Case Study on Risk Analysis

A Case Study in Successful Risk-Based Testing at CA Introduction This article presents a case study of a risk-based testing pilot project at CA, the world 's leading independent IT management software company. The development team chosen for this pilot is responsible for a widely-used mainframe software product called CA SYSVIEW® Performance Management, an intuitive tool for proactive management and real-time monitoring of z/OS environments. By analyzing a vast array of performance metrics, CA SYSVIEW can help organizations identify and resolve problems quickly. Companies are highly dependent on the reliability of their mainframe systems. If the mainframe doesn’t run, the company stops. Mainframe workloads also are growing considerably as companies’ businesses grow and as they continually seek to leverage data and applications in new ways. At the same time, these companies are losing their experienced mainframe workforce, largely to retirement. This makes the quality of their mainframe management tools even more important to them. CA piloted risk-based testing as part of our larger effort to ensure the quality of the solutions we deliver. The pilot consisted of six main activities: • • • • • • Training key stakeholders on risk-based testing Holding a quality risk analysis session Analyzing and refining the quality risk analysis Aligning the testing with the quality risks Guiding the testing based on risks Assessing benefits and lessons

This article addresses each of these areas – as well as some of the broader issues associated with risk-based testing. What is Risk-Based Testing? Generally speaking, risk is the possibility of a negative or undesirable outcome or event. Testing is concerned with two main types of risks: • Product or quality risks, which are problems that can potentially affect the quality of the product itself, such as a defect that could cause a system to crash during normal operation. Project or planning risks, which are problems that can