2.8, and write a report.
3. Assess the threats: use the list in Table 10.1 and write a threat/mitigation list.
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Manage Software Testing
TABLE 10.1
Outsourcing threats and mitigations
Undesirable outcomes Contributory threats
How the customer test facility can mitigate
the threat
Unexpected transition
and management
costs
??? Customer inexperience of the activity
??? Customer inexperience of outsourcing
??? Opaque legal environment
??? Development and communication
environment discontinuities
??? Monitoring costs
??? Review all outsourcing proposals and plans
??? Draw up a process model for the
outsourcing activity showing quality gates
??? Review all process aspects of the outsourcing
with a view to anticipating problems
??? Create supplier audit checklists
??? Analyze supplier development, test, and
communication environments
??? Review the supplier??™s process model
??? Identify backsourcing prerequisites
Lock-in ??? Asset specificity
??? Limited number of competent suppliers
leading to small-number bargaining
??? Interdependence of contracts
??? Insufficient incentive to attract a wide pool of
suppliers
??? Identify reusability and testedness of
supplied software
??? Assess supplier test competence
??? Model the contract deliverables??™
interdependence using an influence
diagram
Costly contractual
amendments
??? Uncertainty
??? Technological discontinuity
??? Task complexity
??? Customer inexperience in contract definition
and negotiation
??? Indeterminable milestone definitions linked to
stage payments
??? Contribute test-related elements to overall
relationship contract
??? Review contract to find weak points
particularly milestone and quality gate
definitions
??? Review requirements specifications for
testability, consistency, and sufficiency
??? Contribute to and review an SLA
Disputes and litigation ??? Measurement problems
??? Customer/supplier inexperience of
outsourcing contracts
??? Cultural discontinuities
a
??? Opaque legal environment
??? Multiple suppliers with overlapping and
codependent projects
??? Security risks
??? Contribute to metrics definition and plan
??? Monitor metrics implementation by supplier
??? Implement metrics program for incoming
deliverables
??? Create a common glossary, quality plan,
and bug severity definition
??? Ensure the vendor understands not simply
what the requirements are, but
why
they are
b
Service debasement ??? Interdependence of activities
??? Performance ambiguity
??? Supplier inexperience of the activity
??? Supplier inexperience in providing ancillary
support
??? Supplier size
??? Supplier financial stability
??? Task complexity
??? Mixing two unrelated contract types
??? Customer failure to set and monitor benchmarks
??? Customer failure to award related contracts
(typically development and support)
??? Review supplier??™s quality management
system and map it against the process model
??? Get supplier to estimate code size and
number of bugs
c
??? Confirm supplier??™s adherence to any claimed
certification to any international standards
??? Review, or test deliverables
??? Liaise with supplier test group
??? Review supplier benchmark, metrics plan,
and implementation
??? Review contract(s)
??? Coordinate with supplier in arranging HCI
tests on-shore
Cost escalation ??? Supplier inexperience
??? Customer inexperience in contract management
??? Customer failure to monitor and measure the
supplier
??? Monitor deliverable quality by reviewing,
or testing them
??? Monitor supplier time sheets
Loss of organizational
competencies
??? Closeness of the outsourced work to the core
competence of the organization
??? Customer loss of:
??“ specification and/or SLA competence
??“ installation and support competence
??“ test and approval competence
??“ of innovative capacity
??? Install partial releases in simulated
operating environment and check for
system interface bugs
??? Review supplier test plans, specifications,
and tests
??? Establish a user stakeholder sounding
board to monitor requirements and tests
Outsourcing
189
TABLE 10.
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