Automation, End-to-End View of Quality Key to Success in SOA and Web Services QA

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 5, 2007) - Composite applications need new testing strategies, and top-performing QA organizations are turning to automation and an end-to-end view of quality in order to keep pace, according to a new benchmark report from Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks company (NYSE: HHS). The report "SOA and Web Service QA and Testing: How Different Can It Be?" is based on a survey of more than 250 companies worldwide for a birds-eye view of this complex subject.

"SOA and web services are raising questions about how to ensure the quality of applications that are much different than those that the QA team has worked with in the past," said Perry Donham, Aberdeen's Director of Enterprise Applications Research, and the report's author. "The companies that are seeing significant improvement in the quality of their composite applications are those that are taking an end-to-end process view of QA, are involving the business users in the quality process, and are leveraging automation to increase test coverage."

The research found that Best-in-Class organizations:

--  Track business requirements throughout the project lifecycle
--  Use design-time governance as a way to establish a culture of quality
--  Have deployed automated testing tools for functional tests
    

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: iTKO, Mindreef, and Solstice Software. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4117

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2007 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
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Contact Information: Media Contact: Perry Donham Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5315 perry.donham@aberdeen.com