Title: Impact of test effort in software development life cycle for effective defect management

Authors: V. Suma; T.R. Gopalakrishnan Nair

Addresses: Advanced Software Engineering Research Group, Research and Industry Incubation Centre, Dayananda Sagar Institutions, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore-560078, India ' Aramco Endowed Chair of Technology, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia; Research and Industry Incubation Centre, Dayananda Sagar Institutions, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bangalore-560078, India

Abstract: The divine bond binding customers and software industries originates from the development and production of high quality software. Testing is one of the promising activities that ensures the aforementioned objective. Current testing practices demand nearly 40% to 50% of the project development time, which is an impediment in the development process. This paper presents a case study of a leading CMMI 5 certified product-based software industry. A horizontal analysis representing process stability and vertical analysis representing process maturity in terms of test efficiency of the company is brought out. The analysis indicates the dire need of resolving uneven distribution of test effort through analytical mode to attain effective defect capturing ability. This knowledge yields an increased productivity, quality and a path to higher maturity levels of the industry. It saves billions of dollars to the companies and is an approach towards the justification of the customer's investment.

Keywords: defect detection; defect prevention; software process; software quality metrics; software inspection; software testing; software development life cycle; software defects; defect management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2014.060417

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2014 Vol.13 No.3, pp.251 - 271

Published online: 17 May 2014 *

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