Joe Newbert

Last night was the November meet-up of the Testing Interest Group (TIG) at the Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town, CBD. The topic for the evening was leveraging business analysis for test analysis which sparked some conversation and by the end of the evening I was surprised by a few realities I heard.

You can grab a copy of the slide-deck here: Business Analysis meets Test Analysis.

The presentation started by walking through the context for system testing and the role of a Test Analyst within it. Next we looked at the scope of the BA role and spent some time assessing the techniques in the BA's toolkit whilst drawing comparisons to test analysis techniques. Priority Business Analysis deliverables were then considered, given their goal and the need for a holistic system definition as input to the test analysis activity. The essential BA and TA techniques combined formed a base (read minimum) business change work package.

In summary, the premise of the presentation was that test analysis techniques:

1. Dovetail business analysis techniques
2. Have a shared priority with their business analysis counterparts
3. Are differentiated from Business Analysis Techniques by their purpose and perspective
4. Are often performed to compensate for omitted business analysis models

The surprise of the evening for me was the reality in which many of the audience operated, as it would seem that few were the recipients of any complete form of business analysis input. The common thread in these each of these instances was the need for haste in the name of agile.

The TIG, despite being solely sponsored, organized and hosted by Test & Data Services, is an open independent forum that promotes a structured approach to quality assurance - something that is central to worthwhile business change. A big thank you to 'Test & Data services' for driving this forum forward and for having me, I hope to be able to contribute further to this worthwhile initiative in the near future.