SDT Transformation White Paper
- 1. WhITE PAPEr The Transformative Power of Software Testing Optimized software testing can put your organization on track for greater innovation, growth and success Software makes up the nervous system of any organization, but too often applications are found lacking or even high risk after they’ve been deployed. A high-quality Test Center of Excellence approach to software can assure CIOs that IT is bringing business value to the enterprise. With optimized testing, CIOs can be confident that IT projects will be developed rapidly to respond to opportunities and shifts in the market. This white paper describes how to achieve software test transformation in the enterprise.
- 2. white paper: the transformative power of software testing 2 rebecca (Becky) Wanta is In summarizing the IT organization’s performance over the past an experienced IT trans- year, the CIO of a large financial services firm cited a critical achievement. For formation senior executive the first time, the CIO said, IT had the technology it needed to meet business requirements. The right applications were being delivered rapidly, and their with CIO appointments quality was excellent. In fact, the percentage of application defects discovered and consulting experience by users had dropped to 5 percent from 24 percent. Production was keeping with Fortune 50/100 firms. When IT up, delivering IT projects in an average of 79 days, with failures reduced by transformations require software test 40 percent. Overall, business value had improved, and IT was able to respond quickly to meet new business demands. transformation, Becky reaches out to partner with SDT. SDT has worked What sparked such a dramatic turn of events? Two years earlier the CIO had closely with Becky to transform test- green-lighted two key initiatives. First was the completion of a highly adaptable technology platform designed to help the IT organization respond to the needs ing at PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, South- of the company. Second—and perhaps more important—was the implementa- west Airlines, State Compensation tion of an enterprise software Test Center of Excellence that brought significant Insurance Fund, and WellPoint. improvements in test effectiveness. With better software testing, the IT organi- zation was able to identify post-release risks, increase quality and achieve faster time to market; to greatly reduce user-discovered defects; and to validate the She says: “As an IT transformation ex- new technology platform and the key applications being built on it. ecutive, my software testing partner decision is critical. I trust Software the need for TransfOrmaTIOn Development Technologies to deliver the right senior consultants and test Hired three years earlier, the CIO’s first step was to evaluate the critical issues project teams. With SDT’s proven facing the firm. At the time, many IT projects were stalled or taking longer than planned. In some cases, the delays threatened revenue opportunities; in intellectual property and experienced others, longer timelines meant out-and-out application failure. consultants, we rapidly developed Within the group was a team of application testers with mixed skills who were and implemented a clear strategy struggling to share environment resources with the developers. Test automation and automation framework that is was limited, and processes were inconsistent and poorly defined. efficient and repeatable. Using SDT’s It wasn’t long before the CIO realized that outside help was necessary to turn testing approach, there is now a things around. With hundreds of complex and diverse projects in progress, and centralized infrastructure to rapidly with the financial services industry reeling from the troubled economy and test and deploy our highly customiz- increased government regulation, the company needed a centralized infra- able global systems. This will greatly structure for application testing—fast. reduce our manual testing workload This CIO’s challenge wasn’t unusual. In the last several “State of the CIO” and maintenance costs. SDT has surveys conducted annually by CIO magazine, IT leaders have clearly stated their desire to establish themselves as transformational leaders, capable of implemented practical solutions that strategically guiding their organizations through tumultuous times. And to be build on and improve our existing transformational, they say, they must implement new systems and overhaul infrastructure both onshore and business processes. offshore, while implementing new What’s needed is a transformation strategy that ensures the right technology approaches that streamline our foundation is in place—a core that enables an enterprise services-oriented processes. The resulting lower costs, architecture and technology refresh strategy, that also smoothes the adoption higher quality and strong teamwork of cloud computing, Web 2.0/3.0 and social networking technologies. Senior test architects are needed, as well, to provide proven design and automation provide the right return on invest- frameworks that can effectively test all required technology core foundation ment, with the right projects being types. Frameworks for function and performance testing for each technology processed the right way through the type must be included too. Test Center of Excellence.” It’s a tall order. When IT transformation includes software test transformation, finding a testing partner that can deliver the right senior consultants and test project teams is critical. Over the past 20 years, many CIOs have found that partnership with Software Development Technologies (SDT).
- 3. white paper: the transformative power of software testing 3 esTablIshInG step 1: assessmenT a CenTer Of “CIOs must get the necessary pieces in place in order to limit the potential for exCellenCe mishaps or missed business opportunities,” says Edward Kit, CEO of Los Altos, Calif.-based SDT. “There is a real need to redefine the value placed on testing For ongoing success, it’s vital to build and to realize that structural changes will likely be required. The CIO at this financial services firm appreciated the value of testing, and understood the and maintain a software Test Center necessity to invest.” of Excellence. The CoE ensures the professionalism of testing; standard- The objective is not just recovery from a single application failure or testing problem. To transform and accelerate the business, the fabric of the test organi- ization of roles, tools, metrics, labs zation must be changed. and processes; centralization of key expertise; and the improved coordi- That’s where SDT comes in. A recognized, world-class expert in software test- ing, SDT provides expertise and intellectual property that enables the creation nation of testing across projects and of a well-conceived and managed test organization. locations, onshore and offshore. The first step toward this transformation is to assess the client company’s software development and testing processes, organization and technologies— SDT works hand-in-hand with its making sure “the right people and concrete processes are in place,” says Kit. clients to build an enterprisewide “We look at the tools, environments, onshore and offshore models, provider testing facility that hosts shared relationships and much more. We complete a very detailed assessment that environments for application readi- provides a clear understanding of the rationale behind the process, with visibil- ness testing, and that validates the ity into the end goal so that the entire enterprise can embrace a new direction.” functionality and performance of a new application or ongoing changes step 2: TesT TransfOrmaTIOn GOals once in the production environment. SDT’s assessment highlights the client company’s IT strengths as well as areas With SDT consultants at their side, needing improvement, and helps to define strategic objectives. The result is a clients test the quality of their CoE customized, long-term road map for software test transformation that includes by implementing, validating and a Test Center of Excellence. refining the new approach with their The goals that will shape the test transformation road map include: own application projects. >> A systematic, defined testing process that is consistently deployed across the IT development and deployment life cycle. >> The creation of a dynamic and flexible approach for managing the test environment. >> A test design and automation framework that is responsive to the iterative development process and time-to-deployment goals. >> Implementation, validation and refinement of the Test Center of Excellence using the client’s own application projects. >> The standardization of metrics and dashboards for the formal documentation of errors. >> The establishment of automated test regression libraries to increase productivity. >> Effective knowledge transfer (mentoring, coaching and training) that will enable the client company to run the test center on its own. >> An emphasis on test design in order to create effective test cases and achieve increasing degrees of test coverage. “As we develop the road map, we give people—often for the first time—a defined process with the necessary templates for training, mentoring and metrics. With that, senior management knows what they have and whether it is being applied appropriately,” says Kit.
- 4. white paper: the transformative power of software testing 4 learn mOre step 3: aCCeleraTIOn and deplOymenT This is where SDT’s expertise and intellectual property make the difference. Software Testing in the Real Having spent more than 20 years implementing test transformations, SDT has World is an informational guide that developed a comprehensive, predefined yet customizable set of methodologies, is essentially a toolkit for continu- training, courseware and software lifecycle testing templates. ous, sustainable improvement of the “SDT has the unique knowledge and experience needed to avoid rebuilding the software testing process. Written by test architecture from scratch,” Kit says. “We bring the best practices, orga- Edward Kit, CEO of Software Develop- nizational plans, techniques and training classes, and we customize them for our client’s environment. In most cases, CIOs simply don’t have the in-house ment Technologies, Software Testing expertise necessary to get this done in a timely, effective way.” in the Real World addresses the most frequently asked questions about SDT’s experience includes unit, integration, function, system and user accep- tance test methodology; detailed test design and test automation framework methodologies, tools, technology and processes; technical reviews; templates to guide test strategy, risk assessment, organizational issues being posed in metrics, test planning and test cases; detailed job descriptions for all test-relat- the testing community today. ed roles; and sample test reports. To accelerate the transformation, SDT provides consultants and professional tes- To request a discussion with Kit and ters to get the work underway while simultaneously mentoring the client’s testers. gain insights into how your company “Our mentoring model starts with shadowing at first, where the client’s IT staff can achieve enterprisewide test watches SDT’s senior team members, followed by reverse shadowing to make transformation, please call James sure that the client’s team is prepared for continued success,” Kit explains. “We Wright, SDT’s General Manager, Test provide the people to immediately work on projects, while empowering the Service Operations, at 405-232-6000 company’s personnel with mentoring and training.” x11. To find out more about Software Development Technologies, visit step 4: resulTs www.sdtcorp.com. Clients know they have transformed their software testing processes when they see: >> Improved quality of the applications delivered, including increased user and customer satisfaction, lower application development costs, greater operational efficiencies in development and high process quality early in the development life cycle. >> A centralized, consistent, roles-based testing organization, including test architects, designers, automation engineers, test executors and managers. It will have the right mix of onshore and offshore capabilities, and will yield better coverage and testing throughout the development life cycle. >> The successful training and mentoring of key personnel in specific roles, with these individuals using an efficient testing process. >> Automation frameworks that can effectively test all the required core tech- nology foundation types. >> New test environments in place. >> All top-tier application test projects being processed through the enter- prise Test Center of Excellence. With all the risks inherent in deploying software that hasn’t been tested appro- priately for the enterprise, it’s clear that a well-conceived software testing strategy can put an organization on track for greater innovation, growth and success. And the CIO can rest assured that existing and new IT projects will be deployed with higher quality and fewer post-release defects, and be secure in the knowledge that the company’s investments are demonstrating a significant return.