Introduction

This appendix contains a list of criteria to be used in performing a testing process health check and a suggested approach to conducting the task.

The testing process health check could be used in a number of ways:

1. ▲ To baseline the current state of testing within an organization prior to introducing a formal testing process

2. ▲ To monitor the progress of the adoption of a formal testing process and to identify areas that were satisfactory and areas that could be improved

3. ▲ As part of a process-improvement program (see Chapter 13 – Improving the Testing Process).

The criteria used in the testing process health check are grouped under the following high-level headings:

1. ▲ Testing and the Software Development Process

2. ▲ Testing Process

3. ▲ Roles and Responsibilities

4. ▲ Testing Phases.

These groups and their individual criteria are described in full in the following sections respectively. Section P7 contains an optional scheme for scoring the various criteria if a more quantitative approach is required.

A checklist is provided at the end of this appendix, which can be copied and used as a memory aid during the testing process health check. This check list is also available from the following URL: <us.cambridge.org/titles/052179546X>.

Terminology

The term “subject” is used to denote the person, project, department, or organization that is the target of the testing process health check. It could refer to a third-party organization whose testing process needs to be assessed or it could be used internally within the host organization.