Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Towards Elimination of Testing Debt in Outsourced IS Development Projects: A View from the Client Side

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Information System Development

  • 1793 Accesses

Abstract

Although issues connected with outsourced information systems (IS) projects as well as origins of software project failures have been a part of research literature for several years, software testing is still sometimes viewed as “ugly duckling” in the field of IS research. In this paper software testing is presented as a key part of IS development projects and as a potential source of project failures. From the perspective of client organizations, potential sources of testing debt and consequent project risks in an outsourced project environment are identified. Also, initial findings how to eliminate these problems are presented. Several key principles of recommended client IS development project management practice are proposed, as this paper generally advocates for better test and quality governance from the client side than current observed practices. Additionally, the role of cognitive and psychosocial factors is briefly introduced and some proposals for further research are presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Jain RP, Poston RS, Simon JC (2011) An empirical investigation of client managers’ responsibilities in managing offshore outsourcing of software-testing projects. IEEE Trans Eng Manag 58(4):743–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Chua A (2009) Exhuming IT projects from their graves: an analysis of eight failure cases and their risk factors. J Comput Inf Syst 49(3):31–39

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  3. Savolainen P, Ahonen JJ, Richardson I (2012) Software development project success and failure from the supplier’s perspective: a systematic literature review. Int J Proj Manag 30(4):458–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brown N, Ozkaya I, Sangwan R, Seaman C, Sullivan K, Zazworka N, Cai Y et al (2010) Managing technical debt in software-reliant systems. In: Proceedings of the FSE/SDP workshop on future of software engineering research—FoSER’10, p 47

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cusumano M (2008) Managing software development in globally distributed teams. Commun ACM 51(2):15–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Galin D (2004) Software quality assurance. From theory to implementation. Pearson Education Limited, Harlow

    Google Scholar 

  7. Shah H, Sinha S, Harrold MJ (2011) Outsourced, offshored software-testing practice: vendor-side experiences. In: 2011 IEEE sixth international conference on global software engineering, pp 131–140

    Google Scholar 

  8. International Software Testing Qualifications Board (2012) Standard glossary of terms used in Software Testing v. 2.2. http://www.istqb.org/downloads/viewcategory/20.html

  9. Keil M, Smith H, Pawlowski S, Jin L (2004) “Why didn’t somebody tell me?”: climate, information asymmetry, and bad news about troubled projects. Data Base Adv Inf Syst 35(2):65–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kataja A, Tuunanen T (2006) Information systems development methods and reducing information asymmetry: a way to decrease project escalation in outsourcing? In: Proceedings of the 14th European conference on information systems, ECIS 2006, pp 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  11. Mäntylä MV, Itkonen J, Iivonen J (2012) Who tested my software? Testing as an organizationally cross-cutting activity. Softw Qual J 20(1):145–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Black R (2002) Managing the testing process: practical tools and techniques for managing hardware and software testing, 2nd edn. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ahonen J, Junttila T, Sakkinen M (2004) Impacts of the organizational model on testing: three industrial cases. Empir Softw Eng 9(4):275–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Sanz A, García J, Saldaña J, Amescua A (2009) A proposal of a process model to create a Test Factory. In: ICSE workshop on software quality 2009, Vancouver, pp 65–70

    Google Scholar 

  15. Lu Y, Käkölä T (2011) A dynamic life-cycle model for the provisioning of software testing services: experiences from a case study in the Chinese ICT sourcing market. In: 19th European conference on information systems, ECIS 2011

    Google Scholar 

  16. McBride T (2008) The mechanisms of project management of software development. J Syst Softw 81(12):2386–2395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Sabherwal R (2003) The evolution of coordination in outsourced software development projects: a comparison of client and vendor perspectives. Inf Organization 13(3):153–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Schulmeyer GG (2008) Handbook of software quality assurance, 4th edn. Artech House, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  19. Charankar M (2011) Achieving better test governance. Pract PM J (9). http://practicalpmjournal.com/2011/09/achieving-test-governance/

  20. Natovich J, Natovich R, Derzy Z (2011) Withholding bad news in information technology projects: the effect of positive psychology. In: PACIS 2011—15th Pacific Asia conference on information systems: quality research in Pacific

    Google Scholar 

  21. Festinger L (1957) A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA

    Google Scholar 

  22. Rouse A, Corbitt B (2007) Understanding information systems outsourcing success and risks through the lens of cognitive biases. In: Proceedings of the 15th European conference on information systems, ECIS 2007, pp 1167–1178

    Google Scholar 

  23. Park C, Im G, Keil M (2008) Overcoming the mum effect in IT project reporting: impacts of fault responsibility and time urgency. J Assoc Inf Syst 9(7):409–431

    Google Scholar 

  24. Robey D, Keil M (2001) Blowing the whistle on troubled software projects. Commun ACM 44(4):87–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Ramingwong S, Sajeev A (2007) Offshore outsourcing: the risk of keeping mum. Commun ACM 50(8):101–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Schein EH (2010) Organizational culture and leadership, 4th edn. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  27. Sommerville I (2007) Software engineering, 8th edn. Addison Wesley, Harlow

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  28. Baskerville R, Myers M (2004) Special issue on action research in information systems: making IS research relevant to practice—foreword. MIS Q 28(3):329–335

    Google Scholar 

  29. Avison D, Baskerville R, Myers M (2001) Controlling action research projects. Inf Technol People 14(1):28–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Susman G, Evered R (1978) An assessment of the scientific merits of action research. Adm Sci Q 23(4):582–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Guo Y, Seaman C (2011) A portfolio approach to technical debt management. In: MTD’11 Proceedings of the 2nd workshop on managing technical debt, pp 31–34

    Google Scholar 

  32. Tian J (2005) Software quality engineering. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This paper describes the outcome of a research that has been accomplished as a part of the Research program funded by Internal Grant Agency grant number IG406013.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Technologies, University of Economics, Prague, Winston Churchill Square 4, Prague, Czech Republic

    Michal Doležel

Authors
  1. Michal Doležel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michal Doležel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Computer Languages and Systems, University of Seville, Seville, Spain

    María José Escalona

  2. IWT2 Research Group FIDETIA, University of Seville, Seville, Spain

    Gustavo Aragón

  3. Monash University, Caaulfield East, Victoria, Australia

    Henry Linger

  4. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Michael Lang

  5. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Chris Barry

  6. City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    Christoph Schneider

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Doležel, M. (2014). Towards Elimination of Testing Debt in Outsourced IS Development Projects: A View from the Client Side. In: José Escalona, M., Aragón, G., Linger, H., Lang, M., Barry, C., Schneider, C. (eds) Information System Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07215-9_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07215-9_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07214-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-07215-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation