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Software and System Engineering

Testing Maturity Model (TMM)

The TMM is intended to support testing activities and test process improvement in both the systems engineering and software engineering discipline. Systems engineering covers the development of total systems, which may or may not include software. Software engineering covers the development of software systems.

Test levels
Whereas some models for test process improvement focus mainly on high-level testing or address only one aspect of structured testing e.g. the test organization, The TMMi addresses all test levels (including static testing) and aspects of structured testing. With respect to dynamic testing, both low-level testing and high-level testing are within the scope of the TMMi. Studying the model more in detail one will learn that the model addresses all four cornerstones for structured testing (lifecycle, techniques, infrastructure and organization).

TMM Maturity Levels

Level 1 Initial
Testing is chaotic and undefined process Testing is often considered a part of debugging The organization usually does not provide a stable environment to support the processes

Level 2 Managed
The process areas at TMM level 2 are: 2.1 Test Policy and Strategy 2.2 Test Planning 2.3 Test Monitoring and Control 2.4 Test Design and Execution 2.5 Test Environment

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Level 3 Defined
The process areas at TMM level 3 are: 3.1 Test Organization 3.2 Test Training Program 3.3 Test Lifecycle and Integration 3.4 Non-Functional Testing 3.5 Peer Reviews

Level 4 Management and Measurement

The process areas at TMMi level 4 are: 4.1 Test Measurement 4.2 Product Quality Evaluation 4.3 Advanced Peer Reviews

Level 5 Optimization
Process areas at level 5 are: 5.1 Defect Prevention 5.2 Test Process Optimization 5.3 Quality Control

Conclusion
Test process improvement is a journey. The TMM just makes that journey easier. Test process improvement should not be considered as being in addition to any other process improvement initiative, but should work in conjunction with that initiative. The TMM is laid out in incremental steps because that is the best way to make the improvements. Very few companies have the resources to try to do everything at one time. Experience has shown the incremental approach is the most successful. Just because it is laid out incrementally does not mean that you cannot start working on an improvement at the next level.