NVP Software Solutions

Tag: Centre of Excellence

  • Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence – Part 2

    This blog series will be focusing on the Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence. Last week we covered the different concentrations of the QA CofE. This week we want to specifically focus on the proactive component.

    Be Proactive – In this scenario the Quality Assurance CoE would be looking ahead and seeing what can be anticipated. They could be looking at coming projects; coming changes in organization direction; new technologies that might impact the organization; and the entire environment in which the organization operates in an effort to anticipate the impact on technology. Big data and security come immediately to mind for many organizations. There is almost no end to what could be considered.

    So where do we start? The answer is we start with what we are currently doing in terms of projects, technology, and reacting to the environment. This is sometimes called Setting a Baseline although we may need something more general than that. We may also need to go into the past a little to get understand overall trends. While some things can change  overnight, a lot of the major trends are obvious many years in advance; just not recognized at the time. We can use the quote from George Santayana here. Once we know where we have been and where we are now, then it is time to look at the competition to see where they may be ahead of us or where they appear to be going.

    Now that we have all the information, we can start anticipating what might impact our organization.

    1. Is the environment going to change? If it is a government driven change, it is rarely a surprise and can be anticipated. We start to position ourselves to be ready for the change so it is a non-event for us when it occurs.
    2. Is technology going to change? YES – that’s inevitable. But, what impact will it have on my particular business and how fast will it happen are the more important, harder-to-answer questions. We need to look at our customers (How quickly do they start using new technology?); our own organization (What is the history of technology adoption?) and our competitors (Are they using technology to get ahead of us). We start to position our development and Quality Assurance groups to be ready for this new technology.
    3. What are the coming projects? This means that we need to be involved in the planning processes at the highest level. Only in that way can we anticipate what might be coming. We schedule incremental changes to ensure that the departments can tackle the new projects with a minimum of disruption

    As was said: “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”

    It is recommended that you put this on your daily reminder list: What is the potential impact of today’s discussions?

    Next week Being Analytic

  • Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence – Part 1

    You may recall from some of our earlier discussions that Quality Assurance was defined as one or more of the following:

    1. Proactive
    2. Analytical
    3. Focused on Root Causes
    4. Focused on Process

    So, given the above list, what can a Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence concentrate on in order to provide value to the organization:

    Proactive –  In this scenario the Quality Assurance CoE would be looking ahead and seeing what can be anticipated. They could be looking at coming projects; coming changes in organization direction; new technologies that might impact the organization; and the entire environment in which the organization operates in an effort to anticipate the impact on technology. Big data and security come immediately to mind for many organizations. There is almost no end to what could be considered here.

    Analytical – As opposed to the previous section, this is looking at data and analyzing what went right and what went wrong. Information comes from statistics and Post Implementation Reviews. The Quality Assurance CoE is gathers the data, collates it, and then provides information based on that data. They may act on the data or they may simply provide the data with the assumption that someone else will act on it within the specific project.

    Focused on Root Causes – This can be applied to both of the above sections. In the Proactive section, the Quality Assurance CoE could look at Root Causes of potential issues and plan around them or else they could look at Root Causes from their analysis and work to understand and solve them. Regardless of which way this is dealt with, the problem could be dealt with at different levels. We could be looking at Root Causes for software development and deployment or we could be looking at root causes that impact the entire organisation (structure, culture, management).

    Focused on Process – This also applies to all of the above and again can be applied at any level. The Quality Assurance CoE could be looking at very general processes for the entire organisation or very specific processes to resolve a specific problem.

    Next week Being Proactive

  • Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence

    Last week we discussed a misconception about Quality Assurance. Judging from some of the feedback we received, the post struck a nerve. Many people talked about the how they had encountered a similar misconception and what could be done about it. Although education seems to be the answer, it is ongoing and can be frustrating from time-to-time. Does one just leave it alone when people make these comments (even if the one I heard was probably not entirely serious)? Does one attempt to correct the misconception? That usually means starting a long dialogue (monologue?) with sometimes frustrating results. Either people start to glaze over, have something pressing to do somewhere else, or else simply misunderstand what was said (wilfully at times).

    So with all that in mind, we are going to start into a series on what is a Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence. This is more ambitious than a Testing Centre of Excellence which we discussed late last year. One of the criteria that came out of talk I attended last year, was that a Testing Centre of Excellence had to have a delivery component. A delivery component for a Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence is going to be a little harder. This means that this is going to be slightly more of a challenge. We will work through the same hierarchy insofar as it applies to this situation but obviously the emphasis will be different.

    So, having started the plan for the plan which always reminds me of The Siphonaptera next week we will start into the real classifications.

  • Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 6

    As we mentioned throughout this blog series Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean different things to different companies, groups and organizations. Because the meaning os a Software Testing Centre of Excellence is so vast, we have defined the various types we have come across in our work. Last week we talked about a Centralized Resourcing Group in Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 5. This week we want to focus on:

    A team that actually delivers testing. This is like a centralized testing department through which all projects have to go in order to be certified ready for production.

    This is not at all new. Centralized software testing departments through which all projects in the organization are funnelled have been around for years. As a matter of fact, I started my career in that type of department. This type organization can have all the benefits listed for the other types as well as some of the problems. For example, in a dedicated department, there is probably some room for research on techniques and tools. They can probably justify the best testing tools for the organization and will be able to keep them up-to-date. They will also probably make full use of the functionality rather than just a subset. They may also be able to leverage the tool and tests across several projects. Resources can also be moved and allocated according to the highest priority and their particular skill sets and strengths.

    However, there can be a couple of major concerns that need to be addressed:

    1. There can be conflicting priorities as projects arrive according to a Poisson Distribution.. This can make planning difficult.
    2. As a result of number 1, project managers may decide to try and avoid the testing department with creative excuses like my project is too small or on too short a schedule.
    3. The last concern may be to justify the value which is being provided by the testing department, particularly if they are viewed as a bottleneck or lack management support.

    If we can overcome those objections we are in good shape.

    Next week: Software Testing for System Integrators

  • Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 5

    As we mentioned in our first blog, a Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean different things to different organizations. Because the Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean so many different things, we have been defining the various types we have come across over the past few years. Last week we talked about a Testing Tool Support Group in Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 4. This week we want to focus on:

    A group that supplies resources to projects as required. This group has a pool of software testers who are seconded to projects on an as needed basis and then returns to the Testing Centre of Excellence when the project winds down.

    This group is a centralized resource provider within an organization. The members of this group are experts in testing and frequently have to be, or become, experts in the Line of Business of the groups they support. Depending on how testing is viewed in the organization (and we have seen both), the resources who are going to the group are either welcomed as valuable assets on the project helping to improve results or they are perceived as a nuisance causing project delays and missed deadlines.

    This type of group requires a lot of coordination within the organization. Projects and resource requirements need to be determined well in advance since many projects may have similar schedules and require the testing resources all at the same time. There will also be competition for the ‘good’ resources (however good is defined) and people may avoid the “not-so-valuable” resources since they don’t help the project.

    This group is much more focused on delivery (which some people consider critical for a Centre of Excellence) and will definitely be involved in project successes and failures. Our last discussion (next week) will be on the centralized testing group.

  • Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 4

    As we mentioned in our first blog, a Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean different things to different organizations. Because the Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean so many different things, we have been defining the various types we have come across over the past few years. Last week we talked about a Testing Support Group in Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 3. This week we want to focus on:

    A team that supports one or more test tools in the organization. This group may hold the administration rights to the tool; be responsible for the initial configuration; set up projects within the tool (if applicable) and generally provide support.

    The endeavours of this group can range drastically. Some of them are simply a repository for the software testing tools within an organization. They are responsible for maintaining the licensing, keeping versions up-to-date and making copies available to project teams or departments as required. They may periodically survey the user community in the organization to see if the tools are being used and whether to keep them (which can lead to the interesting situation where the maintenance and licensing fees are paid by one department yet the benefit is shared by a lot more departments).

    A different and more active role can be very effective. In this situation the following are true of the team:

    1. They identify the most effective tools for their organisation.
    2. They acquire, configure, and administer the tools.
    3. They install or provide the tools to the relevant projects.
    4. They provide resources to the projects and make sure that the test tool is used effectively for the project.
    5. They resolve any issues.

    This group is more focused on delivery (which some people consider critical for a Centre of Excellence) although they may not have direct project responsibility. Discussion of that point will come in our next blog.

  • Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 3

    As we mentioned in our first blog, a Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean different things to different organizations. Over the past year, NVP Software Solutions has talked to a number of Testing Centres of Excellence only to have found that one year later these Centres are now irrelevant or cease to exist. Because the Software Testing Centre of Excellence can mean so many different things, we have been defining the various types we have come across. Last week we talked about the Research Group in Software Testing Centre of Excellence – Part 2. This week we want to focus on:

    A group that supplies support to testing endeavours. This type of group does not do testing; they supply expertise or a repository of information that supports other groups in their testing efforts. Sometimes they also have templates and guidelines that support the required documentation.

    The endeavours of this group can range drastically depending on the mandate. Sometimes the manager of this group will seek to expand what the group does until they are taking a very active role in many projects. Other managers will simply hold back to a minimum and fulfil a limited mandate. Some possibilities for this group include the following:

    1. Create a repository of templates for use in all testing projects in the organization. This can be very well organized on a wiki or internal site. This process allows the user to identify what they need, download templates, fill them out and use the results. There is a level of effort required to set up and maintain this, but pays back for each project. After the initial set-up the group focuses on explaining and educating their stakeholders while providing updates for the project(s).
    2. Seconding personnel is assigned to the project and supports the testing effort. This person would know what templates were available and would be able to consult on best practices for each project. The TCoE would supply expertise as required on a project-by-project basis.

    This group is a little more focused on delivery (which some people consider critical for a Centre of Excellence) but not directly. Discussion of that point will come in our next blog.