Test Estimation

We have executed many projects Large Projects, Small Projects etc. Sometimes we miss our testing deadlines because there is no defined criterion that is used to build our execution test plan. To help avoid such missing our deadlines we have prepared these Test Estimation guidelines.

Audience:

Test Management Professionals — Managers, Architects, Test Leads, Software Test Engineers

Quality/SEPG Management Professionals — Managers, QA Leads, Software QA Engineers

Project Management Professionals — Managers, Leads, Software Engineers

Area of Application:

Testing Projects

Benefits:

Why good estimates are important?

Testing is often blamed for late delivery

Testing time is “squeezed”

It promotes early risk assessment

Issues and Challenges:

Major Issues: Estimation method/Process, Environment & Tools, Testing to be performed, Complexity of the application under tests

Minor Issues: Test Resource, Other factors

Issues While Estimating - Process

Requirement Stability, Change Requests, Finalize types of testing,Follow the test process,Non-availability of test cases and test data,Timely reviews of the test cases and other artifacts, Coordination with various teams/modules/interfaces, Scope changes

Issues While Estimating – Environment & Tools

Separate Environment, Environment not similar to the deployment environment, Downtime of the environment available during testing, Availability of test management tools, Availability of test automation tools.

Issues While Estimating – Testing Resources

Management commitment towards completion and following the test life cycle, Common and realistic expectation toward the testing goal from all the stakeholder in project, Availability of key resources, Application knowledge among the test team, Connect/Attitude between the development and testing team, Correct resolution on the defect fixes, Clear Communication

Issues While Estimating – Others factors

Complexity of the application under tests, incorrect assumptions during estimation, Ownership of testing, Independent \ Development Vendor\ Customer

Timeline assigned for testing, Development timeline and release of code for testing, Availability of correct test data during test execution, Geographical location of testing team involved, Not doing periodic re-estimation