One Third of Respondents in State of Software Testing Survey Say Management Lack of Understanding Stands in the Way of Test Automation

LogiGear’s ambitious year of polling software testing professionals provides insight into the state of the industry in 2017; third survey hones in on the skills, tools, benefits, and problem areas of test automation


FOSTER CITY, Calif., Sept. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LogiGear, a world leader in software testing solutions, today announced the results of its third survey in a four-part software industry survey series that assesses the state of the software testing landscape. This third survey’s results focus on test automation and take a full 360° view of the landscape to identify issues and to take the pulse of what’s happening in the software development world today.

Launched earlier this year, the goal of this third survey covers skills, tools, benefits, and problem areas of test automation. Some of the key findings of the test automation survey include a range of answers to the question “What would prevent you from automating more tests?” Almost one-third of the respondents are experiencing classic test automation issues. LogiGear co-founder Michael Hackett, who oversees the survey noted, “When the responses are viewed as a whole — the tool cost, maintenance cost, and management not understanding what it takes—this becomes a serious factor that could make or break successful test automation implementation.”

One problem commonly cited among respondents was that management didn’t fully understand what it takes to have a successful automation program; this included everything from process/team frustration, to tool choice. One survey taker said: “In an earlier job, decisions about what automation tools were to be used were made by management, leading to a churn of new tools about every two years. When the automation engineers (my team) were finally allowed input, the selected tool was successful and was in place for at least 10 years, long after I had left the company. Lesson: Let the people using the tool choose the tool.”

Other findings from LogiGear’s third survey include:

  • It is encouraging that almost half of the responses (38%) at least tried test automation, even though they failed with their first implementation.                                                                                  
  • Having a method for test automation is most important. The fact that 49% of respondents said they were data-driven was expected as it is the easiest to implement and maintain.
  • One in five respondents must run automation tests across mobile, browser, desktop, and server software. It’s no surprise so many people do automated browser testing, but it is surprising only one quarter (24%) conduct mobile testing.

These findings suggest that since the last survey, as more teams have engaged in test automation, important adoption has taken place, yet there is still room for supporting more environments, platforms, and devices. A detailed summary of the results of the first survey can be found in the September 28th issue of LogiGear Magazine which can viewed at: http://www.logigear.com/magazine/

LogiGear’s fourth and final survey of the year on modern distributed test team related issues is currently open for contribution for all software testing and quality professionals at: http://www.logigear.com/modern-distributed-test-teams-survey.html

For additional information on LogiGear’s full range of consulting and training services, visit LogiGear.com.

About LogiGear

LogiGear Corporation (http://www.logigear.com) provides leading-edge software testing technologies and expertise, along with software development services that enable companies to accelerate business growth while having confidence in the software they deliver. Founded in 1994 by top thought leaders in the software testing industry, LogiGear has completed software testing and development projects for prominent companies across a broad range of industries and technologies.

For more information or interview requests:
Joanne Hogue
Smart Connections PR
(410) 658-8246
joanne@smartconnectionspr.com