After an organization’s test process is established, it should be subjected to periodic reviews and enhancements. Usually Test Managers / QA Managers have process improvement as one of their goals on which they are evaluated during their appraisals. This article discusses some of the models that are useful in implementing process improvement in software testing.

Table of contents

1. Test Process Improvement
2. Process Improvement
3. Types of Process Improvements

Test Managers are responsible for the overall process and must keep up-to-date with latest techniques prevalent in the industry. These techniques are discussed in the article.

This article also discusses the general issues that may crop up in this and suggests some models that may be used.

Test Process Improvement

You have learnt till now that testing should be used to enhance software quality as well as the final product. Just as the techniques of process improvement are used in software development, they can also be used to improve the test process.

There are many methods to enhance software testing and the testing process itself. They provide the guidelines for improvements as well as areas that need improvement.

Even though the cost of testing is a significant portion of overall cost of the project, focus on testing process in process improvement models like CMMI is not proportional. Process improvements in testing can potentially be used to reduce the cost of quality.

Specific models for test improvement have been developed to tackle this issue. Some of them are:

• Test Maturity Model integration (TMMi)
• Critical Testing Processes (CTP)
• Test Process Improvement Next (TPI Next)
• Systematic Test & Evaluation Process (STEP)

If these models are used correctly, they can assist in gathering cross-organizational test metrics for carrying out standardized comparisons.

The process improvement models have been discussed in subsequent topics to explain how they function and what their scope is. They should not be treated as recommendations for process improvement.

Process Improvement

Improvements to processes are essential for both software development and testing processes. If the organization learns from its own mistakes, processes used to develop the product as well the testing process can be improved.

A case in point is the Deming improvement cycle – plan, do, check, act – which is used decades after it was first proposed.

An assumption in favor of improving the processes is the conviction that if product development process is improved, overall quality is also improved. If the software quality improves, less resources are required for software maintenance, which can then be used to create better solutions.

Models for process improvement evaluate organization’s capabilities and then propose an improvement framework.

The first step in process improvement must be evaluation, which determines organization’s process ability, which provides further motivation for improving the process and ramping up the abilities.

This may also lead to more assessments to evaluate the consequences of improvement measures.

Types of Process Improvements

Using models for process improvement provides a benchmark for improving the testing processes using established practices. There are two types or models for process improvement:

1. Process reference model – This model measures process maturity to assess organizational capabilities. Based on the assessment, the model provides a process improvement road map.
2. Content reference model – This model performs business driven assessments, sometimes measuring against established industry averages. This assessment then provides a process improvement road map.

Testing process can be improved without using these models. Techniques like retrospective review meetings, improving the defect management process, better test implementation, test execution and other analytical methods can be utilized in such cases.

The next topic inspects the IDEAL model for test process improvement.

Other popular articles:

• What is the IDEAL model for test process improvement?
• Software testing process improvement models – TMMi, TPI Next, CTP, STEP
• What are the Software Development Models?
• ISTQB Advanced Level Test Manager Study Material
• What is Capability Maturity Model (CMM)? What are CMM Levels?