Overview of FMEA
The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is one underlying concept of continuous quality improvement (Black, 2002, p.25). FMEA is an abbreviation for Failure Modes and Effect Analysis. FMEA is an analytic activity carried out on a product, service or process in order to know its strengths and weaknesses, deal with a potential problem before it occurs and ensure that it meets the set requirements (Black, 2002, p.25). FMEA has its origin at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the USA where it was used as a risk analysis and mitigation technique, however more recently; it has become widespread in industries being used to attain process improvement. FMEA is a vital tool for project teams and companies as a whole and who are faced with questions like how a failure can occur, the effect of such a failure on a system and what actions can be taken to counter such potential failures if they happen (Black, 2002, p.25). It provides a suitable approach to developing remedies to these questions.
The functions of FMEA include, first, it predicts design or process related failure modes and by doing so, it works to ensure that set requirements for a process or product are met. Secondly, FMEA tests and finds out the effect and severity of a given failure mode. Thirdly, FMEAs pin point the cause and works out the probability of occurrence of a failure mode. Fourthly, it identifies a control and weighs its effectiveness; it quantifies each associated risk and ultimately arranges the risks in order of priorities. Finally, it develops and documents action plans that appear to reduce the risks involved.
Test Strategy
Software risks
In software project management, software project are associated with many risks as their entail certain levels of uncertainty thus risk identification and its management are two aspects of these projects that are of concern. A risk is an event with the likelihood to actuate and in its actuation have a negative impact to the success of a project (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.3). Software mainly risks are of five types, namely, schedule, budget, operation, technical and programmatic risks. Schedule risks arise from schedule slip an event that occurs due to wrong estimation of time, improper tracking of resources, unexpected expansion of the project scope and when complex functionalities fail to be identified together with the time needed to develop them (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.9 – p.11). Budget risks are risks that arise due to cost overruns, wrong estimation of project budget and expansion of the project scope (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.12).
Operational risks are risks that occur due to improper implementation of project processes and system failures (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.13). Causes of improper implementation of project processes and system failures are unaddressed priority conflicts, unresolved responsibilities, insufficient resources, improper subject training, lack of resource plans and lack of communication in the project team (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.14). The impact of technical risks is software malfunctioning and reduced performance and they causes are use insufficient technology, implementation complexity of a product, inconstant requirements from the product and difficult integration of project modules (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.15 –p.16). Programmatic risks are risks that arise from external events that cannot be controlled, these are market development, changes in government rules, changes in strategies relating to customer products and priority and luck of funds to finance a project (Software Testing Help, 2007, p.16 – p.17).
Planning risk
Planning risks are the risks associated with the activities and processes of the planning stage of a project. A planning risk for instance can occur when an activity scheduled for the planning phase is not undertaken to the desired standard. Take for example in the case of the Golden Goose project the planning phase includes such activities as creation of a project plan, resource plan, financial plan, communication plan and a risk plan if any or all of these activities are done poorly it means the success of the project is undermined. This because of one or all of the following: unclear course of the project, inadequate or skewed supply and distribution of project resources, unsuitable use of project finances, poor communication and lack of a proper mechanism to avert risks or mitigate their effects.
Contingencies
For any project, contingency measures have to be put in place in case a predicted project failure occurs thus contingency risks are the risks associated with these contingency measures. In their basic nature, contingency risks are unlikely to occur because they are dependent on contingency measures, which are in turn dependent on potential project failures, which in most cases are usually identified and averted beforehand. A contingency risk can arise in a case where project owner did not properly budget for the contingency measures and thus resulting in weak implementations of the measures that cannot properly or effectively mitigate the effects of the risks.
For instance, given the nature of the Golden Goose project it is of utmost importance that Golden Goose Ltd. ensures that the improved internet application guarantees the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its information otherwise the company can find itself experiencing financial losses arising from liabilities such as law suits. As a contingency measure, the project management can propose frequent and regular risk assessments of the application to ensure information security among other things is guaranteed. In the case that this is not properly budgeted for, it means that the application is more vulnerable and weak to internet-based attacks/threats, which compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the company’s information.
Approach
To carry out system testing of Golden Goose’s improved internet portal, Amazon EC2 (or any other cloud testing service) and PushToTest’s Testmaker are used as testing tools. The reason for the use of these two is that they are designed to be used in distributed environments such as the internet (Coulouris,Dollimore and Kindberg, 2005, p.1 ) where they test the robustness of web applications (PushToTest, 2011, p.1 – p.2). In addition, PushToTest’s Testmaker is particularly suitable because it is time and budget sensitive with respect to software projects (PushToTest, 2011, p.1). The system testing is to be done by the software developer, person or organization responsible for developing Golden Goose’s improved internet portal, and the company’s IT experts. The software developer has to first test.There is need to train Golden Goose’s IT experts on PushToTest’s Testmaker tool as it is not a product of Golden Goose Ltd and thus there is few and limited knowledge of it in the company. In addition, PushToTest releases it in versions with each version being an improvement of the previous one and thus with proper training the company’s IT experts can familiarize themselves with these improvements. The latest version of PushToTest’s TestMaker is TestMaker 6.
The metrics to be collected during the test are system’s TestNodes (system servers and communication channels) and their availability, number of users, and URLs. In the Golden Goose project the TestNodes collected will be for the company hosting its improved internet portal. Each of these metrics is collected during system runtime level. Test configuration management is implemented using the tools’ configuration utilities. One of the utilities is the PushTo Test Grid Configurator and the other is the TestMaker Editor (PushToTest, 2011, p.1-p.6). Among other uses of the PushTo Test Grid Configurator is that one is able to identify the available TestNodes. An outstanding use of the TestMaker Editor is that it can be used to create a group of nodes, which you can configure to be tested to your on specification. For this test only one kind of configuration is tested as the main purpose of the test is to determine the availability of TestNodes. When a TestNode is absent it is an indication that a resource is absent e.g. a database and thus this an example of a failure.
The hardware needed for this test is basically internet infrastructure as Golden Goose’s portal is a web application. The software needed to carry out the test are TestMaker and Amazon EC2 or any other cloud testing service that may be in use by the host of the internet portal. By default, TestMaker and Amazon EC2 are compatible and are designed to operate in distributed environments such as the internet, therefore, there no incompatibilities between the software and hardware in use for this test. The system is going to be tested in full as individual components are related to make the whole; therefore, a failure in a given component indicates the possibility of a failure in a related component. In addition the components of the system are to be tested together and not in groups.
Description of ten tests
Test 1
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that the visitors of Golden Goose’s improved internet portal that wish to make product enquiries are served with the correct information and the right web tools to do so.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 1.010. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have a value of one (1).
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
In this test, there are three aspects to be checked. The first is assessing the method calls available to the visitors, the second is verifying if the correct databases are available as well as running and the third is determining the accessibility of tech support from the portal’s tech support team. By checking these three aspects correctly and comprehensive visitors to Golden Goose’s improved internet portal are able to make informed enquiries that reach their intended destination as well as receive feedback from the correct databases or form the customer care team in place at the other end of the portal. As prerequisites, it is important to familiarize with system method calls, system databases and support tech mechanisms.
Test 2
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that payment for products and services being offered by Golden Goose Ltd. is done securely and in the correct manner.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 1.100. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number are 2, 2, 1 and 4 respectively.
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
Payment for products and services offered by Golden Goose Ltd. as to be made within certain rules. It is a rule that there is mandatory payment up front for casual customer purchases. It is another business rule that there is mandatory payment up front for ‘bad risk’ business customers. It is another business rule that there is an option to pay up-front for business customers. The implementation of these business rules has to be checked if it is done properly and in addition check if there is a secure web page link to PayPal or Credit Card(s) for casual customers. As prerequisites to this test it is important to familiarize with Golden Goose Ltd. business rules as pertains to payment and in addition familiarize with the internet security measures in place. Knowledge in transactions and transaction management is also a recommended prerequisite.
Test 3
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that customers or visitors can create accounts with Golden Goose’s improved internet portal.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 1.130. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have a value of one (1).
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
The system using the information supplied to it by a customer or a visitor should be able to create a casual account. When the system creates an account, the account should be connected to a business account, which is validated to business information. For a given account, its activation should be linked to the customer’s or visitor’s e-mail address. The system should be configured such that it is an automatic daily process to remove junk accounts – dormant casual accounts (more than 90 days without use) and inactivated accounts. As prerequisites, it is important to familiarize with the company’s policy as pertains to online customer accounts and in addition Internet best practises. Since account creation can be viewed as a kind of transaction, knowledge in online transactions and transaction management is also a recommended prerequisite.
Test 4
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that only authorised customers can change or update their account details.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 1.170. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have a value of one (1).
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
The system has to ensure that it has a function that allows a customer to change their own customer details and nobody else’s. The system has to ensure that casual accounts are updated automatically. The system has also to ensure that business accounts must have the changes formatted into an e-mail and sent to the credit control department. The system has also to ensure that there is tech support available to customer’s having difficulties in making modifications to their accounts. The tech support can be made available through online charting with the tech support team. As prerequisites, it is important to familiarize with the company’s policy as pertains to online customer accounts and in addition Internet best practises. Since account creation can be viewed as a kind of transaction, knowledge in online transactions and transaction management is also a recommended prerequisite.
Test 5
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that customers can place orders from Golden Goose’s improved internet portal.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 1.080. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 1, 2, 1 and 2 respectively.
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
For a customer wishing to place an order, Golden Goose’s improved internet portal must ensure that the customer can view products that have already been purchased. In addition the portal must ensure that there is a link between the order placement page and the payments page. Thus in this test it is important that the method being called to implement order placements is assessed as well as the hyperlink connecting the order placement page and the payments page. As a prerequisite to this test, knowledge on web content design is useful as well as knowledge in online transactions and transaction management.
Test 6
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that the visitors of Golden Goose’s improved internet portal that wish to make product enquiries are served with the correct information and the right web tools to do so.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 2.000. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 2, 2, 1 and 4 respectively.
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
The system has to ensure that it provides customers with details for different services being offered by Golden Goose Ltd. The system has to provide a search capability to customers so that there is easy and fast access to service information. The system has to ensure that there correct pricing is given for each service and that there is a link to ‘place and order’ for selected products medium. As a prerequisite to this test, knowledge in proper design of web content is recommended.
Test 7
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that the visitors of Golden Goose’s improved internet portal get the appropriate pricing for the various services they are interested in.
FMEA reference and ranking
The FMEA risk ID for this test is 2.000. The FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 2, 2, 1 and 4 respectively.
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
The system has to ensure that there is a base price for all casual customer and also ensure that there is a business contract price for existing and long standing customers. This test requires that as its result is to ensure that the correct database is being used to drive the service pricing feature of Golden Goose’s improved internet portal. As a prerequisite to this test, knowledge of the company’s products and their prices is useful and in addition, knowledge on intenet best practises is also recommended.
Test 8
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that the visitors of Golden Goose’s improved internet portal view the correct available booking time and that the booking process is limited to specific time-slots and durations.
FMEA reference and ranking
This test is linked to two FMEA risk Ids, which are 2.030 and 2040. For the first risk id, 2.030, the test is associated with FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number values of 3, 3, 2 and 9 respectively. For the first risk id, 2.040, the test is associated with FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number values of 3, 3, 2 and 18 respectively
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
Golden Goose’s improved internet portal has to ensure that there is a calendar booking process in place. The portal system has to also ensure that the booking is limited to specific time-slots and durations. The portal system has to additionally ensure that ad-hoc or non-compliant services referred to the call centre. As a prerequisite to this test, knowledge on the calendar booking system is recommended as well as knowledge of the company’s operation’s timetable.
Test 9
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that the Golden Goose’s improved internet portal view allows service cancellation if the service is more than 24 hrs ahead and in addition if short notice cancellations are referred to the call centre.
FMEA reference and ranking
This test is linked with two FMEA risk Ids, which are 2.050 and 2.060. For FMEA risk Id 2.050 the severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 3, 3, 1 and 9 respectively. For FMEA risk Id 2.060 the severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 4, 3, 3 and 36 respectively.
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
Golden Goose’s improved internet portal should ensure that it allows service cancellation if the service is more than 24 hrs ahead. The portal should also ensure that short notice cancellations are referred to the call centre. As a prerequisite to this test, knowledge on company’s policy on cancellation of accounts is recommended as well as knowledge on the system’s communication channels.
Test 10
Description
This test is undertaken to ensure that the Golden Goose’s improved internet portal GUI (Graphical User Interface) is designed to specification
FMEA reference and ranking
This test is linked with FMEA risk Ids 3.010, 3.020, 3.030 and 3.040. In risk Id 3.010 the FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 4, 4, 4 and 64 respectively. In risk Id 3.020 the FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 2, 4, 4 and32 respectively. In risk Id 3.030 the FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 2, 4, 4 and 32 respectively. In risk Id 3.040 the FMEA severity, priority, likelihood and risk priority number have values of 2, 4, 4 and 32 respectively
Manual or automated
This test is undertaken manually because it is mainly a process of observation.
Test prerequisites
It is a requirement for the GUI to use standard business colours, fonts, and command buttons, appropriate format across all pages, appropriate alignment of text and graphics and clearly visible navigation panel on all pages. As a prerequisite to this test, knowledge on the company’s design styles is recommended as well as knowledge in proper design of web content.
References
Black, R. (2002). Managing the testing process: practical tools and techniques for managing hardware and software testing. Wiley Publishing, Inc.: Canada
Coulouris, G. Dollimore, J. & Kindberg, T. ( 2005). Distributed systems concepts and design. Pearson Education Limited: England.
Software Testing Help. (2007). Types of risks in software projects. Web.
PushToTest. (2011). TestMaker test deployment – cloud and grid – configuration. Web.
PushToTest. (2011). TestMaker Test Deployment – cloud and grid testing. Web.
PushToTest. (2011). Introduction to pushtotest testMaker methodology. Web.