Software tools are not a silver bullet for achieving software goals, but they can help programmers deliver safer software faster. That is why organizations often bring developers in on its software purchasing process.

According to a new survey from Evans Data Corporation, 43 percent of respondents are often involved in evaluating software while 50 percent stated they are sometimes involved in the process.

“Developers are crucial to software use throughout an organization,” said Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data, “They are looked up to as experts and often find themselves evaluating software for line of business units as well as their own tools and platforms.”

The respondents revealed good documentation is one of the key things they look for in a evaluation process as well as a clean startup experience without any bugs.

The Global Development Survey surveyed more than 1,400 developers across four major regions. Other findings of the report included more than 50 percent of developers spend 1 to 4 hours evaluating software; and 70 percent spend 5 to 30 minutes downloading, installing and configuring software.