Compuware Study Reveals That Despite Best Efforts, Many Organizations Still Struggle to Effectively Address Application Quality

As Companies Strive Towards Better Application Quality, Many Still Find It Tough to Improve the Results of Testing Efforts Without a Formal QA Process

DETROIT--April 19, 2005--Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) today announced the results of a recent survey commissioned by Compuware and conducted by Forrester Consulting. In the summary study titled, "Today's Quality Assurance Practices: How Can We Continue to Improve?" 305 U.S. and European IT executives from large companies revealed their approach to software quality assurance. The study examined how companies approach application quality today to identify which practices are most effective at improving the delivery of high quality applications.

Eighty-five percent of IT executives surveyed indicated application quality is either critical or very critical to their overall effectiveness in demonstrating value to the business (Figure 1). With such emphasis placed on quality, many IT organizations have naturally taken steps to improve it. Study findings show that 63 percent of respondents started their efforts more than three years ago (Figure 2), and more than half of them have invested in quality testing tools for application development (Figure 3).

While companies understand the importance of application quality and are taking steps to achieve it, quality improvements are still not meeting expectations. For example, of the 54 percent of the surveyed IT executives who have invested in testing tools, only 29 percent of them have seen significant improvement (Figure 4). When asked about the biggest barriers to improving application quality today, respondents ranked not having standardized quality procedures at the top of a list of five possible reasons. IT staff who are untrained on QA procedures and the lack of a formal process placed second and third, respectively (Figure 5).

"Technology won't deliver quality. Effective testing processes and skilled staff make all the difference," said Margo Visitacion, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. "Unless development, QA and operations staff are onboard with the testing process, organizational boundaries will blur and responsibilities won't be clear." [1]

Despite the common pitfall of operating without a formalized QA discipline, less than half of the IT executives surveyed said they rely on a formal plan for improving application quality. The remaining IT executives admitted that they were taking steps to improve applications quality without a formal plan, monitoring application quality, or did not consider application quality a big concern (Figure 6).

Of the 32 percent of respondents that have seen a huge improvement in application quality, 64 percent consistently apply a formal quality assurance methodology. Forty-five percent of the 117 respondents who consistently apply a formal methodology have seen huge improvements in application quality (Figure 7). Additionally, 52 percent of the 129 respondents who consistently apply a formal methodology said that they are very effective at eliminating defects before deployment (Figure 8). Despite the obvious benefits of operating with a formalized QA discipline, fewer than half of the IT executives surveyed said they rely on a formal plan for improving quality.

"Establishing quality controls and purchasing quality tools is a good place to start, but organizations stand to gain even more from these investments by implementing a standard, centralized methodology, a continuous improvement program and management-focused metrics," said Elizabeth Maly, Marketing Director of Compuware Quality Solutions. "With the complexity of today's business infrastructure, IT managers are hard pressed to manage risks effectively and ultimately judge when an application is ready to deploy. Compuware's approach to application quality includes best practices, certified experts, a patented methodology and award-winning tools--in the right combination to meet customers' unique business needs."

Maly adds that for companies looking for a quality management solution, the Compuware Application Reliability Solution (CARS) provides a flexible approach to implementing standard processes and practices across the entire IT organization. The Compuware Application Reliability Solution (CARS) combines Compuware's own quality assurance tools and highly skilled professionals with a flexible, proven, risk-based testing methodology, QualityPoint. Whether companies adhere to Six Sigma, CMMi or ISO standards, CARS provides an adaptable quality assurance model that can help organizations easily build upon their own in-house standards.

CARS creates an objective mechanism to weigh and prioritize what to test and a discipline that leverages best practices consistently across an organization. By linking development, quality assurance and operations teams together, business and IT managers gain the information they need to balance application quality issues against costs and schedules. Because CARS aligns quality assurance activities with critical business requirements, IT organizations can focus their application quality efforts on those areas that matter most. In the end, companies deliver reliable applications on time and in line with business demands-more cost-effectively.

Methodology

Compuware commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a study regarding how U.S. and European IT organizations approach quality assurance. In August and September of 2004, the independent research firm interviewed 305 senior IT managers from a wide range of industries using a structured methodology. The firm spoke with 180 IT executives in North America and 125 IT executives in Europe (France, Germany and the United Kingdom). Fifteen percent of executives represented companies with annual revenues in excess of $10 billion; 55 percent of them represented companies with annual revenues ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion and 30 percent of surveyed executives represented companies with annual revenues ranging from $500 million and $1 billion.

Compuware Corporation

Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) maximizes the value IT brings to the business by helping CIOs more effectively manage the business of IT. Compuware solutions accelerate the development, improve the quality and enhance the performance of critical business systems while enabling CIOs to align and govern the entire IT portfolio, increasing efficiency, cost control and employee productivity throughout the IT organization. Founded in 1973, Compuware serves the world's leading IT organizations, including more than 90 percent of the Fortune 100 companies. Learn more about Compuware at http://www.compuware.com/.