Test Management is called “Planning and Control” in TMap

I first heard about TMap from a presentation by a Dutch testing consultant Martin Pol on 1999. The TMAP testing process framework is documented well in the book “Software Testing – A Guide to the TMap Approach”, by Martin Pol, Ruud Teunissen and Erik van Veenendaal (Addison-Wesley, 2001).

I personally like TMap (http://www.tmap.net) a lot. I have used it as a common reference across organizations and as a checklist repository for long time. Sure, it’s heavily plan-driven but pragmatically so. Trying to use it as such as your “process” or “method” would not be wise, but comparing you process against it would give you many ideas for improving. It allows relatively inexperienced test leads get started and learn ways to bring some order to the chaos. After that it is easier to learn other paradigms. So it is a good testing process framework for certain contexts.

In TMap the testing life-cycle is divided into 5 main phases, called

1. Planning & Control
2. Preparation
3. Specification
4. Execution
5. Completion

First phase consists of the test management main tasks “Planning” and “Control”. They both contain several activities. TMap book lists the following activities for higher level Test Planning:
1. Formulating the assignment
2. Global review and study
3. Establishing the test bases
4. Test Strategy Formulation
5. Setting up the organization
6. Specifying test deliverables
7. Specifying the infrastructure
8. Organizing management and control
9. Setting up schedules
10. Consolidating the test plan

And following activities are listed for test control:

11. Maintaining the test plan
12. Controlling the test
13. Reporting
14. Establishing detailed schedules

If you compare this list with the five tasks of the test manager according to Thomas C. Royer, you’ll see that they will be covered in TMap Planning and Control phase tasks. The TMap book has a set of methods for TMap activities and explains well many risks and problems related to each 14 activities. Some even have a chapter in the book of their own. The methods mentioned are not the only ones and sometimes not most useful, but will both provide good picture of one coherent way to manage each challenge and also explain the background of each challenge. Works wonders for people with narrow or shallow experience in testing, but who must tackle the challenges of test management or testing in general on latr chapters.

I have not yet read the new TMap book called “TMap Test Topics”, but what I gather from the book intro, it expands the chapter 29 of the older book mentioned above, “Variations on the theme”. So target of the new book is delivering additional guidance on customizing the generic testing process into specific contexts and challenges.

We at Nordic countries do not like disclaimers, but here goes one for your benefit: I have most of my testing experience from large product development organizations in the telecom context. I really aim at balanced writing but will most certainly fail to anticipate priorities and constraints of different contexts, so reader is encouraged to exhibit critical thinking also on any advice you see in the Net. There. :-)