Guideline: Defining Practices for Verification
This guideline provides considerations for defining practices that projects will use for verification.
Main Description

The following are typical activities and key considerations for verification to reference as you define practices for your organization.

  • Specify the types of testing and verification techniques teams will use to confirm the selected work products meet their specified requirements. Create practices for each method, describing when each type is relevant and appropriate along with the typical output work products that must be produced. Typical verification techniques include inspections, walkthroughs, demonstrations, testing, simulations, and reviews.
  • Identify what training material is needed for each verification method.
  • Address the environments required to support the recommended verification processes and policies (e.g. equipment, testing environment tools and components).
  • Identify the specific types of reviews (e.g. peer reviews, pair programming) that will be performed for verification of work products. Describe the specific objectives for each type of review, who will be involved, and what preparation is required. Describe the data required as entry and exit criteria for each type of review. Provide examples as guidance for project teams.
  • Identify verification techniques that apply prior to final integration and delivery of the product. These typically include stress, operational scenario, load, and performance testing. 
  • Describe the incremental process teams will follow to verify the product, beginning with the verification of requirements, through the verification of evolving work products, and finally in verifying the completed product.
  • Create tailoring guidelines describing how projects can develop project-specific content for the tailored process. This typically involves creating checklists as exit criteria for the verification of work products.
  • Describe how to analyze verification results so that teams can take corrective actions as needed. Specify how to analyze defect data and identify issues with methods, procedures, verification criteria, and the verification environment.These analysis results also serve as evidence that verification was conducted. Associate metrics with verification practices to monitor improvement.