Application quality assurance is still not meeting expectations, according to a survey by Forrester Research.
The survey of US and European IT executives looked at how companies approach application quality, to identify which practices are most effective at improving the delivery of high-quality applications.
It found that non-standardised quality procedures, untrained IT staff tackling quality assurance procedures and a lack of formal processes were the biggest barriers to improving application quality.
The survey showed that of the 54% of IT executives who have invested in application testing tools, only 29% saw a significant improvement in application quality.
"Technology won`t deliver quality. Effective testing processes and skilled staff make all the difference," says Margo Visitacion, an analyst at Forrester Research.
"Unless development, quality assurance and operations staff are onboard with the testing process, organisational boundaries will blur and responsibilities won`t be clear."
More than half of the IT executives surveyed were taking steps to improve quality without a formal plan or without monitoring application quality, or did not consider application quality a big concern.
However, 52% of the 129 respondents said a formal methodology was effective in eliminating defects before deployment.
"Establishing quality controls and purchasing quality tools is a good place to start, but organisations stand to gain more from these investments by implementing a standard, centralised methodology, a continuous improvement programme and management-focused metrics," says Compuware MD Elizabeth Maly.
"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."
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