Software Development and Innovation Fail to keep up with Business Demand

- Independent Study Identifies Continuous Delivery as Key to Improvement

CHICAGO, March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ThoughtWorks, a global company whose purpose is to revolutionize software design, creation and delivery, while advocating for positive social change, commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct in-depth surveys with 325 business and IT professionals across the US, UK and Australia to evaluate whether their current software delivery processes were sufficient to meet the relentless demand for innovation.  The March 2013 study, entitled "Continuous Delivery: A Maturity Assessment Model," yielded four key findings:

• Companies expect innovation from their software development
• Software development teams and their providers can't deliver new solutions at the rate business leaders want
• Corporate culture and development process immaturity impede communication and slow service delivery
• Few IT organizations regularly perform advanced Continuous Delivery practices

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With custom software development increasingly being called upon to provide a competitive edge, the survey shows that most business leaders continue to be frustrated.  Specifically, more than half (51%) of business leaders expect new software solutions to go from concept to delivery in less than six months.  Conversely, when business leaders were asked about the actual delivery speed they receive, 70% responded that software development would take more than 6 months.

Given the desire to move faster, the adoption of Continuous Delivery should be higher but the survey results tell a different story.  "Companies recognize that they need to adopt continuous delivery in order to build valuable, high quality products and services rapidly and reliably, and that this capability provides a powerful competitive advantage," states ThoughtWorks Principal and co-author of the award-winning Continuous Delivery, Jez Humble.  "However the survey shows that most companies have some way to go to adopt the practices and culture required to succeed with continuous design and continuous delivery."

To help companies measure their Continuous Delivery maturity and ultimately identify areas of improvement, the survey proposes an assessment model.  For the businesses already practicing Continuous Delivery, the model will help identify gaps where further improvement can be made.  If you are interested in decreasing your time to market and friction between business & IT, download and read "Continuous Delivery: A Maturity Assessment Model".  

ThoughtWorks - A software company and community of passionate individuals whose purpose is to revolutionize software design, creation and delivery, while advocating for positive social change.  Our product division, ThoughtWorks Studios, makes pioneering tools for software teams who aspire to be great; such as Mingle® , Go™ and Twist®, which help organizations better collaborate and deliver quality software.  Our clients are people and organizations with ambitious missions; we deliver disruptive thinking and technology to empower them to succeed.  In our 20th year, over 2300 ThoughtWorks employees - 'ThoughtWorkers' - are currently serving clients from offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, the U.K., and the U.S.

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