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Component Inventory

The Component Inventory is a comprehensive list of the applications, modules, and components in the current project. Typically, the component inventory is done at the project level, and is not a testing-specific activity. There are two ways projects typically identify components. The first is to base component definition on the work that needs to be done (for example, specific configuration activities). The second method is to base the components on the functionality to be supported. In many cases, these two approaches produce similar results. A combination of the two methods is most effective in making sure that the test plan is complete and straightforward to execute. The worksheet shown in Figure 8 is an example of a component inventory.

Figure 8. Sample Component Inventory Document

Risk Assessment

A risk assessment is used to identify those components that carry higher risk and may require enhanced levels of testing. The following characteristics increase component risk:

• High business impact. The component supports high business-impact business logic (for example, complex financial calculation).
• Integration. This component integrates the Siebel application to an external or third-party system.
• Scripting. This component includes the coding of browser script, eScript, or VB script.
• Ambiguous or incomplete design. This component design is either ambiguous (for example, multiple implementation options described) or the design is not fully specified.
• Availability of data. Performance testing requires production-like data (a data set that has the same shape and size as that of the production environment). This task requires planning, and the appropriate resources to stage the testing environment.
• Downstream dependencies. This component is required by several downstream components.

As shown in Figure 8, one column of the component inventory provides a risk score to each component based on the guidelines above. In this example one risk point is given to a component for each of the criteria met. The scoring system should be defined to correctly represent the relative risk between components. Performing a risk assessment is important for completing a test plan, because the risk assessment provides guidance on the sequence and amount of testing required.

Best Practice

Performing a risk assessment during the planning process allows you to design your test plan in a way that minimizes overall project risk.