There are 2 basic scenarios:
(1) Bugs reported by a Customer, which includes the cost to get a fix back to the customer
(2) Bugs detected and fixed internally which do not need to be reported to the customer
Assumptions:
(1) The bug is actually fixed
(2) This describes the Pre-Live/Beta/Field Test process. A "Live" customer reports issues directly to Support.
(3) The average salaries used are on the attached worksheet
(4) The time and cost to produce a new software package/release is not included (~ 1 day turnaround)
(5) The exact costs for the working environment (desk space, light, heat, benefits, workstation, etc.) are not included
Legend: (Acronyms used)
QA = Quality Assurance (Testers)
SA = System (Business) Analysts
SE = Software Engineer (Developer)
Average Cost to Detect and Fix a bug
| Who | Action | Avg. Time spent (Hours) | Scenario 1 - Cost | Scenario 2 - Cost |
| Customer | (1) finds a bug, (2) reports it to Consultant | 1 | unknown | |
| Consultant | (1) verifies that the bug exists, (2) reports the issue to Support | 0.5 | $145.00 | |
| Support | (1) reproduces the bug, (2) reports it to Engineering | 1 | $217.50 | |
| QA | verifies the issue on (1) testing machines, (2) the latest dev't builds | 0.5 | $10.26 | $10.26 |
| SA | identifies the critical areas affected and provides more information | 3 | $107.69 | $107.69 |
| SE | provides the fix or workaround as appropriate | 4 | $143.59 | $143.59 |
| SA | verifies technical fix | 1 | $35.90 | $35.90 |
| QA | verifies user-level fix, Admin notifies Support | 0.5 | $10.26 | $10.26 |
| Support | (1) confirms fix, (2) notifies consultant | 1 | $217.50 | |
| QA | verifies user-level fix, Admin notifies Support | 0.5 | $10.26 | $10.26 |
| Consultant | notifies customer of fix or workaround | 0.5 | $145.00 | |
| Totals: | $1032.69 | $307.69 |
| Number of issues reported from 1-March-06 (8:00 AM) to 21-May-06 (5:00 PM): | By Customers | By QA |
| # Urgent : | 0 | 1 |
| # High | 33 | 29 |
| # Medium : | 10 | 29 |
| # Low : | 6 | 16 |
| Total = | 49 | 75 |
| Average cost to fix issues = | $50,601.92 | $23,076.92 |
Reference Chart taken from a hardcopy presentation. Original reference, numbers and data unavailable.
Percentage estimates used to reproduce this diagram. Cost estimates above can be used to create a similar diagram depending on the phases in your Software Development Life Cycle.
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