How do you align SIT with the overall software development life cycle (SDLC) and testing strategy?

2 Design your SIT strategy and approach

Once you have defined your SIT objectives and scope, you need to design your SIT strategy and approach that will guide your test execution and evaluation. Your SIT strategy should specify how you will conduct your SIT, such as the test levels, test types, test techniques, test scenarios, test scripts, and test automation that will be applied. Your SIT approach should specify how you will manage your SIT, such as the roles and responsibilities, communication and reporting, risk and issue management, and quality assurance and control that will be implemented.

3 Prepare your SIT environment and data

Before you execute your SIT, you need to prepare your SIT environment and data that will simulate the real-world conditions and scenarios of your system. Your SIT environment should be configured and maintained to support the integration and interaction of the components, modules, subsystems, interfaces, and systems that will be tested. Your SIT data should be realistic and representative of the expected inputs and outputs of your system, as well as the possible variations and exceptions that may occur.

4 Execute your SIT cases and scripts

When you execute your SIT, you need to follow your SIT strategy and approach and use your SIT environment and data to perform the test cases and scripts that will verify the functionality, performance, and reliability of your system. You need to record and document your test results, observations, defects, and issues that arise during your SIT execution. You also need to monitor and measure your SIT progress, coverage, and quality using appropriate metrics and indicators.

5 Evaluate your SIT outcomes and feedback

After you execute your SIT, you need to evaluate your SIT outcomes and feedback that will determine the success or failure of your SIT and the readiness or suitability of your system for the next phase of the SDLC. You need to analyze and report your test results, observations, defects, and issues that were recorded and documented during your SIT execution. You also need to review and improve your SIT strategy, approach, environment, data, cases, and scripts based on the lessons learned and best practices identified during your SIT evaluation.

6 Align your SIT with the overall SDLC and testing strategy

To align your SIT with the overall SDLC and testing strategy, you need to ensure that your SIT objectives and scope are consistent with the project goals and deliverables, your SIT strategy and approach are compatible with the development methodology and testing framework, your SIT environment and data are integrated with the other test environments and data, your SIT cases and scripts are traceable to the requirements and specifications, and your SIT outcomes and feedback are actionable and valuable for the stakeholders and users of your system.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?