Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
customers; sometimes even millions of customers use it. Examples of such software
include ERP systems from big software vendors like SAP AG, Oracle, Microsoft,
Siebel, Click Commerce, SSG Global, and so on. These software products are called
packaged software applications. If installation of the packaged software application
requires not much effort by the user and he installs it himself using only some
clicks of his computer mouse, then that software is called a shrink-wrapped soft-
ware application. Many times, these ERPs do not fit into the requirement of any
company and in those cases, the company decides to develop a software application
from scratch which caters to the specific needs of that company. Software applica-
tions thus developed are called custom software. Then there are cases when the
packaged application can be customized to fit the requirements of the company. In
such cases this process is known as customization of the software application.
In this topic, software testing management for software products and applications is
covered along with testing requirements for custom software. Even when custom soft-
ware applications are not specifically written, the context will apply to them as well.
So basically we can divide types of software products into enterprise systems, desk-
top systems, device drivers, communication programs, and embedded systems. Testing
approaches for these categories will be very different from each other. Desktop, device
driver, and embedded system types mainly involve client system testing, whereas
enterprise systems may involve both client and server testing. Types of systems can be
mainframe, client-server, or browser-server based (Internet or intranet system where
client is the browser). With the advent of thin clients and Internet technologies, nowa-
days enterprise systems involve almost always only server testing. The client part is
only a browser. Then again, these enterprise systems involve multitier architecture.
The database is a separate logical tier, and most of the time it is a separate physical tier;
furthermore, the database is installed on a dedicated separate box (computer) or more
than one box. The server can be divided into a Web server and an application server.
Each of these servers can be installed on a dedicated box or more than one box. The
architectures of software applications have been changing over time. Currently most
of the applications are Web based where the client is only a browser and client instal-
lations are not required. All the software is installed on the server.
2.. Enterprise System Testing
Enterprise systems are characterized by large size, many concurrent users, and
many kinds of users using different functionalities of the application. Enterprise
systems need to be tested for functional as well as nonfunctional testing. You need
to test the system from what is mentioned in the requirements as well as how it
has been designed. The nonfunctional aspects include whether the system is scal-
able, whether the system can take the stress of heavy user load, whether the sys-
tem can withstand a sudden surge of load at peak times, and so on. One must
also take into account the fact that some part of the system is behind the firewall
