Why do you prepare for tests?

- [Instructor] You built out a test lab. You have staff with expertise who are ready to take on any project. Your systems are up to date. You seem ready to test. However, are you really ready? Just because everything is in place, doesn't mean that everything is prepared. Preparation for testing is less about readiness and more about planning. Just because you have the software, staff and systems in place, these are merely tools to conduct a project. The how, when and why you use these tools is where preparation for a test becomes essential. You need to be clear on how you plan to navigate the product into test, complete all your objectives and deliver good results. But why do we do this? Why don't we just set up a one-stop shop which can accommodate any project at any time? Wouldn't it be amazing if it didn't matter what product came into your test environment and you'd be ready? It's a nice idea, but it would be impossible to achieve because there are too many variables to consider and the cost would be insane. First, every product is different, even in your company, one version of software to the next can deliver a lot of new things to test, new options to tweak, new features to explore. These changes, whether drastic or simple, are not what you tested previously. Therefore, your test plan and designs will need to change with the plan. Next, technology is constantly changing. New versions of applications, operating systems, hardware and other innovations surface daily. The tools you use today can become useless. I have a lab in my office that is filled with old hardware and software I can no longer use for testing because it's inefficient, incompatible, or just too slow. Preparation ensures that the tools we use are relevant and useful for testing. Another thing to consider is that the nature of testing is fluid. It's constantly shifting and the results we discover can impact not only the product but how we test that product. One bug could send us down a path that we never anticipated. Preparation helps us anticipate potentially game changing bugs and mitigate the issues associated with its impact. Last, we are partners in an organization. Testing is just one component of a bigger operation to deliver software. You'd look foolish if you were constantly creating delays in the schedule because you were unprepared. Part of any success story are the preliminary measures taken to ensure success is even possible. Your early investment in your upcoming projects shows a desire to make the product a success. We know we can't prepare for everything, but we do know we can prepare. That is the first step in ensuring our tests go as planned, our test results are valuable and we keep to the schedule. Software development is challenging throughout the process. problems constantly surface and it's inevitable things aren't going to go as planned. Good preparation helps reduce the chance that you aren't the unplanned problem.