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bookmark State of Software Quality 2023

Test automation and code review are the most

widely adopted and effective QA techniques

Figure 1. Top QA techniques, % of respondents

Automated
Integration/
48%
System Testing 68%
Automated 39%
Unit Testing
67%
Code Review/ 37%
Inspection
57%
Model-driven
Development 31%
(including model-
based test) 42%

Pair 27%
Programming 40% Adoption
Effectiveness

To achieve QA goals, software teams can use a number of QA techniques, ranging from
code review and coding guidelines to software testing. Teams with automated unit
testing likely practice test-driven development and code review together. By the same
token, teams tend to apply code review, automated unit testing, coding guidelines, static
software analysis, and pair programming together.
bookmark State of Software Quality 2023

87%
The longer test 66%
78%
automation is applied 58%
The higher the ROI
Less than 1-3 years 3-5 years More than
1 year 5 years

20% cost savings or more Figure 2. ROI of test automation in terms of cost savings, 

% of respondents

Many factors, including tools and training, influence the return on investment of test
automation. However, the length of time that test automation is used is an important factor
because our survey found that ROI increases as teams use test automation for a longer
period of time. Automation can provide significant benefits to QA teams in the first year of
implementation, and the benefits are also long-lasting.

Automation adoption necessitates initial investments in frameworks, tools, processes, and

training. QA teams must also devote significant time to creating test cases, scripts, and
data, as well as migrating test artifacts from manual to automated testing. Fortunately,
powerful automation platforms and tools available today can significantly reduce such
upfront investments, effectively allowing teams to realize the benefits of automation faster.

87% of 5-year test automation adopter groups

saw 20% or more cost and time savings