Software Testing and its Risks

Bangalore: Tests are performed to show lack of quality which are revealed by the defects in the product. Testers while testing on any project or product may come across certain risks and in order identify and reduce the occurrence of the risks, testers use Risk Based testing approach.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of risks involved in software products viz. Project Risk and Product Risk.

Project Risk:

Project Risks involves issues pertaining to labor or to software’s used for testing. It is further categorized into:

Organizational Issues:

Issues such as shortage of skilled resources or labor, no appreciation to good testers or a communication gap between the tester and his client to address their requirements, collectively affect the day to day activities of the organization and in turns affect the project undertaken.  

Technical Issues:

Working in an un easy environment or the availability of obsolete software may cause a sense of dissatisfaction to the tester. Lack of training pertaining specifically to the objective of testing and the use of the software may affect the testing ability of the tester.

Third Party Issues:

Having a third person involving in the functioning of the organization can lead to confusion as each person’s perspective on work is very much different. Furthermore, tight delivery deadline will force the tester to work his sweat out and will eventually result in fatigue.

Product Risk:

This type of risk relates to the functionality of the product. Major functionality failure such as critical functions missing, security lapses, software crash eminently contributes to product risks.

The implementation of Risk Based Testing starts with the importance of the same and eventually eliminates obscurity in status of test project and provides confidence into the process. Its main focus is to identify the most critical and strategic features which in turns helps to find the right quality level.