Products launched with too little testing, say IT heads

More than two thirds (68%) of IT managers around Europe think too many products and services are launched with insufficient testing, according to research by the IT services company, Logica CMG.

NHS trust managers were included in the respondents to the survey which found that, while organisations claim that software testing is a strategically important part of service delivery, testing tends to remain the sole responsibility of IT managers rather than business managers.

The research report called "Testing Times for Board Rooms" found that almost three quarters (73%) of European organisations surveyed said that accountability for testing lay with IT directors, IT managers or software developers. Just 1% said that testing was the responsibility of marketing, while 9% said it was the end user department’s responsibility.

Alex Garrick, general manager, managed testing at LogicaCMG, commented: "Considering that our survey shows that 68% of IT heads think too many products and systems are launched without sufficient testing, and 89% of respondents said they had problem ridden systems 48 hours after go live, it is a surprise to see that IT managers are accepting responsibility without a suitable level of business support.

"Poor availability of testing resources and capability (cited by 85% of respondents) and skills required to test new developments (78% of respondents) are largely to blame."

Other key findings of the research suggest that IT departments are under great pressure from the business to get new systems in place quickly:

• Half (50%) of European organisations surveyed said that new software developments go live later than the planned deadline;

• A third of respondents (32%) blamed the drive to meet go-live dates for poor testing;

• Almost half (43%) said that projects were late or were failures because of user changes mid-development;

• More than half (53%) said that regulatory compliance is having a major impact on how testing activities are undertaken.

Link

Testing Times for Boardrooms