(Length: 4 pages)

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

In an effort to improve the quality of their custom-developed applications, corporate IT shops are revisiting basic organizational questions. Many IT shops are pulling testers off of development teams and making them part of centralized testing teams; some are even moving testing out of development and into operations. These are the right moves to make. It can be difficult for testers who are part of development to objectively assess application quality — especially when there's a deadline looming. But there are drawbacks to separating testing from development. Most importantly, centralizing testing can give development the impression that quality is "somebody else's problem." Firms that centralize their testing efforts must take concrete steps to make sure that quality remains top-of-mind throughout the development life cycle.