TABLE OF CONTENTS In Chapter 1, software testing was described as a process. As is true for all processes, the testing process has components that are the methods, practices, standards, policies, and procedures associated with it. Processes are instantiated by individual projects that use its associated practices, methods, procedures, and so on, to achieve project goals. Goals include assembling, developing, or evaluating a product. Engineers monitor and control the processes that drive each engineering project. In order to do so the project must first be planned by a engineering project manager using the underlying process components as the planning framework. As the project progresses it is monitored (tracked) and controlled with respect to the plan. Monitoring and controlling are engineering management activities, and should be practiced by software engineers as a part of their professional engineering duties. The TMM supports controlling and monitoring of testing with a maturity goal at level 3. A description of these two activities follows.
Project monitoring (or tracking) refers to the activities and tasks managers engage in to periodically check the status of each project. Reports are prepared that compare the actual work done to the work that was planned.
Monitoring requires a set of tools, forms, techniques, and measures. A precondition for monitoring a project is the existence of a project plan.
Project controlling consists of developing and applying a set of corrective actions to get a project on track when monitoring shows a deviation from what was planned.
If monitoring results show deviations...
