CENTURA-CONSULTING-LTD

Aug 18
07:40

2010

Vijay Sharma

Vijay Sharma

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CENTURA-CONSULTING-LTD : Avoid software testing pitfalls

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Avoid software testing pitfalls

Too many IT projects start falling apart even before the system goes live! Testing is where we find business confidence and project credibility start to take big hits if too many bugs and issue start getting out of control and communications to the stakeholders are not managed effectively.
We believe that managing business expectations and involving them during the testing phase is important for project creditability and business confidence to remain intact.

We have identified the following reasons why testing can get out of control:

  1. No "living" test strategy and plan to outline what needs to be done when,CENTURA-CONSULTING-LTD Articles how and by whom. We believe the project should not commence testing without a testing strategy which has been signed off by the steering committee.
  2. Lack of a clear communication plan to present status, explain issues and focus the agenda on what matters. It is crucial to identify testing stakeholders and develop a communication plan. This plan should consider who is supportive, neutral and who is dead against the changes proposed and the communication then needs to take this into account.
  3. Silo approach between processes and functions -it is not uncommon to find business process testers unable to complete their tests due to another process not completing theirs as planned.
  4. Software vendor working to a different plan and delivery schedule. Delays could be avoided if the vendor is managed to the same timelines as the project. We always recommend an integrated approach with the software vendor- this includes the joint bugs review and the updating of the test cycles and plans. It is key to have the vendor Defect Manager play a proactive role in your project and communicating vendor responses clearly and effectively.
  5. The technical environments not closely managed and monitored before and during testing. Too many technical failures (e.g. Server too slow / down) has meant the business testers wasting time and getting frustrated with IT.


The above can be avoided if the right plans and resources were put in place. Centura can assist you with:

  • Defining your test strategy
  • Defining and implementing test management processes
  • Training your test resources (IT and Business) how to work effectively within stressful test environments
  • Evaluate and select test management tools for your project
  • Provide testers to complement and support your resources