The webinar discusses risk-driven testing, focusing on identifying testing goals, risk factors, and testing lifecycle alignment. Presenters from Liveware Inc. and Computer Aid Inc. highlight the importance of effective testing strategies and risk management in project planning to avoid common pitfalls. The document emphasizes the need for contingency planning and strategic testing approaches to ensure product quality while meeting project deadlines.

1. Webinar: Risk Driven Testing May 5th, 2010 11:00 AM CST Please note: The audio portion of this webinar is only accessible through the telephone dial-in number that you received in your registration confirmation email.

2. Jorge Boria Senior VP International Process Improvement Liveware Inc. [email_address] Michael Milutis Director of Marketing Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI) [email_address]

3. About Presenter’s Firm Liveware is a leader among SEI partners, trusted by small, medium and large organizations around the world to increase their effectiveness and efficiency through improving the quality of their processes. With an average collective experience of over 20 years in software process improvement we know how to make our customers succeed. We partner with our clients by focusing on their bottom line and short and long term business goals. With over 70 Introduction to CMMI classes delivered and 40 SCAMPI appraisals performed, you will not find a better consultant for your process improvement needs.

4. CAI is a global IT outsourcing firm currently managing active engagements with over 100 Fortune 1,000 companies and government agencies around the world. CAI is a leader in IT Best Practices for legacy support and new development application management. CAI’s focus is directed toward practical implementations that track and measure the right activities in software activity management CAI consistently promises and delivers double digit productivity in its outsourcing and consulting engagements. CAI makes all of this possible through the use of: Standard processes Management by metrics SLA compliance management Detailed cost, resource, and time tracking Capacity management Standard estimation A unique, metrics based methodology along with a proprietary, real time data repository and management system (TRACER®). About Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI)

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6. Today’s Agenda State testing goals and objectives Identify risks with regard to product and project characteristics State testing activities with acceptance criteria Select a testing lifecycle to match the products risks and the project's schedule

7. Our Objectives Identify testing project risks and refine the plan to include mitigation and contingency activities State testing goals and objectives Identify risks with regard to product and project characteristics State testing activities with acceptance criteria Select a testing lifecycle to match the products risks and the project's schedule

8. The Test Categories Map © black box crystal box UNIT INTEGRATION SYSTEM ALPHA USER ACCEPTANCE BETA time goal construction functionality performance usability string volume integration stress error handling readiness configuration memory leaks regression path coverage decision coverage statement coverage data flow coverage Disclaimer: This is just indicative. Individual project’s needs vary

9. The V Model Applied UAT Execution (SDS) Test Report Sys Test Execution (SDS) Test Report Acceptance UAT Test Planning and Preparation System Test Planning and Preparation Unit Test Planning and Preparation Acceptance Requirements (SRD) Acceptance Specifications (TSD) Coding (SDS) Unit Test Execution (SDS) Hand Off Developed Components (SDS)` Phase End Review Phase End Review Post Mortem Project Review

10. Common Testing Problems we ship before we have finished testing our customers find most of our defects we don’t have the testers when we need them testing is ad-hoc and results are irreproducible we don’t test for the critical success factors we don’t test versus requirements from customer there are no acceptance criteria for any phase and deciding when the product is ready becomes a point of contention ...

11. Risk Management Preventable Problems We anticipated lateness but accepted sending out an unfinished product We have too many defects to fix too late in the cycle We have too many tests to run in a short period of time We have tested for the simple defects and the customer gets to test for the “killer” bugs …

12. Mission and goals Decision drivers Organization management Customer / end user Budget / cost Schedule Project parameters Development process Development environment Personnel and relationships Operational environment New technology Cost overruns Schedule slips Inadequate functionality Canceled projects Sudden personnel changes Customer dissatisfaction Loss of company image Demoralized staff Poor product performance Legal proceedings Risk Sources Project Consequences testing concerns

13. Critical Success Factors A product’s critical success factors (CSFs) are related to: business needs for its development coverage of all its intended user constituencies fitness for use in the intended context lack of dissatisfiers competitive advantage price? delighters?

14. CSF: Business Needs (Why?) Typical business reasons for new systems or changes: cost reduction reducing personnel time in the field reduces costs increased efficiency of work or resource a better interface makes one person capable of doing the job of two developing new markets using a “smart card” allows very small business to get into the credit card market improved resource management electronic data management (EDM) systems allow insurance claims to be processed in hundreds of different locations, depending on work load What Is The Customer Going To Get Out Of The Use Of The Product?

15. CSF: User Constituencies (Who?) Answer the questions: given the business needs, what goals will the product help achieve? who will have to use the product (different user constituencies) to achieve those goals? At least three levels of need: need to increase the bottom line typical user constituency: upper management need to gather supervisory data typical user constituency: middle management need for an efficient interface typical user constituency: end user other?

16. CSF: Fitness for Use (How?) “ Fitness for use” the product may meet all stated requirements but not support solving a real need or problem for a given user constituency testing features does not cover the workflows Test in the context of the job Test the product as if you would have to perform the job yourself Use your expertise in testing to extend the possibilities of use cases

17. High-Level Testing Goals Effectiveness: Defect detection percentage of total found in some time frame severity found after testing AND Efficiency: Resource usage time people machines Reporting time spent reproducing the defect by the developers

18. Risks from the Project Risks from the project come from: Project Plan Schedule Constraints testing might be cut short if development is late testing might have all its tasks in the critical path Lifecycle being followed by the project Simple Waterfall, Parallel Waterfall, Evolutionary, Prototyping, Spiral Design Architecture Resources missing critical skills budgetary shortcomings

19. Design Architecture Figure out what the Architecture is going to be Ask the designer Request information on the design elements early If not traditional, plan accordingly Use scenarios profusely Try having testers join teams early Use testers insight of design to develop test cases Push for updated documentation Push for consistency reviews across documents Requirements traceability Formal reviews

20. Testing Deliverables Planning Assets Test Plan Testing Assets Testing procedures Testing suites Testing templates Reporting Assets Individual tests results Test statistics Acceptance report

21. Strategy Problems Problems that faulty test strategies can cause we spend too much time on just one phase we place all our effort at the end of the project we ignore regressions we test in the wrong configuration we receive work products that are unfit to test we get into endless arguments about product fitness to ship ... Good testing strategies help!

22. Selecting a Strategy Decide on how much testing is required of what type when will it happen who will do it how will it happen, e.g.: Will integration be top-down or bottom-up? Will clear box be manual or automatic?

23. Identifying Test Tasks Review the V-Model Pick and choose the adequate phases to meet the goals You have twenty days to visit all of Europe You may never be able to go back How do you budget your time? Testing is always under-budgeted and over-committed

24. Defining a Strategy Review and rework the business goals Review project variables and rework the Testing Phases Consider cost, time to market, personnel, product life expectancy, users, constraints Emphasize the tasks that tie with the goals try to probe weak areas of the project Points to ponder: regression (when, how much, which) coverage (how much, what type, when) deadlines (slipping deadlines, schedule compression) integration (how, when, by whom) assignment of responsibility (developers, testers, users)

25. Test Strategies (1) Analyze business case where is the payoff? think in terms of customer satisfaction identify particular functionality or killer faults Probe the quality of the product with regard to it Note: Overriding assumption is that you will not have time to do it all

26. Test Strategies (2) Analyze users by frequency of use sporadic, heavy, etc. by organizational level general managers, middle managers, end users, etc. by their knowledge of the software experts, newcomers, etc. Build a profile of system usage sketch scenarios assign probabilities for each scenario e.g.., one out of eight times the plan will be run unchanged Use this data to design the test cases to optimize testing coverage of most frequent paths

27. Test Strategies (3) Analyze time to market are you going to be pressed for time? => focus on existing functionality => test system rather than component => test typical rather than exceptional Decide which tests can be run within the time constraints If some of the fundamental tests cannot be run, move tests forward

28. Test Strategies (4) Analyze cost how many staff/hours can you pay? Figure out if the tests you have so far selected fit within the budget If so, if you have room for more… Analyze constraints performance precision volume find critical quantities analyze or set stress testing … then include tests for them

29. Test Strategies (5) Analyze personnel who can you count on reinforce testing of the products of the project’s weaker links which of your documents are going to be weak for lack of experts requirements or specs <=> functional tests high-level design <=> integration modules <=> module testing

30. Test Strategies (6) Analyze product life expectancy find the payoff of documented procedures, test case suites, results, etc.. don’t overspend in a product that has a short life expectancy don’t under spend in a product that will be around long

31. Example Strategy (1) Business goal Keep and expand customer base Internal translation to project Make sure that the user finds the entire current version’s functionality works as usual Testing strategy Test old before new, in every phase

32. Example Strategy (2) Business goal Exceed customer’s expectations of product quality Internal translation to project Fewer than 10% of total bugs caught by the user Testing strategy Move functional test suites to developers before and during unit code and testing

33. Acceptance Criteria For each test selected, define: Environment tests would have had to run on Regression suites covered by the tests Functionality covered by the tests Performance testing goals reached Volume Testing goals achieved Reliability Testing (when applicable) Usability Testing (when applicable) How can we tell that the work product is safe for releasing it to the user?

34. System Acceptance Criteria Probably only main deployment environment but NOT the development environment only Usually all regression suites for the entire tests usually automated Most, if not all, functionality focus on functionality not tested or changed after unit code Performance Testing, Volume Testing goals MUST be met, no excuses deployment environment used in tests Reliability Testing if applicable, statistically controlled Usability Testing if critical, or if it leaves development organization

35. User Acceptance Test Purpose is to detect remaining defects focus might change Different things to different people another level of system acceptance emphatically focused on usability performed by users exclusively performed by user proxies, exclusively performed by the IV&V of the organization other? ... Which is yours?

36. User Acceptance Criteria Some general rules Cover all deployment environments Only do regression if regression suites are different or significant fixes and / or changes have happened after system acceptance Functionality focus should be on usual rather than exceptional Performance Testing should focus on throughput Volume Testing might be skipped unless significant fixes and / or changes have happened after system acceptance Reliability Testing only when thoroughly planned from day one Usability Testing probably the most emphatic effort goes here

37. Limiting the Testing Effort (1) Some things cannot be tested quality user-friendliness timeliness …

38. Limiting the Testing Effort (2) Some things you might not want to test regression on a new or relatively small enhancement performance stress …

39. Limiting the Testing Effort (3) Some things you might not have the ability to test reliability (e.g. MTTF) availability (e.g. (MTTF/(MTTF+MTTR))) …

40. Constraints on the Lifecycle Review the phases against the Project’s constraints Can you accommodate the project plan schedule constraints? Is the model being followed by the project Simple Waterfall, Parallel Waterfall, Evolutionary, Prototyping, Spiral allowing for the testing tasks you’ve set? e.g. might not have integration testing Can the tests selected be adjusted to the design architecture? three tiers might bring a whole set of problems Are the goals compatible with the project’s shortcomings?

41. Risk Action Planning Deal with high exposure risks first Research: Do we know enough about this risk? Accept: Can we live with it and do nothing about it? Manage: Can we take action? Avoid: Should we cancel the project or change the approach? Balance the threat of the risk against the effort to avert it How great is the threat? How much does it cost to avert?

42. Risk Contingency Plans Devise contingency plans for High exposure risks, in case the mitigation strategy fails Any risk for which there is no possible mitigation action Specify risk measures and trigger values Measures of time, resources to handle risk Measures of risk impact Trigger values that tell it is time to use contingency approach now Agree with customer and management at project start how contingency plans will be funded and handled

43. Example Contingency Triggers For risks leading to schedule slips Latest date to allow you to use alternative platforms Latest date to select another vendor For risks requiring additional effort or time Latest date to have time to locate the resources Greatest amount of penalty or fine to incur Greatest amount of investment available for overrun Limit for extra cost to the customer Limit for learning time

44. Example of Action and Contingency (1) Risk Statement Since the project team is already behind schedule by two full weeks, we might not have time to cover all the high yield tests before the cutover date and the quality of the product will be seriously imperiled. Risk Action Provide one of our test engineers as a testing consultant to the development team, so they can test and fix before they send the product to the Testing Team.

45. Example of Action and Contingency (2) Contingency Plan If by the first of April, we do not have an integration test version of the product, drop the web testing suites and focus on regression so our customer can use a significantly improved current version for six months without a Web interface.

46. Example Contingency for Lateness Plan your testing activities in passes First Pass (mandatory): test all modules/components use most frequently used scenarios use few test cases use selected error cases Second Pass (supplementary): test only modules with fixes, do first pass on components cover most scenarios use test cases covering all data equivalence classes include test cases for “bad values” Third Pass (complementary): test only modules with fixes from second pass cover all test suite go for 100% clear case coverage

47. Summary Key Activities in Defining the Testing Strategy identify test tasks and their goals rank test tasks by their goals define the limits of the testing effort detail testing tasks define testing tasks entry criteria define testing tasks acceptance criteria Outputs to the process include individual test task goals phase acceptance criteria detailed testing project tasks all in the updated test plan

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51. Jorge Boria Senior VP International Process Improvement Liveware Inc. [email_address] Michael Milutis Director of Marketing Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI) [email_address]