TMap NEXT - In 3 Minutes

TMap was created in 1995 by Sogeti Nederland BV, part of Capgemini  SA. The current  version, TMap NEXT was published in 2006. It creates a more process focused description of the test process, and puts more emphasis on the business objectives as guidance for the testing process.

TMap NEXT can be summarized in four essentials:

• It is based on a business-driven test management (BDTM) approach.  TMap NEXT  supports the justification of IT in the business case for the project, translating it to the activity of testing. This enables the client to manage  the test process on the rational  and economic grounds of business objectives.
• It describes a comprehensive structured test process, from test execution  through  test management, which includes ample tips and examples. The process consists of:
  • A master  test plan, managing  the total test process
  • Acceptance and system tests
  • Development testsSupporting processes
• It contains a complete  tool set: technique descriptions and organizational and infrastructure support.
• It is an adaptive  method that is suitable for test situations  in most environments (such as new development, maintenance, waterfall / iterative / agile development, customized or package software, outsourcing)

The total test effort is related  to the risks of the system to be tested  for the organization. The deployment of people, resources and budget focuses on those parts of the system that are most important to the organization.

At various points in the testing program,  the client is involved in making choices. The advantage is that the test process matches the wishes and requirements – and therefore the expectations – of the organization as adequately as possible.

Testing of software in all the phases of the lifecycle and in any environment where structured testing is required.

Strengths

• The client has control over the process.
• The test manager communicates and reports in the terminology  of the client with information that is useful in the client’s context.
• At the master  test plan level, detailing can be as intensive as required or possible.

Constraints

It is important to ‘customize’ TMap to fit a specific situation  by making a selection from all of the TMap elements. After the approach  has been tried out (‘pilot’), it can be rolled out in the organization.