July 2009 Archives

As you've seen from my blogs, I am passionate about testing, and its future.  But, barriers can make a testing environment hard to navigate.

I've brought to light issues of multiple vendors and their proprietary scripts, lack of a single repository for test results and inadequate staffing. Next on my radar is accessibility.

I discussed the concept of a single repository that can house all test results for all equipment and all engineers.  But, what good is that repository if it is not easily accessible?  Often, the people who need this database are offsite, around the world, in a different time zone or maybe just caught up in meetings.

Another issue I've highlighted is the equipment. It typically lies idle or in static operation for about 16 hours a day, plus weekends and holidays.  Seems like a giant waste of resources.

But, the Internet has changed that. With just a web-enabled interface, you have access to the world!

In my earlier blog I said I want to put the spotlight on the future of testing.  As next gen products and services evolve, the lessons from legacy testing need to be incorporated. 

The next critical issue that I have run up against, in my years in the field of testing, is the data....not the just the high-level test status themselves (Passed/Failed), but the easy access and availability of those detailed test cases, test procedures and test results. 

Many test labs rely primarily on skilled test engineers to prepare and repeatedly run hundreds or even thousands of test cases for each major test cycle, manually gathering and interpreting the results, and consistently reporting problems and progress.  So, the

question arises, how does one take the results of many tests, from multiple vendors' test equipment, which are often in separate silos and locations, and consolidate them into a meaningful report combined with logs and other resulting details from all the devices in the test?

Test organizations must collect and manage important test information manually, typically using Microsoft Office tools or some form of internally developed and maintained test management tool. Manual methods can drastically limit collaboration and reuse, and certainly restrict knowledge base sharing. Unless a concerted, manual effort is made to coordinate and distribute updated and timely test information to everyone on the team, it can be difficult to track and manage valuable test information. Test information can be lost, requiring testers to recreate the test setup from scratch.