Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
3. Sufficient external storage space,
4. Number and type of terminals and their localisation, if necessary special
provisions for remote access via networks,
5. Planning and preparation of the test locations required;
Test personnel from end user departments to be cleared with department heads
for the duration of the tests, specialists from the implementation project, who did
participate in drafting the functional specifications, and support from the
supplier—in most cases developers, who did part of the realisation;
Allocation of functions to be tested to specialists capable of drafting the appro-
priate test scripts;
Identification and ordering test data,
including the fundamental
decision,
whether tests should be carried out with real or synthetic data;
Provisions for interfaces, the input or output of which are essential to test
important functions, if necessary including interface simulations with the help
of log files.
All these resources listed above have to be taken into account by the acceptance
coordination, which can be taken care of by a special sub-project management and
by IT quality management at the same time, and scheduled in detail with a sufficient
time buffer prior to acceptance test start taking target dates and responsible per-
sonnel resources into account.
3.3.2 Defining Personal Responsibilities for the Acceptance
Process
After the general identification of personnel resources individual test tasks have to
be attached to names (not organisational units!). Authors for functional specifica-
tions and co-authors for technical specifications together with the supplier have to
be named, if these documents do not yet exist. However, for a professionally run
project one can expect that those documents are available and cleared prior to the
actual start of the acceptance tests.
Quite often the persons having been involved in the specifications are at the same
time in charge of drafting the test scripts. At this instance representatives from the
user environment should be drawn in. Parallel to drafting test scripts test data are to
be defined. The authors of the test scripts will be those persons, who will in the end
also carry out the acceptance tests in their specific professional field. They will be
supported by the relevant business units. If not already done so, the management of
the sub-project “Quality Management” now has to obtain an agreement from the
responsible managers of the business units in question—if possible, in writing—
concerning the release of testers for the test duration and location. This is all the
more important for testing not being executed at the work place of the persons
