Carnegie Quality

As testing professionals, we face problems nearly every day. A key testing resource becomes unavailable. The delivery date to test slips by 2 days, but the test dates remain frozen. Project management needs an assessment on project quality a day after the code reaches test. I could go on - but you get the picture.

In this post, I’ll discuss some common techniques for analyzing and identifying solutions - and also provide some links to additional information.

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Interesting post over at test Obsessed on the definition of testing.

I recently posted a template for a risk management plan. The plan discusses, among other things, how to identify risk. I thought I would spend some space talking about identifying risk from a testing perspective.

But first let me ask a question about why we do risk identification. Is it possible to release a defect-free product? I suppose it depends on your point of view, but speaking practically, the answer is no. In the real-world we have constraints - limited testers, limited schedule, not enough tools, etc… So it is with this realization - no software can be perfect - that risk identification becomes so critical.
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Hot off the presses - a risk register template that you can get over here.

I’ve just posted a template for a risk management plan - you can grab it over here.

Why I am posting a risk management plan on a site about testing? Well, for a couple of reasons. First, I’m trying not to limit information on my blog to testing only - I’d like to incorporate information on quality assurance, which I feel is much broader than just testing. Second, while I agree that risk management is ultimately the project manager’s responsibility, I believe that quality assurance/testers have unique insight into risk, and therefore should play a key role within risk management. And finally, I believe that many project managers don’t do risk management (or don’t do it well), and if you find yourself in this situation, it’s better to step up and make sure that risk management is done rather than just shrugging your shoulders and saying “it’s not my job”.