Service Validation and Testing is a core process used to validate the quality of the service before delivery - is it fit for use and fit for purpose. We want to be sure that the service we deliver, will provide value to the customer and their business. In all cases, quality is determined by the intended users, not by general consensus. Many people make the mistake of thinking that this quality is the same as 'expensive' or 'high quality'. However, even services at low prices can be considered quality services if they meet the clients needs and delivery value.
It's about confidence at the end of the day. The customer needs confidence that the service provider will deliver services to a high standard and deliver the value they are seeking. We can never guarantee a service will be perfect but we can provide a measured degree of confidence.
Testing is a crucial part of Service Management and failing to test sufficiently can lead to:
- More incidents
- Clarification support calls
- Costs
- Ineffective services
During Service Testing and Validation we implement a structured validation and test process which helps us ascertain that the service meets the stakeholders requirements and supports the Service Level Agreements.
Validation is the process of checking if something satisfies a certain criterion i.e. a service component meets its specification. We need to know that we "built the right product" based on the needs of the stakeholder.
Quality assuranceQuality assurance, or QA for short, refers to a program for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a service to ensure that standards of quality are being me
We quality assure a release and all its elements to meet the two key principles of QA:
- "fit for purpose" - the product should be suitable for the intended purpose
- "right first time" - mistakes should be eliminated
Inputs for testing- Service package
- SLP
- Interface definitions for the service provider
- Release plans
- Acceptance criteria
Before testing can begin, we need to know how the service will be used by the customer so we can recreate those environments and scenarios. The service level package (SLP) provides us with this key input information that we use to drive the testing plans and designs.
Outputs from testing- Configuration used for testing
- Test results (incidents, errors)
- Analysis of results (improvement ideas etc.)
Types of testing- Usability testing
- Accessibility testing
- Process testing
- Stress and load testing
- Availability testing
- Compatibility testing
- Security testing
- Regression testing