In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations recognize the importance of enhancing software quality assurance (QA) practices to stay competitive. The State of Software Quality 2023 report covers challenges, trends, and best practices for improving test automation ROI, customer satisfaction, and overall quality assurance. Let’s dive into the Top 10 findings from the Report.
1. Striking a Balance:
A balance among speed, quality, and cost emerged as the top priority for software projects, chosen by 40% of respondents. When a balance wasn’t feasible, high software quality took precedence over delivery speed and low cost.
2. Waterfall vs. Agile Teams:
Waterfall teams showed a greater concern for delivery speed over software quality, while Agile teams emphasized a more balanced approach.
3. Widely Used QA Techniques:
Besides manual testing, the most popular QA techniques were automated integration/system testing (48%), automated unit testing (39%), code review (37%), and monitoring/testing in production (31%).
4. Time-Consuming Activities:
Test execution, test planning, and test data preparation were identified as the most time-consuming activities. Manual testing was found to be challenging for conducting regression tests in multiple environments.
5. Satisfaction with Software Quality:
A majority of respondents (73%) rated the quality of their software as good or very good upon delivery, showcasing overall satisfaction. However, improvements are needed in QA practices and tools to achieve project objectives effectively.
6. Test Automation Adoption:
Approximately 63% of teams practiced automation for system, integration, or unit testing. Automation was also employed for API services, mobile applications, and desktop applications.
7. Dominant Types of Test Automation:
Regression tests (72%) and functional tests (58%) were the dominant types of tests automated. Other types, including API, unit, performance, usability, and security testing, also saw automation usage.
8. Percentage of Requirements Tested with Automation:
The survey revealed a significant variation in the percentage of software requirements tested using automation. While 25% of respondents used automation for up to 30% of requirements, 19% applied it to 71% or more.
9. Perceptions of AI-Augmented Tools:
A majority of respondents (39%) indicated a medium level of satisfaction with AI-augmented tools, followed by high (19%) and very high (11%). A portion of respondents reported low or very low satisfaction.
10. Perceived ROI of Test Automation:
The survey explored the perceived return on investment (ROI) for test automation. The majority (63%) reported seeing 20% or more in cost savings. A small percentage experienced no savings or even losses. Respondents’ ROI increased from 58% to 87% when test automation was adopted within one year or over five years, respectively.
The report underlines the importance of finding a balance in software projects, with quality being a key priority. Test automation has gained significant traction, bringing benefits such as improved efficiency and cost savings. However, continuous efforts are required to enhance QA practices and tools for better project outcomes.
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