Current situation: Many organisations do not have a Test Policy in place, but they do have expectations from testing. Frequently projects are managed in such a way which stands in direct conflict to what and how testing has to deliver.
My conclusion: Project managers will manage a project in the way that they believe is the best approach; even if it requires re-inventing processes to satisfy the client.
The bigger problem: When a Test Policy is proposed to an organisation the stakeholders and owners may eagerly agree, but often they do not realize the organisational impact such a policy will have on how business is done.
Investigation: Based on my research and experience, I will highlight a few aspects of the impact a Test Policy may have on an organisation.
The purpose of an effective Test policy will include one or more or all of the following:
- Provide improvement within the whole architecture and development process
- Provide the scope of corporate/organisational goal adherence and highlight projects that fall outside of it
- Provide a strategic value that testing can bring to an organisation such as:
o Testing that is in-line with the brand, goals, values and ethics
o Consistent and repeatable testing activities
o Adoption of a uniform approach across projects in the organisation
o Framework for making decisions where Test Planning and Test Execution takes place
When creating an effective Test Policy the organisation have to evaluate and study the following which is core to the way business is performed:
- Business goals
- Business needs
- Discussions/Updates with stakeholders
- Company mission
- Company vision
- Main goals of quality
- Business policy
- Business type
- Test goals for products validation
- Test goals for defect prevention
- Test goals to check capabilities with external standards
- Test goals to make quality visible
- Test goals to shorten test execution time
That is quite deep and many times I have found that most of the mentioned items are never discussed in an organisation.
Summary: In my understanding and experience a Test Policy will have an impact on the following:
- Marketing approach and contract agreements between a business and its clients
- Requirements Analysis and taking POC further
- Company Policy
- Project management framework
- Development methodologies
- Test strategies
- Reporting
- Tool sets
- Formalities
References:
- Strategic Value through a Test Policy (http://www.tcl-global.com/assets/pdf/news/Strategic%20Value%20Through%20a%20Test%20Policy%20V1.00%20BW%20080606.pdf)
- TMMi (http://www.tmmifoundation.org/downloads/tmmi/TMMi%20Framework.pdf)
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