Managing the Testing Process: Practical Tools and Techniques for Managing Hardware and Software Testing

8.2. Defining the Test Team: How Many Whos Do What?

Now that we've looked at testers as individuals, let's expand our perspective and look at how testers fit into a test team. If you were assembling a sports team, the game you intended to play would define the team: you would know how many players were required, what skills they needed to possess, and what positions they would play. When assembling a development team, you can base your decisions on certain models that indicate how many coders, engineers, architects, and so forth you will need. These various models don't all agree on every point, but you can pick an approach secure in the knowledge that someone—if only the author of the book or paper that explains the model—has successfully applied it to one or more projects. The following sections outline some workable methods of defining a test team.

8.2.1. Size

If you are running a one-off test project—in other words, you intend to assemble a team that lasts only for the duration of the current project you're running—then sizing is pretty simple. Use the estimation techniques discussed in Chapter 1, "Defining What's on Your Plate: The Foundation of a Test Project," and then go out and hire however many contractors you will need for the duration of the project, taking into account any outsourcing you can do as discussed in Chapter 10, "Involving Other Players: Distributing a Test Project." (Hire contractors, not employees, because you don't intend to keep anyone long-term, right?) ...