Are businesses simply ticking boxes?

Having looked at the recent problems occurred since the opening of Heathrowís Terminal 5; you can appreciate how easy a seemingly straightforward process can end in complete pandemonium. It is easy to blame it on teething problems or unforeseen circumstances, but the fact remains, that if adequate and effective testing had been put in place preceding the grand opening, Terminal 5 may not have experienced quite so many initial problems.

The real purpose of testing should be to ensure that the solution being delivered (people, processes and systems) does exactly what is expected. Testing shouldnít be seen as a process of just ticking boxes, it should be to ensure that a business has a robust solution in place.

Testing is perhaps portrayed in a negative light as being seen as a waste of time and money. For many businesses testing usually fails for two reasons; one because it has been defined with the wrong scope (for example, choosing to rule out of scope aspects that are hard to test). Two because an unrealistic view is taken as to what the solution is going to have to contend with in real life. These narrow interpretations can mean that the real life operational scenarios are not properly considered until itís too late and the problems have come to light during its operational stage.

Cost of testing is a major concern for many businesses, but businesses need to decide what failures they cannot afford to discover after they go live, so it is a judgement between the cost of testing and the risk to suffering failure once in operation. Operational Readiness Testing (ORT) is the ësharpí end of testing; it is about ensuring that everything is ready for live operation.

Good testing requires significant thought and planning, but can be hugely rewarding. At the very least it serves to build confidence in the robustness of the solution and could protect the reputation of a business not to mention save huge amounts of money long term.

Your Sincerely

Hugh Buckley, Quortex

About Quortex www.quortex.com

Quortex are business change experts who bring a refreshingly different approach to the more traditional management and IT consultancy space. Quortex is privately owned and completely vendor independent. It helps companies face the constant challenge to deliver improved and sustainable business performance, where success depends on clarity of vision, astute planning and superb execution. Quortex provides expertise to drive business change ranging from small scale business process enhancements to setting up global transformation programmes. Its pragmatic approach and active transfer of knowledge to client teams is what sets it apart from the crowd. Quortexí difference is best summed up by one of their clients: ìThe difference with you guys is that you really care about what you do.î