News

Release Pressure Forces 40% of Devs to Skip App Testing, Study Says

• By David Ramel
• October 11, 2017

While some say developers have a choice job because of high salaries, some studies point to a pressure-cooker environment in which the rush to release causes coders to shortcut basic security practices -- to the point of not even testing apps.

Some 40 percent of polled developers confessed to doing just that in a study published by Testplant, a "digital automation specialist" with operations in the United States and United Kingdom.

The "Application Crisis Research," polling 750 U.S. and U.K devs, found they feel pressured to get apps out the door too quickly, echoing the results of previous surveys, such as this Ponemon Institute study.

"In addition, 42 percent believe that they are expected to design, develop and test apps in an unrealistic amount of time with over a third (36 percent) admitting they are not given enough time to ensure apps are properly tested before deployment," Testplant said in a news release yesterday. "81 percent believe that with more time, apps deployed by their team would have a greater impact on the business."

CEO John Bates provided commentary on the findings.

"As business leaders embrace digital transformation, IT teams are under enormous pressure to provide the most amazing services and apps to consumers and avoid the digital scrap heap," Bates said. "Our survey reveals a clear 'app gap' between the user experience and the capabilities of software testing platforms resulting in 40 percent of apps being released without testing, and only 4 percent being used after a month."

Further illustrating the depth of this pressure are these findings from the report:

• 62 percent of respondents say majority of pressure comes from consumer expectations.
• 60 percent say majority of pressure comes from within the company.
• 91 percent agree that user expectations for app innovation and quality have increased during the past year.
• 68 percent say their company will build more apps during the next 12 months than it did during the past year.

That pressure results in these findings:

• 40 percent of polled developers put out untested apps.
• 49 percent put out apps before they go through ideal testing.
• 45 percent knowingly put out apps that will perform below initial requirements.
• 35 percent knowingly put out apps that will not be engaging for users.
• 33 percent knowingly put out apps that will not perform to expectations.

Much of the extensive 55-page study explored how the lack of automated testing tools -- which Testplant provides -- contributes to the aforementioned problems.

"Companies cannot continue like this and need to urgently embrace AI to solve the 'app gap,'" said Bates, whose company leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics in its automated testing offerings.