The Art of Software Testing, Second Edition

6.7. The Independent Test Agency

Earlier in this chapter and in Chapter 2, we emphasized that an organization should avoid attempting to test its own programs. The reasoning was that the organization responsible for developing a program has difficulty in objectively testing the same program. The test organization should be as far removed as possible, in terms of the structure of the company, from the development organization. In fact, it is desirable that the test organization not be part of the same company, for if it is, it is still influenced by the same management pressures influencing the development organization.

One way to avoid this conflict is to hire a separate company for software testing. This is a good idea, whether the company that designed the system and will use it developed the system or whether a third-party developer produced the system. The advantages usually noted are increased motivation in the testing process, a healthy competition with the development organization, removal of the testing process from under the management control of the development organization, and the advantages of specialized knowledge that the independent test agency brings to bear on the problem.