How TCoE brings a standardized approach for testing in organizations?

In tremendously changing IT industry, to succeed and stay competitive, we need efficient and reliable Software systems to support complex business processes. Also delivering an application to client demands, it should support new technologies. Testing procedure is very much affected by all these activities.

TCoE(Testing Center of Excellence) brings a standardized and systematic approach for testing in many organizations. With this, an organization can achieve better quality of the product and thus the customer satisfaction. It consists of a centralized unit that includes testers, testing tools and testing process in order to provide testing services across the organization.

Implementing TCoE helps the Organization in:

Adapting to new changes in technology and deliver the application fast.
Detecting defects and other performance issues before the application is getting delivered to client.
Assign appropriate resources to test complex applications.
Accurate estimation of an application.
Timely delivery of application to client.
Helping employees to strengthen their knowledge.
Building quality standards in the development phase itself.
Keeping a common way of accessing, reusing and sharing all the documentations required for all the phases of delivering an application.
Identify opportunities for improvement and thereby improving the quality process.
Reduce number of defects in early stages.

However some organisations fail to implement TCoE due to some factors like:

Unavailability of resources.
Unavailability of timeframe.
Lack of planning.
Lack of Tools.
Unclear goals.
No management support as it needs dedication from management and individuals and many more.

TCoE Evolution:

Phase 1 – Introduction to Standard Governance Process
Beginning of establishing fundamentals for application testing
Determine the quality standards
Define basic reporting procedures
Implement initial governance process

Phase 2 – Product and Test Infrastructure Utility
Determine the uniques testing methods such as checklists and tools to be used across the organization and consolidate their costs.
Training for resources regarding the tools and other necessary things.

Phase 3 – Service Utility
Service for entire organization.
Included domain experts, shared services teams etc for specialized testing activities.

Phase 4 – Innovation Authority and flexible resource pool
Functions as a service provider to project teams.
Offers testing resources, tools and governance for testing of applications and cross functional business processes.

TCoE team includes:

Test Managers
Test Architects
Test Methodologists
Test Automation Engineers
Business Analysts
TCoE Coordinators

Test Managers:

The Test Manager plays a crucial role in the successful running of TCoE. He manages the resources and budget. Test Manager conducts quarterly reviews about the product status and make sure that the work is going fine. He should conduct monthly meetings for all ongoing projects under TCoE. The meeting should include everything that comes under the projects such as accomplishments, challenges, new technologies introduced, new members included, training required etc.

Test Architects:

This role can be said as the most critical role in TCoE and therefore it can be undertaken by a most experienced person who has experience as a Test Manager, Test Methodologists, Test Designer etc. He plays a major role in determining the efficiency of testing by selecting appropriate tools, resources etc.

Test Methodologists:

Test Methodologists provide the process, procedures and templates for test designing and testing. This include Test plan creation, Test Case creation, Test Execution, Capture test results, Logging defects, Test Coverage Analysis etc.

Test Automation Engineers:

The Test Engineer applies appropriate technologies to meet the goals of testing organization. He provides information about the upgraded and new testing tools. He performs different types of testing. When comes to automation, if a manual test case requires more effort, then that needs to be automated initially.

Business Analysts:

These people ensures that the application being tested is clearly understood. They should have a thorough knowledge of the industry trend.

TCoE Coordinators:

The coordinator coordinates the resources like timely use of human resources, hardware and software. They prepare the schedules for different projects and make the proper use of test plans, data, scripts etc.

Conclusion

To be concluded, many organizations have established TCoE for delivering best quality products by improving the quality of overall testing products and standards. Implementing TCoE in organization is an advanced step forward to achieve a good place in the competitive industry.