HP customer perspective white paper:best practices for implementingHP Quality Center software

Table of contents

About the author

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Introduction

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When to make the move to HP Quality Center software

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4HP Quality Center: a brief overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Best practices, recommendations and advice

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Pre-purchase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Surveying the current test management environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Evaluating infrastructure requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Post-purchase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Implementing HP Quality Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Recommendations and advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Political issues and considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Summary

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About the author

Michael Giacometti is an HP TestDirector for QualityCenter software CPC and an HP Certified Instructorwith more than seven years of quality assurance (QA)experience. He is currently a QA architect for a Fortune500 financial services company. His responsibilitiesinclude creation and implementation of a company-wideQA process, creation and technical management ofan Automation Center of Excellence, and the overalladministration and implementation of one of the largestHP TestDirector for Quality Center sites in the world, withmore than 2,500 users. Michael has created more than25 applications to support HP TestDirector for QualityCenter and has presented at industry conferences,including QAI USA. He resides in SoutheasternPennsylvania with his wife and daughter.

Introduction

The quality of your company’s software has a directimpact on the quality of your company’s financialresults. You know it. Management knows it. Andthe importance of quality will only continue to growwith the need for 24x7 operations, high availabilityrequirements, aggressive service-level agreements(SLAs) and the need to roll out innovative newweb-based services.Yet at many companies today, there is still an enormousamount of inertia around implementing the tools, tech-nologies, processes and training to meet increasinglystringent application quality requirements. The evidence? According to the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST), 80 percent of the software develop-ment costs of a typical project are spent on identifyingand fixing defects. And according to the Gartner Group,50 percent of deployed applications are rolled back.The core issue is not the tools companies are usingto increase software quality—it’s the lack of structured,consistent processes and best practices for implementingand using them. Even if your company has purchasedthe right tools for the job, those tools may be sitting onthe shelf because the implementation process has notbeen clearly defined or agreed upon. Or you may beusing only a small fraction of the features and functionsavailable. Or you may be experiencing pockets ofresistance to new approaches among certain individuals,groups or even whole lines of business that insist ondoing things “their way.”This paper cannot address every technical and politicalissue relating to application quality. What it can dois offer a structured approach to planning and imple-menting HP Quality Center software, an integrated,web-based suite of tools and best practices for automatedsoftware quality testing. The paper offers practicaladvice, based on my own experiences as a QAarchitect for a Fortune 500 company, for each phaseof implementation. My goal is to facilitate broaderacceptance of better tools and processes for deliveringhigh-quality applications. I hope you’ll find the paperuseful as a first step on your road to improvedapplication quality.