Risk-based Testing: Not for the Fainthearted

If you’ve tried to make testing really count, you know that “risk” plays a fundamental part in deciding where to direct your testing efforts and how much testing is enough. Unfortunately, project managers often do not understand or fully appreciate the test team’s view of risk—until it is too late. Is it their problem or is it ours? After spending a year on a challenging project that was set up as purely a risk mitigation exercise, George Wilkinson saw first-hand how risk management can play a vital role in providing focus for our testing activities, and how sometimes we as testers need to improve our communication of those risks to the project stakeholders. George provides a foundation for anyone who is serious about understanding risk and employing risk-based testing on projects. He describes actions and behaviors we should demonstrate to ensure the risks are understood, thus allowing us to be more effective during testing.