TMap®-based Project and Program Testing

An interactive model

Flexible by design, TMap® offers a comprehensive and consistent approach to project and program test management, execution and quality assurance, suitable for all types and sizes of organisations. It is an adaptive method suitable for all test situations in most development environments, such as new development, maintenance, waterfall/iterative/agile development, customised or package software.

With over 30 years experience and methodology development - TMap® NEXT was launched in 2006 - Sogeti provides genuine assurance across testing projects. This means that by implementing a defined structured framework to the end-to-end test process, defects are identified earlier, timelines reduced by at least 30% and overall costs driven down.

This integrated approach across the overall delivery lifecycle helps to ensure that testing services are optimised, business expectations are met and, by working with the client’s delivery team, that knowledge is transferred.

Our TMap® Services

Our services include:

• Implementation of best-practice risk-based and business-driven test execution over the lifecycle of a program, project or system module/application
• Testing end-to-end solutions - specifying and executing tests
• Testing discrete elements of the delivery lifecycle such as integration, system and user acceptance testing
• Testing of specialist aspects of solutions production particularly automation, load, performance, security, embedded systems testing
• Integration with requirements lifecycle management.

What is TMap® NEXT?

TMap® NEXT is an approach to structured testing. TMap NEXT was published in 2006 and it is still the standard way of testing for many process oriented organisations. It has the following advantages: 

• it delivers insight into, and advice on, any risks in respect of the quality of the tested system
• it finds defects at an early stage
• it prevents defects
• the testing is on the critical path of the total development as briefly as possible, so that the total lead time of the development is shortened
• the test products (e.g. test cases) are reusable
• the test process is comprehensible and manageable.   

The 4 essentials

The specific TMap® content of a structured test approach can be summarised in four essentials.

1. TMap® is based on a business-driven test management (BDTM) approach
2. TMap® describes a structured test process
3. TMap® contains a complete tool box
4. TMap® is an adaptive test method

The first essential can be related directly to the fact that the business case of IT is becoming ever more important to organisations.The BDTM approach provides content that addresses this fact in TMap® and can therefore be seen as the ‘leading thread’ of the second essential, the structured TMap® test process.

The TMap® life cycle model is used in the description of the test process. Furthermore various aspects in the field of infrastructure, techniques and organisation must be set up to execute the test process correctly. TMap® provides a lot of practical applicable information on this, in the form of e.g. examples, checklists, technique descriptions, procedures, test organisation structures, test environments and test tools. This toolbox is the third essential.

TMap® also has a flexible setup so that it can be implemented in different system development situations: both for new development and maintenance of a system, for a self-developed system or an acquired package, and for outsourcing (parts of) the testing process. In other words, TMap® is an adaptive method. This is the forth essential. 

Major benefits

Key client benefits of the Sogeti risk-based approach to project and program testing include:

• A structured but flexible test process ensures a consistent focus on meaningful and essential client-specific metrics and a deeper understanding of associated risks
• The detection of defects moves back down the total development lifecycle; early defect identification and quality management ensure that overall quality targets are met or exceeded
• A shorter testing period on the critical path of the total development cycle helps business meet its time-to-market timescales and reduce costs
• A repeatable and reliable test process means that time is saved next time round, and the time after that
• Consistency, standardisation and knowledge transfer means a common language for all involved – business, technical, supplier partners – helping to embed testing knowledge in the organisation.

Our clients are drawn from nearly every industry, particularly financial institutions, government departments, telecoms, hi-tech manufacturing, aviation and automotive sectors.

A Dedicated Website

If you are a user of TMap®, please visit our dedicated site, where you can find a wealth of detailed information on TMap® and TMap® Next. Here you can download a number of white papers and practical documents – such as checklists, vision documents – as well as updates on TMap® developments. The site is in both English and Dutch.