Clarity of thought

Unlike most other publications on developing technology, this book has looked at two critical aspects that form the basis for success. First, a company s survival is based solely on meeting the demands of the market, which change over time. Second, the integration process is one of the most difficult aspects of product development. If managed properly, integration and test can serve four purposes:

• Guiding product development, resulting in meeting market need;

• Assessing project progress;

• Releasing products prematurely, beating the competition to market;

• Soliciting customer feedback in time to vector product direction to meet market need.

An integration process has been suggested that augments the accepted rules of development in the areas of code construction, test case design, and monitoring project progress. Concrete, practical steps have been provided for project managers, test leads, and even business unit managers to use in structuring organization, setting up a process, improving development efficiency, and outrunning competitors that may appear in the market. It is now up to you to use this information in the context of your own current process and company culture.

Using the material presented

Ideas that have been presented throughout this book can be introduced piecemeal to your existing development process over a period of time. Included on the CD-ROM is a project management tool that you can use to better manage your integration and test activities. Its description and operational requirements are included on the CD-ROM as well.

In addition to this tool are document templates that...