Software Testing Process in a Test Factory - From Ad hoc Activities to an Organizational Standard

Rossana M.C. Andrade (1) , Ismayle S. Santos (1) , Valéria Lelli (1) , Káthia Marçal de Oliveira (2) , Ana Regina Rocha (3)

1 UFC - Universidade Federal do Ceará = Federal University of Ceará
2 LAMIH - Laboratoire d'Automatique, de Mécanique et d'Informatique industrielles et Humaines - UMR 8201
3 Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

Software testing is undoubtedly essential for any software development. However, testing is an expensive activity, usually costing more than 50% of the development budget. Thus, to save resources while performing tests with high quality, many software development companies are hiring test factories, which are specialized enterprises for the delivery of outsourced testing services for other companies. Although this kind of organization is common in the industry, we have found few empirical studies concerning test factories. In this paper, we report our experience in the definition, use, and improvement of a software testing process within a test factory. To support the implantation of the test factory, we applied the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle using the lessons learned in the PDCA check phase to improve the testing process. As a result, we have decreased the number of failures found after the software delivery and thus a higher value for DRE (Defect Removal Efficiency) measure. We also present 12 lessons learned that may be applicable by other test factories

Mots clés: Software Engineering

Domaines: Informatique [cs]

Rossana M.C. Andrade, Ismayle S. Santos, Valéria Lelli, Káthia Marçal de Oliveira, Ana Regina Rocha. Software Testing Process in a Test Factory - From Ad hoc Activities to an Organizational Standard. ICEIS 2017, 19th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, Apr 2017, Porto, Portugal. pp.132-143, ⟨10.5220/0006333301320143⟩. ⟨hal-03388479⟩