stage How Did We Let Testing Get Into Such A Lowly Position?!

How Did We Let Testing Get Into Such A Lowly Position?! Well firstly who agrees with that view? Let’s see a show of hands. Well Stage don’t! We believe that the IT Industry has allowed testing to become under appreciated and that testing is wrongly used when we should be addressing Quality. The consequences of not changing this view within IT will result in it being our fault though. So how do we go about changing it?

How Did We Let Testing Get Into Such A Lowly Position?! Testing is viewed as unnecessary, costly and time consuming. The Test Community are viewed as being problematic, as road blocks to progress and not as valuable as a Development resource. Not to mention that Testing is viewed as optional and can be cut if time becomes an issue. So what do we do about testing being in a lowly position?

Who are Stage? Stage is an innovative thought leader in IT transformation through Governance, Change and Quality Management. At the heart of Stage are their people, industry experts in their chosen field with a passion for helping our customers achieve operational excellence. Stage’s unique delivery model enables the definition, assessment, implementation, review and continuous service improvement of the solutions we deliver. Allowing our customer’s to relax in the knowledge that expectations are managed throughout project delivery through to improving the solution based on the changing requirements of their business.

My role at Stage I currently work providing Strategic Solutions within Stage. I have 22 years of IT experience and have recently worked for the French Investment Bank BNP Paribas providing strategic solutions for Test Management. I have extensive Test Management experience gained across numerous industries, including Investment Banking, Oil & Petroleum, Retail Banking, British Government (HMRC), Utilities (British Gas - Centrica), Telecommunications (IBM for Cable & Wireless Optus) & Australian Government (Customs Department, Child Support Agency & Taxation Office)

What is Testing really? Testing ultimately identifies quality. Through testing an informed statement can be made about the state of software and it’s readiness to be deployed into a Production environment. Most organisations perform testing to some degree, however testing or quality assurance needs to be more detailed & exhaustive, more effective, more accountable & visible. In short, testing is the final point to capture issues before a customer impact and therefore it needs to focus on addressing the client requirements.

What is Testing Really? Cont. As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary; “Test: a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something” Testing is about providing a statement of the quality of a product. Quality applies at each step within the Systems Development Life Cycle

Where Does Test sit in the SDLC? The simple answer is testing should be conducted throughout the SDLC. Development Test (Unit) System/Integration Test Regression Test Performance/Non-Functional Test (includes Stress, Load, Security, Operability etc) Business Acceptance Test User Acceptance Test (UAT) Each area within the SDLC has some level of Testing that should be conducted to determine if the nature of the change has worked and that a quality product is assured.

Perceived Views on Testing Unfortunately testing is sometimes viewed as an overhead or burden, rather than providing a much needed measure of quality. Testing can be viewed as; Time consuming, Unnecessary, Costly to do properly, Providing no real ‘value add’ and Anyone can test! Why have a dedicated team for testing? What testing does provide is a measureable output against a baseline position. This can gauge how successful the nature of change has been. A dedicated Test Team will provide an additional level of independent testing and auditable results addressing preordained scope & requirements.

How do I measure/ensure the quality of a change? Stating the obvious, but no assumptions have been made, as that is how things get into a lowly position, we need; Baseline current position & provide metrics Known scope of change Agree the tests to be conducted Agreed Quality Gates Reporting at the end of Day, Cycle, Phase and Project Continuous improvement/review/lessons learned What is a Quality Gate? Entry & Exit Criteria to demonstrate that one phase has met the agreed targets and that the following phase or phases can commence with a clean sheet. Set by all key Project Stakeholders at the start of the process and detailed in the Test Strategy & Test Plan documents.

How can we change the way that Testing is viewed? By making Quality everyone’s concern. Greater Management ‘buy in’ and support. By demonstrating that it is more cost effective to capture defects earlier. Hence by testing, or determining quality throughout the SDLC, problems in Production will be minimised and also less costly to correct. (See Next Slide.) More informed production of metrics & reports. Testing is a form of reporting. There is a wrong and a right answer for everything. Testing simply identifies what the outcome is. It is not designed to ‘place blame’ or ‘point score’. But simply to identify a result. Earlier involvement of all key project stakeholders. i.e. Business, Development, Testing, Users, Support and Project Management all meeting during the Project Initiation phase and clearly defining the expected outcomes, timelines, scope etc.

How can we change the way that Testing is viewed? – cont. Traditional approach leads to excessive costs Finding defects during testing, while less expensive than in production, is still too late 10% 40% 70% RequirementsDesig n Developmen t TestingProduction Defects Defect Introduction Defect Discovery £5,000x £1,000x £100x £10,000x £200x

What role will Stage play to improve Quality within the SDLC and raise the testing profile? There are 3 main scenarios that place us in a ‘lowly’ position; The wrong people i.e. Test resources who only look at Testing being at the end of the SDLC and do it badly. Unable to sell Testing/Quality i.e. Effective test resources will sell the fact that Testing is not the last element of the SDLC and that well supported metrics identify the quality concerns. An experienced tester will also identify where testing should sit. Not just at the end! Organisationally not interested in Testing or proving Quality i.e. Profit outweighs any negative impacts – see Investment Banking as a prime example.

What role will Stage play to improve Quality within the SDLC and raise the testing profile? By using the Stage Model for continuous improvement; Define Assess Implement Review Re-assess Through reducing Cost & Risk and improving Quality by having clearly defined requirements, a measureable baselined position, regular reporting, etc By aligning Testing closer to Business needs and mitigating Project risk. Understanding what testing means to the Business. Creation of Business Case, Return on Investment, Phased Adoption Model to minimise cost, Statistical reporting

Emphasising the point! To encourage Senior Project stakeholders to take more notice and buy into Testing, why not pick the biggest business application and what a system failure could mean as a result (negative press coverage, financial penalties, loss of revenue, customer retention, etc). Align with risks and issues within the business model. SLA setting and management is one area that may help to emphasise the point. Or pilot on a project that needs help, is high profile, etc Other tangible results are received. Better Capacity Planning, Securitisation, Incident / Problem Management