Summary

A successful testing effort is the "project within the project." It involves much planning, coordination, and talent. The result can increase the chances of success and customer satisfaction. The following are the major points from this chapter:

• Understand the customer's expectations to help guide you where to focus testing efforts. On any project, with the proliferation of testing tools and techniques, you cannot do it all. You must focus on the areas of most importance to the customer.

• Any enterprise-wide system that must support many users needs some method of proving that the system can support the required load. Testing this for the first time after system delivery is not a valid success strategy.

• Automated load testing tools are expensive to acquire. The project manager needs some resourcefulness to ensure that the project has these tools or services available.

• Involve individuals who have test expertise early in the lifecycle, and put them in a position where they can influence the writing of requirements.

• Test teams no longer work in a vacuum. They collaborate heavily with developers, configuration managers, quality assurance, and requirements analysts. Staff the team with testing personnel who can work well in a team environment.

• Be sure to try test tools in the specific environment before committing to purchase.

• Try to staff the testing team with people who recognize and believe in the importance of thorough testing.

• Consider adjusting development methods and techniques as needed to ensure compatibility with automated test tools.