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press release
Software Quality
Issues? - You are not alone...
Macromedia
developer - QA survey
A survey of Macromedia solution providers and partner
companies conducted by etest
associates (www.etest-associates.com),
a consultancy exclusively specialised in web-application quality
assurance and security, has revealed that the vast majority of
development managers (around 85%) are aware of outstanding issues
relating to the quality of their developments. All of the respondents to
the survey stressed a satisfaction with the Macromedia products they
used, although around 25% were reluctant to move to the latest versions
until requested to do so by a client.
Some 40% of companies considered ‘scope creep’ to be
the most prominent issue effecting their own quality assurance. ‘Scope
creep’ is a well-known problem within the IT industry and has always
been an issue with large long-term projects. As the name suggests, the
size and details of the projects deliverable (the ‘scope’) changes
and often increases (the ‘creep’) as the project progresses from
inception to deployment. The respondents of the survey have attributed
this problem to ‘unclear requirements’ and ‘unrealistic client
expectations’.
Andy O’Brien of etest associates says: “Various
approaches to software development have attempted to address ‘scope
creep’. RAD methodologies like DSDM and more recently eXtreme
Programming, all have their benefits, but they do not necessarily
resolve this issue. One of the most effective approaches and one that
has been proven over many years is that of ‘testable
requirements’. Following this approach the requirements are specified
at the start of a project in a manner that can be used to test the
deliverable at the end of the project.”
With regard to reliability, response and scalability of
their developments, at least 18% found the costs of performance testing
to be prohibitive. This prevents developers from extending their tests
in terms of load and duration to further reduce the risks of failures.
One unnamed development manager stated ‘While the cost of these tests
remain unaffordable, this is a risk that we and our client’s have
learnt to live with’.
Around 17% felt that they could benefit with improvements
in their standards and procedures for testing and in particular this
would help with their retests. “Using standards and procedures for
retesting and regression testing brings greater consistency. With
consistency the risks of accidentally overlooking bugs in the product
are reduced and the opportunities for automation increased”, stated
Andy O’Brien.
Other highlights from the survey are:
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36% expect the improvements
in the features and capabilities of the Macromedia products to
increase the scope and complexity of their testing
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32% have assigned company
wide QA responsibility to a particular person (the remainder were
still working at a project level only)
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21% are interested in test
automation tools
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14% use external companies
to supply parts of their testing, (most often security penetration)
Andy O’Brien concludes “etest associates has taken
all of these comments on board and is looking further at the best ways
to support Macromedia developers in addressing them. We were
particularly pleased that we had already addressed the comments on the
cost of performance testing. One of our more recent capabilities has all
but removed the cost of tools licensing without compromising the
sophistication of our load testing capability.”
for further information contact our PR team:
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7203 8394
pressroom@etest-associates.com
www.etest-associates.com
notes for
Editors:
etest
associates is a testing consultancy with a fresh approach to
software quality, specifically to software testing and risk management.
Focussing
on delivering the benefits of testing to the client's business, our
approach goes beyond just the technical aspects of risk reduction,
increasing awareness of commercial risks, facilitating their reduction.
Our
testing methodology is highly pragmatic and can be customised to fit any
organisation's needs.
The
company was originally founded by two experienced IT consultants, both
knowledgeable in the field of testing and quality management and with
many years practical experience of Internet & IT projects across a
variety of industry and technology areas including banking,
telecommunications and innovative "dot-coms".
etest
associates - the experts in software testing & quality assurance
of Internet, intranet, web applications and information systems.
macromedia
Macromedia is passionate about what the Web can be. Its
award-winning products empower designers and developers to efficiently
create and deliver the most engaging experiences on the Web, and enable
innovative Internet business applications. Headquartered in San
Francisco, Macromedia has more than 1,400 employees worldwide and is
available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.
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