Designing and Building a Software Test Organization

Bruce Benton, Sr. Test Manager, Microsoft, "Designing and Building a Software Test Organization"

(http://www.cs.colostate.edu/icst2008/acceptedPapers.html)

 

Conslusions

- Most organizations should pursue a strategy primarily centered on automated testing. The projected return on investment for this approach is typically within a single project cycle or release and the additional advantages gained in repeatable, reliable testing outweigh the upfront cost associated with staffing this type of organization.

 

- The key factor in deciding between an internal staffing model and an external staffing model should be the duration of the organization. When the test organization is expected to be an ongoing concern you should staff internally. Teams which are expected to only exist for the duration of a project or some small number of projects are better candidates for outsourcing.

 

- Mixed skills teams are the most flexible and typically able to provide the most value to the larger organization. These teams should be comprised of subject matter experts and developers. For teams with a small SME work content you should pursue embedding the SME personnel in the analyst organization or rely on external consultants.

 

- The methodologies should be adopted which align with existing development practices in the larger organization and which are compatible with the automation and staffing strategies which were defined above for your company.