M&A Information Technology Best Practices

Chapter 25

Overview of Testing

Angela Mattix

Testing is a critical component in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) projects. In an effort to reduce project duration, this is an area projects are tempted to shortcut; however, the most successful projects include a sufficient number of testing cycles. This chapter reviews the following specific areas:

• Types of testing
• Testing functions and tools
• Test preparation activities

Types of Testing

Before exploring the tools and key preparation activities required to execute successful testing cycles, you should understand the various types of testing and their objectives:

• Unit
• String
• Integration
• Parallel
• User acceptance testing
• Regression
• Performance and stress or volume
• Disaster and backup recovery
• Dress rehearsal or mock cut-over

Unit Testing

The key objective of unit testing is to validate a discrete piece of functionality or a specific development object. Unit testing is typically started during the end of the design phase and continues into the early stages of the build phase. As mentioned, there are several different types of unit testing:

• Technical unit testing is typically conducted by a developer to validate that the code written for a custom developed object meets the key objectives and criteria of the development object.
• Functional unit testing typically refers to when a business team member tests a development object to confirm it meets the business objectives that are identified in the functional specification that documents ...