How much to Test?

In every IT Organisation, the Testing Unit always has a dilemma about how much they need testing. The Testing Unit is always in between the Development Unit and the Operations Unit. In the Software Development Life Cycle, the job of Testing always comes last, of course prior to deployment.

The need for the Operations Unit is that they get the best product to deploy so that they face minimum challenges in the Operations. Every system breakdown in Operations directly impacts the revenue of the Organisation. So, the Operation Units always expect that Testing Unit conducts most tests so that what Operations receives is the best product. Testing Unit is the Gatekeeper for the Operations Units, the best people who can cut risk.

On the other hand, the Development Units needs producing products at the fastest possible time. This is done so that the Time to Market the concept is least and thus the Business Value of the concept is greatest. In general, as with any product development, a product gets created in multiple iterations. Due to this nature, there are always delays in the development of the product. However, IT cannot state such delays as Business would not accept delays in launching the products. Delaying product launch would directly impact the Business Bottom Line. To make up for delays in development time for products, IT Organisation always squeezes the Testing Unit. This is also natural as the Testing activity is the last activity in the Product Development Life Cycle. As a result, if delays are not acceptable, all the legs of delays from the earlier phases have to be made up for in the Testing Phase. As a result, Testing Time for any Project is generally compromised. Due to this compromise, Development Units demand that Testing should conduct only essential tests. This requirement is in direct contradiction to the needs of the Operations Unit.

As both Development Unit and Operation Unit are equally important customers of the Testing Unit, Testing Unit needs balancing between these 2 extreme requirements.

Provided below is a possible solution for dealing with this need.