Released on: October 18, 2007, 12:01 pm

Press Release Author: Identify

Industry: Software

Press Release Summary: Commissioned report finds software development managers
unaware of significant impact problem resolution processes have on development
cycles as well as bottom line

Press Release Body: HOUSTON, October 16, 2007 - A study conducted by Forrester
Consulting on behalf of BMC Software has found that while software developers spend
nearly a third of their time on bug-fixing and troubleshooting issues reported by
testing and support teams, many IT executives are not aware of the impact this
time-sink is having on their product rollouts and bottom lines.

Commissioned by BMC Software [NYSE: BMC], the survey of 150 managers, directors, and
vice presidents in charge of application development teams at global enterprises and
independent software vendors (ISVs) revealed the significant impact that the
traditionally manual process of problem resolution is having on company bottom
lines.

\"Problem resolution is a major time-sink for developers, but it's not a burning
problem for development managers,\" wrote Forrester Consulting in a presentation
accompanying the study. \"Doing the math on savings will convince them it should be.\"


The survey uncovered many problems associated with the iterative process of "problem
resolution," which encompasses root cause analysis and the time spent identifying,
isolating, recreating (if possible) and resolving application problems throughout
the application lifecycle.

Some hidden issues the survey uncovered were:

. Developers spend 29 percent of their time investigating and resolving application
problems in testing and maintenance. If the time that test and support staff spend
on gathering information and documenting problems is taken into account, the overall
time may be significantly higher.
. 45 percent of respondents take over an hour to create a single defect report.
. Despite all the effort expended to identify and fix issues, fully 25 percent of
problems are returned marked "not reproducible," which leads to extended, iterative
cycles and applications being released with known defects.
. On average, application problems take more than six days to resolve and more than
a third take more than three days. This can cause ripple effects in the development
cycle and impact software release dates.
. A third of managers underestimate the time spent on problem resolution and almost
as many don't even think about it, either through acceptance of the status quo or
because they do not recognize the connection between time spent on problems and lost
development cycles.

"Forrester Consulting's findings are consistent with what we hear from our
customers: problem resolution is a time-consuming process that steals time from
developers' core responsibility of creating new software applications," said Eldad
Maniv, Vice President of BMC's Identify Software Business Unit. "In fact, 91 percent
of survey respondents said that if they were not spending time on problem resolution
they would be developing new features. There are significant benefits for both
companies and end-users when you automate the manual problem resolution process."

A webcast presenting the survey findings in greater detail is available at
www.identify.com/resources/webcasts.php. A related white paper will be available
from BMC by November 1. Please call 1 800.364.5467 or e-mail info@identify.com to
request a copy.

About BMC Software
BMC Software is a leading global provider of enterprise management solutions that
empower companies to automate their IT and improve its business value. Delivering
Business Service Management, BMC solutions span enterprise systems, applications,
databases and service management. For the four fiscal quarters ended June 30, 2007,
BMC revenue was approximately $1.6 billion. Visit www.bmc.com for more information.

In May 2006 BMC acquired Identify Software Ltd., creators of the BMC AppSight
Application Problem Resolution System, which optimizes application development by
automating problem resolution. Today, over 1,000 enterprises and independent
software vendors (ISVs) rely on BMC AppSight to improve staff efficiency, enhance
application functionality and quality, and accelerate software project delivery
dates. Learn more at www.identify.com or call 1 800.364.5467.

Web Site: http://

Contact Details: Lisa Rivero
PAN Communications
identify@pancomm.com
+ 1 978 474 1900

Betsy Graham
BMC Software
betsy_graham@bmc.com
+1 919 388 3333 x239