Software quality assurance by the numbers

What do enterprise software developers think about software quality within their organizations? We asked SD Times subscribers and the results may surprise you.

The research project was conducted in July 2012 by BZ Research (like SD Times, a division of BZ Media). Here’s what we learned:

Does your organization have separate development and test teams?

Some development and test/QA teams are separate, some are integrated 34.6%
All test and development teams are integrated 30.2%
All development teams and test/QA teams are separate 32.7%
Don’t know 2.4%

The net result was the 64.8% of respondents said that some or all of the test and development teams are integrated.

How many testers or test/QA professionals do you have at your company (or the largest company to whom you consult)?

5,000 or more 2.9%
1,000-4,999 3.9%
500-999 2.5%
100-499 5.9%
50-99 7.8%
20-49 11.3%
10-19 9.3%
5-9 15.2%
4 or fewer 41.2%

We found that 34.3% said that they have more than 20 testers or QA professionals at their company.

What background do your test/QA managers and directors typically have?

Both development and test/QA 53.9%
General IT background 38.2%
Test/QA only 23.5%
Development only 21.6%
General management background 21.1%
No particular background – we train them from scratch 14.7%

Who is responsible for internally-developed application performance testing and monitoring in your company? 

Prior to Deployment

Software/Application Developers 60.8%
Software/Application Development Management 52.8%
Testers 50.3%
Testing Management 48.7%
IT top management (development) (VP or above) 36.7%
Systems administrators 24.1%
Networking personnel 21.5%
Line-of-business management 21.1%
IT top management (non-development) (VP or above) 19.6%
Consultants 19.3%
Networking management 18.6%
Service providers 16.1%

After Deployment

Software/Application Development Management 53.8%
Software/Application Developers 47.7%
Systems administrators 45.4%
Testers 41.5%
Testing Management 38.5%
IT top management (development) (VP or above) 34.6%
Networking personnel 31.5%
IT top management (non-development) (VP or above) 30.8%
Line-of-business management 30.8%
Networking management 27.7%
Service providers 23.8%
Consultants 20.8%

Does your company outsource any of its software quality assurance or testing? 

Yes, all of it 4.4%
Yes, some of it 26.6%
No, none of it 65.0%
Don’t know 3.9%

This tabulated as 31.0% outsource some or all software testing.

Is your company developing and testing apps for mobile devices?

No, not developing/testing for mobile application development 42.1%
Yes, mobile software for iPhone/iPad 36.6%
Yes, mobile software for Android devices 33.2%
Yes, mobile software in HTML5 30.2%
Yes, mobile software for Windows Phone 22.8%
Yes, mobile software for Blackberry devices 16.3%
Don’t know 5.4%
Yes, for other devices 3.5%

This tabulated as 57.9% were developing or testing mobile applications.

At what stage is your company, or companies that you consult, using the cloud for software testing?

We are using the cloud for software testing on a routine basis 7.9%
We are experimenting with using the cloud for software testing 17.3%
We are studying the technology but have not started yet 26.7%
No plans to use the cloud for software testing 39.6%
Don’t know 8.4%

What is the state of software security testing at your company?

Software security is checked by the developers 48.0%
Software security is checked by the test/QA team 35.8%
Software security is checked by the IT/networking department 29.9%
Software security testing is done for Web applications 27.9%
Software security is tested by a separate security team 25.5%
Software security testing is done for public-facing applications 24.5%
Software security testing is done for in-house applications 22.1%
We don’t have a specific security testing process 18.6%
Software security is checked by contractors 12.7%
Software security testing is not our responsibility 3.4%

Those are the results. Do they match what you’ve seen at your company or within the industry?