Testing RISKS

Hi, the risk perspective of testing can be spoken of in 2 aspects -
1) risk-based testing.
2) risks of testing - too much testing / too less testing.

[u]Risk - based testing[/u].

Risk based testing is generally carried out when testing schedule is really short of time and we wish to ensure that atleast the most critical business functionalities of the application are covered. We categorize risk-based testing in following steps -
1) Risk strategy - part of test plan
2) Risk identification
3) Risk Assessment and Mitigation
4) Risk reporting.

Generally we identify what are the critical areas or areas which face maximum risk of failure. We go about testing these first as we are time-bound and later on move to remaining functional areas.

[u]Idenifying Critical areas[/u].
1) we decide which functions / attributes / modules are critical to success of product.
2) how visible would a problem in such a module be
3) how often is the module used
4) can we afford missing testing this?

Now considering the other risk aspect of testing as afore-mentioned :
[u]Too - much testing risks[/u] : in case we try to perform exhaustive testing with maximum testers possible, there is a very good possibility that we actually forget what is the core area / reason behind testing.
The productivity behind testing in terms of test coverage actually gets wasted.

[u]Too - less testing[/u] : everyone would have a fair idea of what would be the consequences incase testing is not carried out for the namesake. Results could be disastrous incase application results in critical defect in production environment.

So in short, to mitigate the risks behind too much or too less testing, we need to have a proper plan in place for testing which identifies the exact scope of testing, the entry and exit criteria as well as the associated risks.

Cheers...