Effect of Software Verification and Validation on Projects
This article describes various effects Verification & Validation (V&V) activities have on various Software Testing Projects like projects handled by QTP (HP Quicktest Professional)
Software V&V activities cast some of the positive effects on the software project.
Such positive effects are described below:
1) Better quality of software. This includes factors like completeness, consistency, readability and testablity of the software.
2) More stable requirements.
3) More rigorous development planning, at least to interface with the software V&V organization.
4) Better adherence by the development organization to programming language and development standards and configuration management practices.
5) Early error detection and reduced false starts.
6) Better schedule compliance and progress monitoring.
7) Greater project management visibility into interim technical quality and progress.
8) Better criteria and results for decision-making at formal reviews and audits.
Some of the negative effects of software V&V on a software development project are:
1) Additional project cost of software V&V (10-30% extra).
2) Additional interface involving the development team, user and software V&V organization. For example attendance at software V&V status meetings, anomaly resolution meetings.
3) Additional documentation requirements, beyond the deliverable products, if software V&V is receiving incremental program and documentation releases.
4) Need to share computing facilities with and to provide access to, classified data for the software V&V organization.
5) Lower development staff productivity if programmers and engineers spend time explaining the system to software V&V analysts, especially if explanations are not documented.
6) Increased paper work to provide written responses to software V&V error reports and other V&V data requirements. For example, notices of formal review and audit meetings, updates to software release schedule and response to anomaly reports.
7) Productivity of development staff affected adversely in resolving invalid anomaly reports.
Some steps can be taken to minimize the negative effects and to maximize the positive effects of software V&V. To recover much of the software V&V costs, software V&V is started early in the software requirements phase. The interface activities for documentation, data and software deliveries between developer and software V&V groups should be considered as an inherently necessary step required to evaluate intermediate development products.
To offset unnecessary costs, software V&V must organize its activities to focus on critical areas of the software so that it uncovers critical errors for the development group and thereby results in significant cost savings to the development process. To do this, software V&V must use its criticality analysis to identify critical areas and must scrutinize each discrepancy before release to ensure that no false or inaccurate information is released to prevent the development group wasting time on inaccurate or trivial reports.
To eliminate the need to have development personnel train the software V&V staff, it is imperative that software V&V select personnel who are experienced and knowledgeable about the software and its engineering application. When software V&V engineers and computer scientists reconstruct the specific details and idiosyncrasies of the software as a method of reconfirming the correctness of engineering and programming assumptions, they often find subtle errors. They gain detailed insight into the development process and an ability to spot critical errors early. The cost of the development interface is minimal, and at times nonexistent, when the software V&V assessment is independent.
Finally, the discrepancies detected in software and the improvement in documentation quality resulting from error correction suggests that software V&V costs are offset by having more reliable and maintainable software. Many companies rely on their software systems for their daily operations. Failure of the system, loss of data, release of or tampering with sensitive information may cause serious work disruptions and serious financial impact. The costs of software V&V are offset in many application areas by increased reliability during operation and reduced costs of maintenance.
Tags: Software Testing, Software Verification & Validation, QuickTest Professional, V&V
Article by:
Software Testing Genius A Storehouse of Complete Knowledge on Software Testing & QA under one Roof.
Such positive effects are described below:
1) Better quality of software. This includes factors like completeness, consistency, readability and testablity of the software.
2) More stable requirements.
3) More rigorous development planning, at least to interface with the software V&V organization.
4) Better adherence by the development organization to programming language and development standards and configuration management practices.
5) Early error detection and reduced false starts.
6) Better schedule compliance and progress monitoring.
7) Greater project management visibility into interim technical quality and progress.
8) Better criteria and results for decision-making at formal reviews and audits.
Some of the negative effects of software V&V on a software development project are:
1) Additional project cost of software V&V (10-30% extra).
2) Additional interface involving the development team, user and software V&V organization. For example attendance at software V&V status meetings, anomaly resolution meetings.
3) Additional documentation requirements, beyond the deliverable products, if software V&V is receiving incremental program and documentation releases.
4) Need to share computing facilities with and to provide access to, classified data for the software V&V organization.
5) Lower development staff productivity if programmers and engineers spend time explaining the system to software V&V analysts, especially if explanations are not documented.
6) Increased paper work to provide written responses to software V&V error reports and other V&V data requirements. For example, notices of formal review and audit meetings, updates to software release schedule and response to anomaly reports.
7) Productivity of development staff affected adversely in resolving invalid anomaly reports.
Some steps can be taken to minimize the negative effects and to maximize the positive effects of software V&V. To recover much of the software V&V costs, software V&V is started early in the software requirements phase. The interface activities for documentation, data and software deliveries between developer and software V&V groups should be considered as an inherently necessary step required to evaluate intermediate development products.
To offset unnecessary costs, software V&V must organize its activities to focus on critical areas of the software so that it uncovers critical errors for the development group and thereby results in significant cost savings to the development process. To do this, software V&V must use its criticality analysis to identify critical areas and must scrutinize each discrepancy before release to ensure that no false or inaccurate information is released to prevent the development group wasting time on inaccurate or trivial reports.
To eliminate the need to have development personnel train the software V&V staff, it is imperative that software V&V select personnel who are experienced and knowledgeable about the software and its engineering application. When software V&V engineers and computer scientists reconstruct the specific details and idiosyncrasies of the software as a method of reconfirming the correctness of engineering and programming assumptions, they often find subtle errors. They gain detailed insight into the development process and an ability to spot critical errors early. The cost of the development interface is minimal, and at times nonexistent, when the software V&V assessment is independent.
Finally, the discrepancies detected in software and the improvement in documentation quality resulting from error correction suggests that software V&V costs are offset by having more reliable and maintainable software. Many companies rely on their software systems for their daily operations. Failure of the system, loss of data, release of or tampering with sensitive information may cause serious work disruptions and serious financial impact. The costs of software V&V are offset in many application areas by increased reliability during operation and reduced costs of maintenance.
Tags: Software Testing, Software Verification & Validation, QuickTest Professional, V&V
Article by:
Software Testing Genius A Storehouse of Complete Knowledge on Software Testing & QA under one Roof.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- Software Verification & Validation Model - An Introduction
- Software Testing - Stress Testing
- Software Testing - Acceptance Testing
- Software Testing - Compatibility Testing
- How IT Company Makes Software Testing a Walk Through ?
- Is software testing company really important for your software?
- A Closer View at the Software Testing Company and its importance in SDLC…
- Software Testing - Test Cases
- Software Testing - Check Lists For Software Tester
- Software Testing - How To Go About For Beginners