Case study

Test tools have become ubiquitous in the practice of Software Quality Assurance. Every year, many millions of dollars are spent on specialized software to help manage requirements, test cases, or defects—or to automate test execution. But, after purchasing the software, many companies fail to successfully implement the tools. Given the cost of most test software, it’s not surprising that companies often make a second attempt at using the tools. This thesis describes a second-chance effort to use a suite of tools to manage various aspects of the test process. It examines some of the goals driving the adoption of test tools, as well as some of the challenges impeding it. It outlines a strategy, follows its execution, and describes the results. It looks at how tools are configured to align with the test process, and how the test process adapts to accommodate the tools. Finally, this study looks at how tool adoption is affected the opinions and attitudes of the test team, developers and management.