Assessing the maturity of software testing services using CMMI-SVC: An industrial case study

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the use of the CMMI-SVC model to assess and improve the maturity of software testing services in an industrial context, demonstrating its practical applicability and benefits.

Contribution

It provides an empirical case study showing how CMMI-SVC can be effectively used to assess and enhance testing service maturity in real-world companies.

Findings

CMMI-SVC helps identify improvement areas in testing services.

Maturity appraisal with CMMI-SVC is beneficial for test management.

Minor customization makes CMMI-SVC suitable for testing service assessment.

Abstract

Context: While many companies conduct their software testing activities in-house, many other companies outsource their software testing needs to other firms who act as software testing service providers. As a result, Testing as a Service (TaaS) has emerged as a strong service industry in the last several decades. In the context of software testing services, there could be various challenges (e.g., during the planning and service delivery phases) and, as a result, the quality of testing services is not always as expected. Objective: It is important, for both providers and also customers of testing services, to assess the quality and maturity of test services and subsequently improve them. Method: Motivated by a real industrial need in the context of several testing service providers, to assess the maturity of their software testing services, we chose the existing CMMI for Services maturity model (CMMI-SVC), and conducted a case study using it in the context of two Turkish testing service providers. Results: The case-study results show that maturity appraisal of testing services using CMMI-SVC was helpful for both companies and their test management teams by enabling them objectively assess the maturity of their testing services and also by pinpointing potential improvement areas. Conclusion: We empirically observed that, after some minor customization, CMMI-SVC is indeed a suitable model for maturity appraisal of testing services.