Growth for Software Testing Market Thursday, October 6,2011 A new study by PAC (Pierre Audoin Consultants) has revealed that 91 percent of IT decision-makers consider software testing and IT quality management to be among the most important IT tasks; more than 90 percent of respondents consider a longer-term, partnership-based collaboration in testing to be indispensable and 76 percent of companies are already using a blended service delivery, offering a mixture of local and offshore or nearshore testing services. A new study by PAC (Pierre Audoin Consultants) has revealed that 91 percent of IT decision-makers consider software testing and IT quality management to be among the most important IT tasks; more than 90 percent of respondents consider a longer-term, partnership-based collaboration in testing to be indispensable and 76 percent of companies are already using a ‘blended service delivery’, offering a mixture of local and offshore or nearshore testing services. These are among the findings of the latest PAC study on markets, success factors in software testing and quality management. The study, commissioned by Software Quality Systems, investigated what form of software testing and quality management lends itself to achieving the greatest possible added value; how expenditure and quality of testing can be harmonised; the standards companies expect from their testing activities and external testing service providers; and how collaboration can best be organised. As quoted on PAC and SQS websites, Companies around the world invest more than €50 billion per year on applications testing and quality assurance. While 97 percent of respondents state that technical competence of the testing team is an important or very important criterion, the PAC study also identified further critical success factors for collaboration with testing service providers: Results-oriented billing/remuneration: 89 percent of managers surveyed consider flexible billing of testing services based on results achieved to be important or very important. Achievement of objectives / measurement of success: Two thirds of the companies surveyed regularly measure whether the testing team is achieving its agreed objectives by using selected key performance indicators (KPIs). Of these, 76 percent monitor whether deadlines are met. 72 percent evaluate the number of test cases performed and test coverage. A further 66 per cent actively measure errors in production. Availability and flexibility: The majority of companies surveyed – 60 percent – expect high to very high availability and flexibility from a testing team. This includes 24/7 round-the-clock service/readiness. Linguistic capabilities:  Multi-lingual capability is indispensable, above all in globally-operating companies and for international testing activities. 69 percent of companies surveyed consider this aspect to be important. The principal requirement is for contacts who can speak the language of the respective country and English. The study shows that, when commissioning testing services, IT managers are increasingly opting for ‘blended service delivery’. For many companies today, global service provision is a factor that impacts quality, flexibility, and price of the testing engagement. The study shows that “blended service delivery”, ie, the use of local resources in combination with near- and offshore resources in testing centres, has a high importance: the clear majority (76 percent) of companies that have outsourced part or all of their testing activities to an external service provider currently perform software tests in collaboration with (near-/ offshore) testing centres. The survey also shows that IT managers attach high expectations to the involvement of nearshore and offshore resources. Reduced costs and enhanced service quality are decisive factors for 61 percent and 54 percent of them respectively, while 48 percent feel that the round-the-clock availability of the testing team contributes to the success of their projects. PAC anticipates that collaboration with specialist testing providers will rise as customers increasingly demand independent quality assurance of applications. The study provides clear evidence of this: 91 percent of managers consider the independence of the testing team and the product development team to be an important or very important success factor. Companies that separate out software development and testing benefit in particular from a clear allocation of roles, improved transparency of services and test quality, and also the objectivity of testing performance that is guaranteed by the separation of testing and development. Early involvement from independent testers in the development process also contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of testing performance. Most of the IT decision-makers questioned rate the involvement of external specialists in their testing activities positively. Some 86 percent cite the use of external testing specialists as providing access to qualified resources and increasing the speed of testing, while 85 percent especially value freeing up internal IT staff’s time and reduction in testing costs. The survey also shows that greater flexibility (85 percent) is achieved via the use of independent testers. The study, which was commissioned by SQS Software Quality Systems, found that the majority of companies are either already working on optimising their testing activities or are planning to do so through measures such as the further standardisation of software testing. Companies are increasingly engaging external test service providers in order to achieve their quality targets and reduce costs. The majority of the companies surveyed are seeking to achieve 'blended service delivery', which provides a mixture of on-site and offshore or nearshore test services. PAC (Pierre Audoin Consultants) specialises in the analysis of IT markets. The company conducted the survey in spring 2011 and its analysts spoke to over 270 business and IT decision-makers in Europe and the USA. The companies interviewed each have a workforce of 1,000 or more employees and IT teams comprising at least 100 employees.   URL for this article: http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/IT-Outsourcing/Product-Development/Growth-for-Software-Testing-Market/22/4/0/GS1110063610103 © 2009, Global Services Media. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.