METHODIXQAT

Comprehensive Testing Framework

Cambridge’s MethodixQAT is a flexible framework designed to suit the needs of an individual client.

This robust methodology for Quality Assurance and Testing or QAT evolved out of Cambridge’s years of experience working on over 600 client engagements. MethodixQAT effectively tests, isolates defects early in the life cycle of a project and tracks them to completion.

MethodixQAT takes a cost-effective phased out approach and works in close coordination with the development team that facilitates detection of defects early in the lifecycle of a project. This approach prevents mission-critical enterprise applications from being implemented on the production environment with unknown defects. These phases can be flexibly applied for both iterative and waterfall models adopted in a project lifecycle .

Assimilate

In this phase, Cambridge seeks to understand the scope and expectations of the project. Areas covered are:

• Functional Requirements
• Technical Requirements
• Performance Issues
• Linguistic Issues
• Test scope and coverage

The deliverables at the end of this phase are:

• Scope of the testing and details of tests to be conducted
• Test environment detailing the OS and linguistic requirement
• Prioritization of testing activities
• Templates used in the testing process including test cases, test reports, status reports
• Tool options and evaluation
• List of deliverables under different phases of the project

Plan

The assimilation phase is broken into more granular parts relevant to the whole testing initiative. The scope is fully defined, the risks are assessed, and an appropriate mitigation plan is developed. Testing tools are also selected in this phase. A detailed project plan using Microsoft Project Plan 2000+ or equivalent is then drafted. More elaborate plans on the test environment in terms of hardware and network requirements are then finalized.

Stage

In this phase, a test lab environment is staged. Project-specific hardware, networking and communication facilities are installed and commissioned exclusively for the project. The testing environment is then staged and made ready for test execution.

Execute

This phase includes the following tasks:

• Transfer of Knowledge
  The core team now prepares team members to achieve testing objectives.
• Elaborate Test Plan
  The coverage for each test undertaken is prepared. This document is linked to individual test cases.
• Test Case Preparation
  QA specialists will prepare individual test cases. These will, if necessary, form the basis for generating automated test scripts.
• Automation
  QA automation developers experienced in testing automation will develop functional scripts and generate the test scripts.
• Test Execution
  Tests are executed - the iterations of test cycles are determined at the time of finalizing the test scope.
• Manage Defects
  This is an ongoing task resulting out of test execution as described in the next phase.

Manage

The team responsible executes the defect management tasks based on one of two configurations.

• Onsite Model
  Under this model, the whole QA team works on site.
• Hybrid Onsite-Offshore Model
  This is a flexible model with on site and off shore resources. The model is depicted below.
  
  A typical Cambridge QATS Hybrid On site-Off shore Project Team structure
• Defect Reporting and Tracking
  All the defects found during testing are recorded and tracked using tools like Rational ClearQuest Nesbitt Bug Collector Pro. Defects are classified, tracked according to their level of criticality and extensively reported on.
• Test Monitoring Mechanisms
  Test Reporting Procedures
  Test results with appropriate levels of analytical summary are provided.
  
  A typical weekly status report contains:
  • QAT tasks:Planned for next period
  • Completed previous period
  • Pending from previous period
  • Dependent on actions by the client
  • Delayed and missed milestones
  • Open issues and escalations, if any
  • Upcoming review milestones
  Through effective project monitoring, project control and efficient risk management, Cambridge endeavors to minimize changes to deliverables.
  
  Escalation and Problem Handling Procedures
  Cambridge offers excellent escalation and problem handling procedures and software tools/products that help log issues.

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