Operational acceptance testing: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 06:06, 17 June 2015

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[[File:US Navy 070804-N-1745W-122 A Sailor assigned to Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) tests an aircraft jet engine for defects while performing Jet Engine Test Instrumentation, (JETI) Certification-Engine Runs.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Operational testing a jet engine]]

'''Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT)''' is used to conduct operational readiness (pre-release) of a product, service or system as part of a [[quality management system]]. OAT is a common type of non-functional [[software testing]], used mainly in [[software supportdevelopment]] and [[software maintenance]] projects. This type of testing focuses on the [[operational readiness]] of the system to be supported, or which is to become the production environment. Hence, it is also known as '''operational readiness testing''' (ORT) or [[Operations Readiness and Assurance]] (OR&A) testing. [[Functional testing]] ofwithin applicationsOAT is notlimited to bethose includedtests orwhich mergedare inrequired OATto verify the ''non-functional'' aspects of the sytem..

According to the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB), OAT may include checking the [[backup]]/restore facilities, IT [[disaster recovery]] procedures, maintenance tasks and periodic check of security vulnerabilities.,<ref>ITSQB http://istqbexamcertification.com/what-is-acceptance-testing/</ref> and awhitepapers Whiteon PaperISO on29119 and Operational Acceptance by Anthony Woods <ref>Operational Acceptance – an application of the ISO 29119 Software Testing standard. May 2015 Anthony Woods, Capgemini</ref>, and ISO 25000 and Operational Acceptance Testing by Dirk Dach et al., OAT generally includes:<ref>White Paper: Operational Acceptance Testing, Business Continuity Assurance. December 2012 Dirk Dach, Dr Kai-Uwe Gawlik, Mark Mevert</ref>

* Maintainability

* IT Service Management (Supportability)

* Installation and Backout

* Component Testing

* Performance, Stress and Volume,

* Security and Penetration

* Backup and Restoration

* Failover (Within the same data centre)

:* Component fail-over

:* Network fail-over

* Functional Stability

:* Accessibility

:* Conversion

:* Stability

:* Usability

* IT Service Management (Supportability)

* Monitoring and Alerts (to ensure proper alerts are configured in the system if something goes wrong)

* Portability

:* Compatibility

:* Interoperability

:* Installation and Backout

:* Localization

* Recovery (across data centres)

:* Data recovery

:* Application/system recovery

:* Data recovery

* Monitoring and Alerts (to ensure proper alerts are configured in the system if something goes wrong)

* Reliability

:* Backup and Restoration (Recovery)

:* Disaster Recovery

:* Maintainability

:* Performance, Stress and Volume,

:* Procedures (Operability) and Supporting Documentation (Supportability)

:* Security and Penetration

During OAT changes may be made to environmental parameters which the application uses to run smoothly. For example, with [[Microsoft Windows]] applications with a mixed or hybrid architecture, this may include: [[Windows service]]s, [[configuration file]]s, [[web services]], [[XML]] files, [[COM+]] components, web services, [[Internet Information Services|IIS]], stored procedures in databases, etc. Typically OAT occursshould occur after each main phase of the development life cycle: design, build, and [[user acceptancefunctional testing]]. (UAT),In sequential projects it is often viewed as a ''final'' verification before a system is released; where in agile and iterative projects, a more frequent execution of OAT occurs providing stakeholders with assurance of continued stability of the system and its operating environment.

An approach used in OAT includesmay follow these steps:

* Design the system,

* Assess the design,

* Build the system,

* Confirm if built to design,

* Deploy the application,

* Evaluate the system addresses business functional requirements,

* Maintainability and Supportability of the system.

* Assess the system for compliance with non-functional requirements,

* Validate the backup and recovery procedures for the system

* Deploy the applicationsystem,

* MaintainabilityAssess operability and Supportabilitysupportability of the system.

For running the OAT [[test case]]s, the tester normally has exclusive access to the system or environment. This means that a single tester would be executing the test cases at a single point of time. For OAT the exact OR'''Operational Readiness''' quality gates are defined,: both entry and exit gategates. AllThe activitiesprimary areemphasis listedof whichOAT wouldshould be part and covered inon the differentoperational phases of testingstability, withportability primary emphasis be on the operationaland partreliability of the system.

'''References'''