Software Quality Assurance Practices in

Bangladesh: An Empirical Study

Faculty of Science and Technology, Dept. of Computer Science

Undergraduate thesis
Student Name ID Contribution
1. MD. SAEED AL HASAN 18-36211-1
2. AMIR HOSSAIN 19-41149-2
3. MD. MEHEDI MUHTASIM 19-39430-1
4. MD. BADRUL ALAM DURJOY 18-39248-3

Supervisor: MR. MD. ANWARUL KABIR

Associate Professor & Supervisor
Department of Computer Science
American International University-Bangladesh
 Objective
Software quality assurance and testing (SQAT) is an essential part of
software development. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the
practices of software quality assurance in Bangladesh software industries
with a view to reviling the real scenario. For this the thesis aims:

• To carry out an extensive literature review on different aspects of

software quality as well as quality assurance practices in software
development projects.

• To do an empirical survey with a view to unveiling the real scenarios of

quality assurance practices in Bangladesh software industries

• To identify the major problems of quality assurance practices in

Bangladesh software industries.

• To provide some feasible recommendations with a view to

eliminating/minimizing the negative impacts of the identified problems.
 Motivation
Software quality assurance has always been a part of the software
development process. It is one of the most significant areas of study
in Computer Science & Engineering. Numerous studies have been
undertaken worldwide to uncover the practices and issues related to
the SQAT process for creating high-quality software because of how
important it is. Testing is no longer seen as a procedure that starts
right after the coding stage and has the exclusive goal of identifying
faults.

We were motivated to do research on software quality practices in

Bangladesh with a view to assessing the present scenario of quality
assurance practices in Bangladesh. Identifying the major problems,
we have also provided some feasible recommendations, which, in
turn, will eliminate/reduce the negative impacts of those problems in
software quality assurance.
 Background

Currently, one of Bangladesh's most promising businesses is the

software sector. This industry has had substantial expansion over the
past several decades because of a number of growth factors, including a
big pool of young, bright individuals and government support for
software companies.

The outsourcing sector has grown rapidly over the past ten years,
particularly in the last four to five years. The sector is expanding quickly,
thus everything from the workplace to the tools used should be
updated.

According to Statista, the global IT outsourcing industry, including

several segments, earned revenue of nearly 400 billion U.S. dollars in
2022; it is projected to hit $430.50 billion in 2023. And software
development outsourcing alone contributes more than 50% to the global
outsourcing value. To keep this growth, it is now high time to develop
 Literature Review

For literature review, we have investigated several journal papers, with a

view to determine areas that are currently being explored or that have
attracted the research community's attention.

We have the paper with everything stated in detail if the audience wants
to look into the literature section of this thesis we can show it in a
separate document.
 Research Methodology

This is a survey-based research. The primary survey techniques are

in-person interviews, phone calls and postal surveys via email. 75
software companies were invited to participate in survey. Among
them 21 companies showed interest to participate. The
questionnaire was developed using knowledge about software
engineering, the experiences of the participating researchers and
Software Firms in conducting surveys, and the academic findings of
related surveys. To find out additional information, we have briefly
talked with the companies.

The strategy for this research has been established using qualitative
research approaches. Through the surveying procedure, we have
also discovered the data from the statistical approach we applied.
Major Problems Identified
• Lack of appropriate testers: A major issue for
companies is the lack of appropriate and competent
testers. Appropriate testers are not in the maximum
software firms. According to our survey, fewer than 40%
of organizations employ qualified testers.

Figure: Availability of appropriate testers

Problems Identified
• Lacking in Test Plan: Planning the test plan is essential for every
project. However, our survey revealed that just 45% of the projects
give attention to prepare test plans before aggregation of the
projects. The fact that just 85.7% of firms do not include test data
and test cases in their test plans is particularly alarming since it
indicates that testers lack the skills necessary to recognize
complicated scenarios, provide useful test data, and create test
cases that fully assess system operation.
14.3%

Yes
No

85.7%

Figure: Preparation of Test Plan Figure: Test data and test case in
this test plan
Problems Identified
• Lack of documentation verification:​In most of the firms, QA
people do not follow the proper inspection verified the
design document with the SRS. Another problem is that
most of the QA people do not follow the proper inspection
verified the codes with design document. 66.7% projects do
not inspect verified the design document with the SRS.
61.9% projects do not inspect verify the codes with design
document.

Figure: The design document Figure: Verification of the codes

verification with the SRS with the design document
Problems Identified
• Lack of static testing: It is also a common identified problem.
There are many types of static testing. But software firms use
only four types of static testing like Walkthrough, Formal Review,
Peer review, Design review, Regression Testing and Automation.

Figure: Static testing strategies following for quality assurance

for the product
Problems Identified
• Lack of regular meetings: Arranging review meetings
regularly is important during the projects for the code
inspections. But our survey showed that a maximum
number of firms do not arrange regular review meetings
during the project's time for the code inspections. Only
28.8% of the firms arrange review meetings regularly.

Figure: Meeting for Code Review

Problems Identified

• Lack of user involvement: It is also a common weakness. According

to the survey, in 75% of the companies, users and users of
representative do not involve in the overall testing process overall,
users do not participate in the project or testing process, which may
be a major issue because user engagement ensures that people's
opinions are heard and that they can actively improve the services
they use.

Figure: User involvement in testing process

Problems Identified

• Lack of Training facilities: More than 66% of companies lack facilities

for tester training. Considering how modern the software industry is,
this might be a major issue. Without access to training resources,
testers will not be able to keep up with the demands of contemporary
software projects or develop their practical abilities.

Figure: Training facilities for the testers in the project

Solutions

Appropriate Testers:

Getting appropriate testers are difficult in our country. For this, the software
firms should initiate training program for the testers.

Academic-Industry partnership may reduce this problem. The industry may

suggest to design the software quality assurance and testing course according to
the requirement of the market and place the students in their project to get
practical knowledge. Eventually, this will help in producing appropriate testers
to work in projects.
Solutions
Prepare test case & test environment:

Test cases must be written before initiating projects. Project manager must
ensure that test data and test case are incorporated in the test plan.
Solutions
Documentation and inspection:

In most of the firms, QA people do not follow the proper static testing i.e.
documents verification. QA section of the project must ensure that whether
Design has been verified properly with the SRS, and also whether the source
codes has been verified with the design document.

In the project plan document, the tentative schedule for this static testing must
be included and monitored by the management.
Solutions
Improvement on Static testing:

Using static testing is very important to test software. But on the basis of our
survey, only four static testing are used like Walkthrough, Formal Review, Peer
review, Design review, Regression Testing and Automation. So, Using static
testing must be improved. Number of static testing should be improved.
Solutions
Regular review meeting:

According to our survey, the majority of the projects do not arrange regular
review meetings to ensure the quality of the end products. The project
management must give importance of such review meetings and monitor the
outcomes of these meetings.
Solutions
User Involvement in testing process:

Though agile model is used in most of the projects they do not involve the end
users or user representatives in the testing process. In this case, the
management must ensure the involvement of appropriate customer
representatives in the quality assurance process so that the quality assurance
people can design test data and test case incorporating the feedbacks from
them.
Solutions
Training facilities:

Most of the firms, as our survey suggests has no training programs for the
developers. Firms should encourage the development of skilled QA professionals
through training programs, workshops, and certifications. More training must be
arranged for farms , companies should provide testers with the infrastructure,
tools, and training they require to accomplish their jobs well. As a result, testing
may be more effective and of higher quality.
Future work

Future work for this area will be to reach more companies to participate in
the survey and increase the sample size. In this study, new methods can also
be used to bring in new software farms. Additionally, a more detailed survey
with a larger questionnaire could provide more information from quality
assurance departments. As a result of these improvements, the data and
information of this research may become more accurate in the future.
Conclusion
Software quality assurance and testing (SQAT) is an essential part of software
development. Software development uses testing and quality control procedures
to guarantee that the finished product satisfies usability and performance
standards. Development of software has traditionally included software quality
assurance and testing. The way many projects handle software testing, however,
has undergone significant change over the past ten years as a result of increases
in the speed and complexity of software delivery cycles as well as users'
increasing expectations for product quality. This survey's purpose was to gather
information on the current issues with software quality assurance and testing, as
well as the solutions and techniques used. It also included activities carried out
with software testing tools and software testing standards of software
companies in Bangladesh. The questionnaire was developed using knowledge
about software engineering, the experiences of the participating researchers
and Software Firms in conducting surveys, and the academic findings of related
surveys.
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https://dream71.com/bangladeshs-software-industry-its-future.

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Engineering (IJSCE), Academia, 2012.
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