The Cost of Inefficient Test Environment Management
by Ashley Hosking
Do you know how much inefficient Test Environment Management is costing you?
One thing that stands out from our discussions with organisations in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe is the distinct lack of awareness when it comes to how much Non Production Environments can cost an organisation.
When it comes to Controlling Test Environment Costs, most organisations still manage their environments inefficiently through the use of manual, error prone and decentralised methods such as spreadsheets, email and shoehorned intranet sites which doesn’t help a large organisation run the day to day operations efficiently, let alone provide any meaningful decision making capability for driving proactive innovation through the organisation.
Now this may not sound like such a big deal when Non-Production is effectively the “ugly step child” of Production right? Well, when you consider some industry statistics the importance of the story starts to show;
- Over 50% of an organisation’s Infrastructure, Licencing and associated Services spend is for Non Production environments;
- 95% of Organisations have no idea what their environments look like;
- 20% of Development and Test cycle productivity is lost due to Test Environment Issues, which leads to the last one;
- The #1 cause of IT project delays, late time to market and release related issues are Non-Production Environments and Test Data;
Speaking from prior experiences while working on a billion dollar transformation programme, each delay cost the programme half a million dollars per day. Test cycles were often delayed by weeks, sometimes months, often due to inefficient Test Environments not being fit for purpose or instability caused by poorly coordinated deployments and change, all managed in spreadsheets and email.
One of the main issues is no one knew what the Non Production environments looked like and you can’t manage what you don’t know.
When you consider all of the above and that technology is the backbone of any organisation, inefficiencies can cost an organisation up to 5% of it’s overall IT spend.
The story and importance of effective Test Environments Management hits the bottom line of how well an organisation is performing for it’s customers, employees and ultimately it’s shareholders.
enov8 have charged themselves with delivering a unique solution to the problem with it’s IT and Test Environments Management platform, EcoSystem.
enov8’s EcoSystem is an extensible IT and Test Environment Management Platform inclusive of;
- Holistic Release Management;
- Agile at Scale Operations;
- Streamlined and Advanced Integration;
- Holistic Test Data Management;
- Data Center and Cloud Migration.
Promoting Transparency, Control & Productivity.
See how much you could save by addressing these inefficiencies via our The Enov8 ROI Calculator.
Other TEM Reading
Interested in reading more about Test Environment Management. Why not start here:
Enov8 Blog: Enterprise IT Environment : What it is and how to define yours?
Enov8 Blog: IT Environments : What they are and which do you need?
Relevant Articles
Using Production Data for Software Testing
In the world of software development, testing is an essential process that ensures the quality and reliability of a product before it is released to the public. However, traditional testing methods often rely on artificial or simulated data, which can lead to...
Deployment RunBooks (aka Runsheets) Explained in Depth
Deploying software releases can be a challenging and complex process. Even small changes to a software system can have unintended consequences that can cause downtime, user frustration, and lost revenue. This is where deployment runbooks come in. A deployment runbook,...
11 Key Benefits of Application Portfolio Management
In digital‑first organizations, the application landscape is vast and constantly evolving. Departments add tools to meet immediate needs, legacy systems stick around for years, and new technologies emerge faster than they can be evaluated. It’s like finding your...
11 Application Portfolio Management Best Practices
Managing an enterprise application portfolio is no small feat. Over time, even the most disciplined organizations can end up with dozens—or even hundreds—of applications scattered across departments, many of which overlap in functionality or have outlived their...
Understanding The Different Types of Test Environment
As businesses continue to rely on software to carry out their operations, software testing has become increasingly important. One crucial aspect of testing is the test environment, which refers to the setup used for testing. This article focuses on the various types...
Data Masking in Salesforce: An Introductory Guide
Salesforce is a powerhouse for managing customer relationships, and that means it often stores your most sensitive customer data. But not every Salesforce environment is equally secure. Developers, testers, and training teams often work in sandbox environments that...
