Business pressure and under-resourcing are cause of IT failures

More than two thirds (68%) of European IT managers believe that products and systems are launched and go live with insufficient testing. That’s among findings of independent research carried out for system implementer and consulting firm Logica CMG. It finds that lack of business ownership means testing is under-funded and resourced, and hence some of the high failure rates. Almost three quarters (73%) of companies say accountability for testing lies with IT directors, IT managers or software developers. Just 1% say that testing is the responsibility of marketing, while 9% say it’s with the end user department. “Poor availability of testing resources and capability and skills required to test new developments are largely to blame [for problem systems],” says Alex Garrick, general manager, managed testing at LogicaCMG. Other key findings suggest that IT departments are under great pressure from business to get new systems in place quickly to gain competitive advantage. Fully half of the organisations surveyed said new software developments go live later than the planned deadline. A third of respondents (32%) blamed the drive to meet go-live dates for poor testing, and almost half (43%) said that projects were late or were failures because of users making changes in mid-development.