TCS+ | Why a ‘shift left’ approach to software development matters

The software development process has evolved dramatically in recent years to keep up with the growing demand for delivering high-quality software in the fastest time possible.<br /> Unfortunately, in the past security was often tacked on as an afterthought and testing only happened towards the end of the life cycle.<br /> And in a world where threats are consistently evolving and becoming more sophisticated, this way of doing things was riddled with issues, leading the industry to realise that a new approach was needed.<br /> Shifting left<br /> TechCentral’s TCS+ show host James Erasmus spoke to Barry de Waal, co-owner and chief executive for strategy and sales at 9th BIT Consulting, and Hilbert Long GM of Sales for the Emea region at CYBER1 Solutions, to unpack a trend that emerged to address this challenge: “shift left”.<br /> The “shift left” approach aims to improve software quality and cut the time spent resolving issues later in the software development cycle by seeing testing performed as code is being developed. This helps to identify and resolve bugs as early as possible in the development process.<br /> In De Waal’s words, this approach means getting siloed activities that typically end up happening later on in the software development life cycle brought forward to take better control of what needs to be delivered.<br /> According to Long, CYBER1 Solutions has seen development teams in organisations pulling in security teams more often. “That in itself is creating a ‘shift left’ component, because cyber teams were always the last to be pulled into the life cycle from a development perspective.”<br /> This, he says, is one reason why CYBER1 Solutions Emea has created a partnership with 9th BIT Consulting.<br /> Input from everybody<br /> De Waal, adds that with a shift left approach, it’s not just the security that’s being pulled in earlier on in the life cycle. “It’s also the testing and the infrastructure that needs to be put together. Quite often you will have teams whose only priority is getting the