Large-Scale Agile Transformations for Software Quality Assurance: An Empirical Case Study from Pakistan

Abstract

Software quality plays an important role in the easy and quick adoption of a software product by the end users. Agile methods have proven to play an effective role in ensuring software quality; however, the public sector is hesitant in its adoption. This study evaluates the adoption of agile methods in the public sector in-house software development and capitalization of potential benefits. A quantitative approach is used with 28 survey questionnaires based on budget, time, quick debugging and correction, maintenance, easy testing, and installation as software quality components to assess the employability of agile methods. The questionnaire was served to 216 information technology (IT) professionals (project managers: 6%, developers: 61%, quality assurance (QA) leads: 8%, and testers: 25%) from the public sector companies having experience in software development using agile and waterfall methods. The quality components and hypotheses are evaluated using the T-test and chi-square test, respectively, with a 95% confidence interval. The results highlight the benefits of using agile methodologies for software quality components in the public sector. Additionally, the findings demonstrate how agile software development approaches significantly affect the quality of software products and successful delivery within budget and deadline.