Establish and Document the Technologies and Tools Used to Test the Application - Application Management Best Practices

Establish and Document the Technologies and Tools Used to Test the Application

(Chapter 79 of Application Management Best Practices)

Executive Summary: Chapter Overview

IF4IT

The Bottom Line

Tests are repeatable only when the tools that run them are known. This chapter calls for recording the Application’s test frameworks, automation, test management, test data, performance, load, and security testing tools, along with its test environments and Instances, with versions, purpose, and owners in the Test section. The payoff is that Releases no longer stall when the one person who set up the tests is unavailable.

Core Concepts

ConceptDefinition & Strategic Role
Test Technologies and ToolsThe frameworks, automation tools, test management tools, test data tools, and performance, load, and security testing tools used to test an Application. Recording them with versions, purpose, and owners makes testing repeatable by anyone qualified.
Test Data ToolsTools that create, mask, or refresh the data used in testing. Documenting them ensures test data can be reproduced and managed without depending on the individuals who originally set them up.
Test Environments and InstancesThe environments and Application Instances used for testing. Identifying them alongside the tools clarifies where tests run, so testing can be repeated consistently from Release to Release.
Test Tool GovernanceManaging the licensing, security, and currency of test tools in the same way as the Application’s other technologies, preferring tools approved by the enterprise’s technology standards and updating the record with every Release that changes them.

Quick Q&A

Question: Who should be involved in identifying the technologies and tools used to test an Application?

Answer: The test technologies and tools are identified with the Development or Engineering Organization and Quality Assurance. Together they establish the test frameworks and automation tools; test management tools; test data tools; performance, load, and security testing tools; and the test environments and Instances, preferring tools approved by the enterprise’s technology standards.

Question: Where are test tools recorded, and how is the record connected to test automation code?

Answer: They are recorded, with their versions, purpose, and owners, in the Test section of the Application Documentation, which links to the test automation code kept in the Application’s repositories. The record is updated with every Release that changes the test technologies or tools.

Read More Below

Authored and Published By: The International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT), LLC

This chapter explains how to establish and document the technologies and tools used to test an Application.

Why Test Technologies and Tools Matter

Tests are only repeatable if the tools that run them are known. When test frameworks, automation tools, test data tools, performance tools, and security testing tools are undocumented, testing depends on the people who set them up, and Releases stall when those people are unavailable or when a tool changes.

Establish the Test Technologies and Tools

Identify, with the Development or Engineering Organization and Quality Assurance:

  • Test frameworks and automation tools, with their versions.

  • Test management tools used to organize test cases and record results.

  • Test data tools, including those that create, mask, or refresh test data.

  • Performance, load, and security testing tools.

  • Test environments and the Application Instances used for testing.

Prefer tools approved by the enterprise’s technology standards.

Document and Share the Test Technologies and Tools

Record the test technologies and tools, with their versions, purpose, and owners, in the Test section of the Application Documentation, and link to test automation code in the Application’s repositories. Update the record with every Release that changes them.

Best Practice: Establish and Document the Technologies and Tools Used to Test the Application

It is a best practice to both establish and document the solution for how an Application is tested: identify the frameworks, automation, management, data, performance, and security testing tools used, with their versions and owners, and keep the record current.

Benefits: Documented test tooling makes testing repeatable by anyone qualified, so Releases are not delayed by the absence of the one person who knows how to run the tests. It also lets the enterprise manage the licensing, security, and currency of test tools in the same way as the Application’s other technologies.

The Software Technologies Inventory and Attributes describes how test technologies are recorded. The Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC) Best Practices describes the testing phases these tools support.

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