Software Developer Customer Survey Results July 2008
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) provides support to in excess of 1,000 Software Developers to enable them to ‘prove’ their software to receive data from and send data to a variety of HMRC Online Services. HMRC support starts with consultation on new services and proposed changes to existing services through to the provision of testing environments and ultimately online filing. The introduction of a Software Developer survey enabled the measurement and analysis of Software Developer Satisfaction with the support provided by HMRC and facilitates continuous improvement in this support. The first survey was conducted in January 2007 and provided a bench mark against which all future surveys were to be measured Developers are chosen at random from the Software Developer Support Team’s database and are approached by telephone or email. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and the results help us improve the service we provide to help meet the needs and requirements of our developers These are just some of the improvements we are making as a direct result of feedback from the surveys:
• • •
We are re developing the Software Developer pages and Technical Packs with the aim of improving the navigation, layout, style, consistency and content We now have a specific page within the Software developer pages on the HMRC website to report both live and test service availability and news to Software Developers. We are formalising consultation with Software Developer Representative Bodies through the Collaborative Assembly of Software Developers and HMRC (CASH) forums and are extending this consultation to Software Developers that are not members of a Representative Body
Here are the results from the survey undertaken in June 2008. Our thanks go to all of the Software Developers that took part in this survey. .
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Survey Results
About you Are you:
Are you and in-house or commerical software Developer?
In house Softw are Developer 28%
Commercial Softw are Developer 72%
What is your role within your organisation? Web /Applications Developer Product Development Manager Software Developer Consultant Analyst Director Software engineer Software tester Service delivery manager Customer Service Manager Legislation Specialist Designer Solutions Architect QA Manager Project Coordinator Training Manager Partner Development sales and support Manager Support Services Non Stated 3 5 24 5 8 8 2 2 2 1 6 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 6 2 2
Some respondents reported operating more than one role within their organisation.
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Which services do you support with your software? Agent Authorisation Online Alcohol & Tobacco Warehouse Declarations Construction Industry Scheme Corporation Tax Child Trust Fund Employee Share Schemes New Computerised Transit System CHIEF DEP Outgoing Data Provisioning Service Pay As You Earn (Electronic Data Interchange) Pay As You Earn (Internet) Pensions Self Assessment Stamp Duty Land Tax VAT & EC Sales List 2 3 11 3 3 2 5 1 1 5 17 48 5 4 4 2
Some respondents reported developing software for more than one online service. The Software Developer Support Team regularly communicates with a number of Software Developer Representative Bodies to discuss technical and service support issues affecting the Software Developer community in their relationship with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). 4. Are you, or is your organisation a member of any of the following Representative Bodies? Association of Freight Software Suppliers (AFSS) British Computer Society (BCS) Business Application Software Developer Association (BASDA) Inland Revenue Electronic Exchange Network (IREEN) Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP) Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) Other 5 19 18 7 5 1 14 2 6
Some respondents reported being members of more than one Representative Body. Web Pages The Software Developer Support Team provide technical and service information on the HMRC website to support the development of third party software for the submission and receipt of HMRC forms and returns. 5. How easy is it to find the Software Developer pages on the HMRC website?
How easy is it to find the Software Developer pages on the website?
Hard 19%
Very hard 7%
Easy 13%
Fairly easy 61%
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6. How would you rate the Software Developer pages for? Style and layout:
Style and layout Very Poor 1% Excellent 3% Very Good 28%
Poor 7%
Good 61%
Navigation:
Navigation
Poor 19%
Very Poor 7%
Excellent 3%
Very Good 19%
Good 52%
Content:
Content Very Poor 3%
Poor 1%
Excellent 9%
Good 51%
Very Good 36%
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Technical Packs The Internet Technical Packs and the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Message Implementation Guides (MIGs) are made available through the Software Developer web pages. These Technical packs and MIGs contain the business rules, schema, and other relevant technical information to support the development of Third Party software. 7. How do you rate the Technical Packs/MIGs for? Style and layout:
Style and layout
Poor 2%
Excellent 2% Very Good 43%
Good 53%
Navigation:
Navigation Excellent 2% Very Good 38%
Poor 6%
Very Poor 3%
Good 51%
Content:
Content
Poor 8%
Excellent 5%
Good 43%
Very Good 44%
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Accuracy:
Accuracy
Poor 9%
Excellent Very Poor 2% 2%
Good 38%
Very Good 49%
Timing of Delivery:
Timing of delivery Very Poor 2% Poor 13% Excellent 5% Very Good 39%
Good 41%
8. How do you rate the support given to you by the Software Developer Support Team in using the technical packs and MIGs?
How do you rate the support given to you by the Software Developer Support Team in using the technical packs/MIGs?
Good 20%
Poor 3%
Excellent 34%
Very Good 43%
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Test Services HMRC provide a number of test services for testing third party software products: The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Test service; the Third Party Validation Service (TPVS); the Vendor Single Integrated Proving Service (VSIPS); and the Outgoing Data Provisioning Service (DPS). 9. How do you rate the test services provided by HMRC for? Overall quality:
Overall Quality
Poor 5%
Very Poor 5%
Excellent 14%
Good 31% Very Good 45%
Timing of delivery:
Timing of delivery
Poor 10%
Very Poor 5%
Excellent 11%
Very Good 32% Good 42%
Service availability:
Service availability
Poor Very Poor 6% 9%
Excellent 9%
Good 38%
Very Good 38%
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Accuracy:
Accuracy
Poor 2%
Very Poor 5%
Excellent 13%
Good 38%
Very Good 42%
10. How do you rate the support given to you by the Software Developer Support Team in using the test services? Test Service Support:
Test Service Support
Good 28%
Poor 3%
Excellent 31%
Very Good 38%
Service availability updates:
Service availability updates
Poor 3% Good 36%
Excellent 17%
Very Good 44%
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The Software Developer Support Team also provide additional tools to support your testing: The Desk Top Checker and the Local Test Service (LTS) 11. How do you rate these tools for? Overall quality:
Overall quality
Poor 7% Good 31%
Excellent 18%
Very Good 44%
Ease of use:
Ease of Use
Poor 4% Good 31%
Very Poor 4%
Excellent 17%
Very Good 44%
12. And how do you rate the support given to you by the Software Developer Support Team in using the tools:
How do you rate the support given to you by the Software Developer Support Team in using these tools?
Good 29%
Excellent 19%
Very Good 52%
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Consultation 13. How well does the Software Developer Support Team consult you? On new initiatives:
Consult you on new initiatives
Poor 4%
Very Poor 2%
Excellent 12%
Good 42%
Very Good 40%
On changes to services:
Consult you on changes to services:
Poor 5%
Excellent 12%
Good 45%
Very Good 38%
14. And when the Software Developer Support Team consults with Software Industry Representative Bodies, how effective do you rate this type of consultation?
When the Software Developer Support Team consults with Software Developer Industry Representative Bodies- How effective do you rate this type of consultation? Very Poor 3% Poor 13%
Excellent 10% Very Good 26%
Good 48%
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Support from the SDST Support from the Software Developer Support Team 15. When you need support or information from SDST, do you usually:
When you need support or information from SDST, do you usually: Combination of phone/email/w ebs ite 13% Telephone Or use the 24% w ebsite 5%
Or Email 58%
16. How do you rate the Software Developer Support Team telephone and email support for: Speed of handling you telephone queries:
Speed of handling your telephone queries
Good 23%
Excellent 33%
Very Good 44%
Updating you with progress on your telephone query:
Updating you with progress on your telephone queries
Poor 2% Good 42%
Excellent 21%
Very Good 35%
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Clarity and ease of understanding of telephone responses:
Clarity and ease of understanding of telephone responses
Good 28%
Excellent 26%
Very Good 46%
Speed of handling your email queries:
Speed of handling your email queries
Good 27%
Very Poor Poor 2% 3%
Excellent 18%
Very Good 50%
Updating you with progress on your email query:
Updating you with progress on your email queries Very Poor 2%
Poor 6%
Excellent 18%
Good 40%
Very Good 34%
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Clarity and ease of understanding of email responses:
Clarity and ease of understanding of email responses
Poor 3% Good 30%
Excellent 20%
Very Good 47%
General customer service:
General customer service
Good 19%
Excellent 25%
Very Good 56%
The Software Developer Support Team host service specific forums to consult with Software Developers and keep them informed of any issues or changes that might affect them. 17. How do you rate the Software Developer Support Team sponsored Software Developer forums for: Frequency of forums:
Frequency of forums
Very Poor 3% Poor 30%
Very Good 20%
Good 47%
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Timing of forums:
Timing of forums Very Poor 3% Poor 13% Excellent 3% Very Good 20%
Good 61%
Location of forums:
Location of forums
Very Poor 16% Poor 11%
Very Good 24%
Good 49%
Content of forums:
Content of forums Very Poor 3% Very Good 27%
Poor 10%
Good 60%
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Effectiveness of forums:
Effectiveness of forums
Poor 13%
Very Poor 3%
Very Good 29%
Good 55%
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