App testing and quality assurance are now a primaryfocus for IT departments, with total IT spend on qualityexceeding maintenance for the first time since 2012, a recently released report says.
According to the Capgemini World Quality Report 2014-15, the proportion of IT spends allocated to quality assurance and testing has increased dramatically in the last few years. In a survey of 1,543 global CIOs, the authors of the report said that it had risen from 18% in 2012 to around 26% by 2014, with the expectation being that it would reach 29% by 2017.
The studysaid that there were a number of reasons why IT departments have shifted priorities. Citing the Internet of Things and the increased prevalence of external market forces such as social media and the well-trodden path of analways-on society, the report said that CIOs and senior IT professionals are more than aware that a badly-designed or faulty app can have a damaging effect on both reputation and user satisfaction.
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Percentage of IT budget for testing and QA. Source: World Quality Report 2014-15.According to the report, 58% of respondents interviewed said that they were making investments in technology that integrates with existing IT infrastructure and that provides a demonstrated business value in a relatively short space of time.
Referring directly to the IoT among other trending topics, the authors wrote:
People expect instant connectivity and access to information which requires businesses, governments and other public sector organizations to become more agile and flexible in their delivery of new and existing products. These changes are transforming the role of Information Technology. CIOs can no longer afford to focus only on applications that support the business. Todays IT leaders share the responsibility for business outcomes and help shape the http://www.handingouthope.com/how-a-quality-assurance-system-works/ future of their organization.
User Expectation Increases Focus
IT departments now understand the value of quality assurance, the report said, in terms of reducing user intolerance and limiting the potential for social media fallout due to a poorly developed app. Over the last few years, many companies have invested in internal testing centers, with 26% of respondents saying that they now include improved governance and controls within their daily working practices.
More than half of the testing budget allocated to IT is now directed toward new projects with those surveyed saying that 52% of total spend went to developing improved business processes. Of that testing budget, big data and analytics accounts for 40% of that testing budget, with 17% allocated to mobile. Companies are also reducing the amount of work that is being done in-house, with 70% of testing projects now undertaken by third parties, although the study does point out that quality assuranceison the wholea collaborative effort by all interested parties.
Source: World Quality Report 2014-15More Testing Means More Bodies
The increase in budget is reflected in the numbers of people that are being hired specifically to undertake quality assuranceand testing for the company. In 2013, the greatest part of QA spend was on hardware and infrastructure (40%) with 23% going toactual testers. This has now dramatically swung the other way, with the 2015 report showing that 35% of total budget now goes to people, while hardware accounts for 33% of spend.
Companies are also encouraging IT departments to concentrate on non-functional requirements. App security is the prime focus for CIOs, especially in mobile with 54% of respondents saying that this was crucial. At the same time, customer experience also plays a part in determining how a companys app is perceived in terms of functionality, performance and ease of use scoring 54%, 51% and 45%, respective.
Respondents also said that they were balancing operational efficiency with QA and what they need to spend on app testing. Around 34% of CIOs surveyed said that their testing spend was sufficient, while 15% thought it was too high and didnt reflect a reasonable rate of return or reasonable allocation of resources. Around 20% felt that they needed to spend more to avoid more defects either being present or identified at a later date, while 29% said that testing spend was adequate but did not reduce IT maintenance costs overall.
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