The Centro de Ensayos de Software (CES), a non-profit software
testing laboratory in Uruguay, has recently launched a program that is
certain to become the new “gold standard” in professional development
for software testers. The program, endorsed by the Universidad de la
Republica (Uruguay), the Universidad Castilla La Mancha (Spain), and
sanctioned by the Uruguayan IT Chamber (CUTI), is the most
comprehensive, affordable, and publicly available training program for
software testers on the market. Based on my market research and
comprehensive review of the program, I have no reservation in rating it
as market leading.
Software Testing, the software development activity responsible for
identifying issues with software and providing a wide variety of
quality-related information to stakeholders and decision-makers prior to
release, is the primary job of many millions world-wide, yet the
majority of software testers learn their craft entirely on the job.
Yes, there are various “take a class or two, pass an information-based
(not a skill-based) test, and receive a certification” programs – some
more respectable than others and most far more expensive than the CES
program. There is even a new certificate coming to market that
involves three, one month, on-line courses where students are taught
and assessed by experienced testers and university professors, but none
of those rise to the level of the CES’s program.
