testing, and management solutions, today announced the launch of its Academic Program to support academic institutes, business organizations and students in building the next generation of skilled software testing professionals and COBOL developers.
The company has also launched the Borland Scholar Program, aimed to create India as a hub for World‐Class Software Testing Professionals. Micro Focus is reaching out to over 200 colleges to promote the integration of the subject in their university curriculum. With 91 of Global Fortune 100 Companies using Micro Focus Solutions, the program provide students a Competitive Edge in the IT Industry by enabling them to be pre‐qualified on widely used Software Testing Tools from Borland.
The program is designed keeping in mind the Engineering Student populace in the country. The focus is to train the students on the latest technologies and business models. The company aims to roll out 10000 industry standard professionals to support the growing testing market in India. Considering the present growth and potential in the software testing industry, the opportunities for software testers are enormous. The program will enable the education, enablement and development of the COBOL language and software testing professionals within universities in India and across the globe.
The Micro Focus Academic program and the Borland Scholar Program, offer universities free software licenses from Micro Focus for non-commercial use in their labs, for teaching or research purposes.
The programs will support new and existing university IT programs to meet the demands of today’s business organizations, facilitate greater collaboration between businesses and academic communities and provide an interface through which existing students can connect with prospective employers seeking these skills.
In addition to using this interface to build an employment focused academic community, it will also be used to host competitions, encouraging students to test their coding skills and rewarding successful students with prizes and the possibility of an internship.
Nitin Dang Country General Manager at Micro Focus India, said: As the number of COBOL developers reaching retirement age increases, the demand for quality, skilled developers to support business-critical COBOL applications continues to rise. At present COBOL supports 90 percent of the Fortune 500 business systems every day and powers 85 percent of all daily business transactions processed. As a result, university programs that teach COBOL programming skills, and importantly, connect those students to business organizations, are vital. Without them, the cost and risk scenario for COBOL-based businesses will continue to elevate.
Continuing, Dang said: “Businesses must embrace change to face the twin challenge of IT disruption with new technologies like cloud and mobile, and the need for future innovation. The answer is to bridge the skills gap between old and new developers, unifying them through education, process and technology. Our Academic Program aims to do just that, fostering all three while helping businesses and academia prepare the next generation of COBOL Developers and Test experts.”
This program is an effort to Partner with Academia to complement their efforts of enriching Technical Education in India. Micro Focus aims to bridge the skill-gap in the industry by empowering Engineering students through hands-on training, to be pre-qualified on industry-relevant skills, before they step out of Campus.