ICONMA strongly believes that software testing is a series of well planned tasks that need to be executed along with the software development activities to ensure that a product is delivered without any errors. The following is an overview of the stages of the Software Testing Life Cycle followed by ICONMA:

Test Strategy:
In this stage, a Test Strategy document needs to be prepared which outlines the selection of a test methodology, test management tool and defect management tool which best suits the system being tested. It is a document listing items and features to be tested, pass/fail criteria of tests, exit criteria, environment to be created, risks and contingencies and overview of resource scheduling. We may also perform automation testing feasibility.

Test Development:
With the test strategy document and requirements specification document in place, you can begin to write the test cases. Based on the test plan and test cases the entire scripting takes place in this phase. Creation of test data for all the test cases is done. A test environment with all the requisite hardware and software in place is set up.

Test Execution:
Once the test cases and test data are ready, the test cases can be executed and the results logged. Smoke testing is carried out to ensure that the basic functionalities of the system work as expected. The test execution results are logged in to the test management tool and the defects are logged in to the defect management tool and passed on to the development team.

Defect Management:
A detailed defect report with a chart representation of all the defects by its severity and/or type is sent to the development team. Depending on the nature of the defect, it may be rejected, deferred or fixed. Regression testing is carried out to ensure that no new bugs have been introduced into the software while fixing defects.

Delivery:
After the product has gone through several tests, the user acceptance test (UAT) is done by the client wherein the test cases are executed and the product is accepted to go live.