ACIAL, promoting the little-known “tester” profession

Founded in 1998, ACIAL is a consulting and services company specializing in software testing. Its vocation is to help companies integrate the “Qualification” dimension throughout the Information System lifecycle, and continuously optimize its manufacturing process (auditing devices, implementing quality assurance and incident management tools, managing qualification projects). The company currently employs 140 people, including 120 consultants, and its latest sales figures exceed €10 million.

A profession long devalued

Pioneers in this field, Messrs Mavrocordatos and de Rauglaudre, the company’s founders, invested in this field of expertise by studying the development of this sector in certain foreign countries. At the time, France was lagging behind in this field, and developing this skill in the French market represented a real opportunity. At the time, the job of “tester” was poorly regarded, and the skills required poorly identified, compared with the more prestigious image of “developer”.

They have worked hard to promote this new profession, particularly among young graduates, who know little or nothing about it when they leave school. Acial has also invested in training.

Since then, the perception of this profession has evolved. The “tester” has become an important and essential link in a team in “project” mode, to detect possible problems in the development of the solution, or even, more rarely, in the design.

All too few training courses, but constant involvement

To raise awareness of this profession, Mr. de Rauglaudre is a regular speaker at schools and universities (Paris VII – Denis Diderot, etc.). He salutes the existence of good, but all too rare, initial training courses, such as that offered in Master II “Quality and operational safety”, by ISTIA (Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Ingénieur d’Angers) and Université Denis Diderot (Master 2, PISE) or the shorter courses (2/3 months) offered by FITEC (Formation Informatique et Technique).

Faced with growing demand, Acial has had to become even more involved in training, and has created a dedicated program, certified by the ISTQB/CFTL (International Software Testing Qualification Board/Comité Français des Tests Logiciels), enabling the acquisition of solid technical and methodological foundations and preparing for CFTL Foundation level certification.

An essential role, special skills

In addition to training, recruitment is also proving difficult, given the skills required and the profile of candidates sought. Indeed, this profession requires a global approach, taking into account several dimensions such as understanding business rules, budget/deadline constraints and risk management. So, beyond tool skills, methodology is essential, and a guarantee of success.

What’s more, being at the crossroads of different disciplines, the qualification of an information system is a complex activity, requiring constant dialogue with all the players involved in the project, from users and designers to production and deployment teams.

As a result, Acial is committed to recruiting new employees who are curious and logical, but also have real interpersonal, linguistic and writing skills.

In conclusion, Mr. de Rauglaudre insists that this business is not impacted by off-shore activities, and represents a springboard to project management, project management assistance or consulting: it therefore has a bright future ahead of it!