Process and system for quality assurance for software

• US 6,799,145 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2003
• Issued: 09/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Genworth Holdings, Inc. (Genworth Financial Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: GE Financial Assurance Holdings Incorporated (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Kennedy, Joseph, Esposito, Colleen
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoff, Marc S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Barbee, Manuel L
• Application Number:
  US10/435,263
• Publication Number:
  US 20030204346A1
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 702/365, 702/51-84, 702/119, 702/123, 702/179-183, 714/1, 714/25, 714/38, 714/724, 717/124
• US Class Current: 702/182
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases

Abstract

A process and system for quality assurance. The process includes developing a high level quality assurance resource estimate and a high level quality assurance time estimate; producing a business analysis outline; and creating an acceptance test plan using an acceptance test plan template with the business analysis outline. The process further includes creating a plurality of test cases to be carried out during a test execution phase of the quality assurance process using the acceptance test plan; refining the high level quality assurance resource estimate and the high level quality assurance time estimate based on the acceptance test plan; executing each of the test cases in an acceptance test to produce a set of test results for each of the test cases; and evaluating the test results against the refined high level quality assurance resource estimate and the refined high level quality assurance time estimate. One or more defects tracked during the execution of the test cases are reported and a sign off of the acceptance test is negotiated with a client. An application audit package is created and stored for future reference.

Claims

1. A process of acceptance test plan processing in a quality assurance process for testing a software application, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) creating an overview describing a project being implemented wherein the overview is directed at least in part to the software application;

(b) developing a plurality of objectives stating a plurality of high level goals and a plurality of strategies required to successfully complete the acceptance test plan process;

(c) identifying a plurality of risks to a schedule and a quality level of the acceptance test plan process;

(d) proposing one or more remedies for each identified risk;

(e) identifying one or more basic testing-related issues and support issues required to successfully complete the acceptance test plan process;

(f) drafting a description of software and hardware necessary for the acceptance test plan process;

(g) identifying one or more limitations imposed upon the acceptance test plan process;

(h) identifying a list of persons necessary to approve an acceptance test plan of the acceptance test plan process;

(i) drafting a glossary including a definition of each technical, business and QA term used in the acceptance test plan;

(j) developing an acceptance test strategy and a test environment;

(k) identifying one or more conditions for execution of the acceptance test plan;

(l) creating a test specification including one or more types of processing cycles and one or more environmental changes that may be required during the acceptance of the acceptance test plan;

(m) identifying a plurality of test cases to be verified during the execution of the acceptance test plan;

(n) identifying a testing schedule and a scope of testing described in the acceptance test plan; and

(o) identifying a framework for handling one or more severe system problems that are present at the end of the execution of the acceptance test plan.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the step of drafting the list of persons comprises a sub-step of identifying a list of persons needed to approve the acceptance test plan and to review test material, and identifying a list of persons from an information technology group needed to approve the acceptance test plan.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the step of developing an acceptance test strategy comprises a sub-step of identifying the one or more environmental changes by producing a high level description of resources required to execute the acceptance test plan.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the step of developing an acceptance test strategy comprises a sub-step of developing an acceptance test approach and a scope by identifying one or more cycles of tests planned for the acceptance test plan and identifying one or more testing limitations and one or more identifiable ranges of the tests.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the conditions for the execution of the acceptance test plan include identifying at least one of a plurality of events required to be successfully completed prior to beginning the execution of the acceptance test plan, identifying a plurality of resources required to complete the execution of the acceptance test plan, identifying a plurality of test tools to automate any part of the acceptance test process, and identifying a plurality of persons and a plurality of corresponding responsibilities for each person during the execution of the acceptance test plan.

6. A system for acceptance test plan processing in a quality assurance process for testing a software application, the system comprising:

(a) means for creating an overview describing a project being implemented wherein the overview is directed at least in part to the software application;

(b) means for developing a plurality objectives stating a plurality of high level goals and a plurality of strategies required to successfully complete the acceptance test plan process;

(c) means for identifying a plurality of risks to a schedule and a quality level of the acceptance test plan process;

(d) means for proposing one or more remedies for each identified risk;

(e) means for identifying one or more basic testing-related issues and support issues required to successfully complete the acceptance test plan process;

(f) means for drafting a description of software and hardware necessary for the acceptance test plan process;

(g) means for identifying one or more limitations imposed upon the acceptance test plan process;

(h) means for identifying a list of persons necessary to approve an acceptance test plan of the acceptance test plan process;

(i) means for drafting a glossary including a definition of each technical, business and quality assurance term used in the acceptance test plan;

(j) means for developing an acceptance test strategy and a test environment;

(k) means for identifying one or more conditions required for execution of the acceptance test plan; and

(l) means for creating a test specification including one or more types of processing cycles and one or more environmental changes that may be required during the acceptance test;

(m) means for identifying the test cases to be verified during the execution of the acceptance test plan;

(n) means for identifying a testing schedule and a scope of testing described in the acceptance test plan; and

(o) means for identifying a framework for handling one or more severe system problems that are present at the end the execution of the acceptance test plan.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the means for drafting the list of persons comprises means for identifying a list of persons needed to approve the acceptance test plan and to review test material, and means for identifying a list of persons from an information technology group needed to approve the acceptance test plan.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the means for developing the acceptance test strategy includes means for identifying one or more environmental changes by producing a high level description of quality assurance resources required to execute the acceptance test plan.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein the means for developing the acceptance test strategy includes means for developing an acceptance test approach and a scope by identifying one or more cycles of tests planned for the acceptance test and identifying one or more testing limitations and one or more identifiable ranges of the tests.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the conditions for the execution of the acceptance test plan include at least one of a plurality of events required to be successfully completed prior to beginning the execution of the acceptance test plan, a plurality of test tools to automate any part of the acceptance test process, and identification of a plurality of persons and a plurality of corresponding responsibilities for each person during the execution of the acceptance test plan.