Best Practices for Customer-Focused Software Quality Assurance

STUDY OVERVIEW

Superior product quality is a key differentiator to gain repeat customers in the highly competitive software marketplace. Effectively redefining software product quality with customers in mind requires a tried process framework.

This cross-industry online benchmarking exchange examines how companies create superior software products that impress customers by defining customer perceived software quality, determining drivers of software quality and measuring software product quality. The study also identifies factors that contribute to an exceptional software product experience for the end-user and high-impact tactics to continually improve product quality. Capturing quantitative and qualitative data, this research yields key insights into customer-focused software quality initiatives at companies that produce software products. Executives and managers involved in software quality can use this study to build and to assess their customer-focused software quality initiatives.

NOTE: The data in this research are segmented into two groups: Full Benchmark Class and Large Company Segment.

KEY TOPICS

• Define Software Quality
• Determine Drivers of Software Quality
• Measure Software Product Quality

• Number of Global Full Time Employees
• Percentage of Software Market Positioning
• Percentage of Highly Satisfied to Extremely Dissatisfied Customers regarding Software Product Quality
• Average Rating of Customer Perception of Contributors to Software Product Quality
• Average Percentage of Customer Perception of Most Critical Contributor to Software Product Quality
• Percentage of Use of Usability/ Operability Techniques to Ensure Ease of Use/ Operation
• Percentage of Usability/ Operability Technique with Greatest Impact on Software Product Quality
• Percentage of Use of Customer Software Support Metrics to Track Effectiveness
• Percentage of Use of In-Process Metrics to Track Top Software Product Quality Contributors
• Percentage of Use of Field Metrics to Track Software Product Quality

• Product performance is perceived as being more important to software quality than product features or customer support.
• Beta testing is almost always done and is seen as being of considerable value for software quality.

Best Practices, LLC used field surveys to complete this study on behalf of a Global Benchmarking Council partner. In all, 18 companies from the software, health care, telecommunications, medical device, and manufacturing industries contributed to this study.

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