The test policy describes how an organisation deals with the people, resources and methods involved in the test process in the various situations. Since testing is one of the tools to ensure quality, the test policy will have to be in line with the other policy measures and initiatives in relation to quality management. We recommend making sure that the test policy is in line with the strategic, tactical and operational policy of the organisation. 

Permanent test organisation 
A permanent test organisation, contrary to project-based testing, does not elaborate a specific element of the test process on a per project basis, but across all projects. Reasons to create such an organisation are, among other things, the improved leverage of scarce expertise, standardisation of test products, limiting the test project start-up time, continuous improvement of the test process, consolidation of experiences, and prior insight into the test costs and lead time.

Two common types of test organisation
Two types of test organisation are common in actual practice. These are:

• The permanent test organisation as a test expertise centre (TEC)
• The permanent test organisation as a test factory (TF).

The two differ, among other things, in the services they offer and their responsibilities in this respect. The TEC is mainly a supplying and advisory organisation that takes on an “obligation of effort” at most when providing services. For instance, it may outsource testers or test managers to a project. Or offer advice on a test approach or test tool to be used. The activities are always executed under the responsibility of the project. 

However, the TF accepts an “obligation to deliver results” for many of its services. The process can be compared with a factory with permanent personnel (testers), machinery (infrastructure), standardised work procedures, etc. Different clients (departments, projects, systems) can outsource their complete test assignments to this type of test organisation. The client takes his assignment to the test organisation, the assignment is scheduled in the form of work assignments for the employees, the infrastructure is configured the right way, the assignment is executed, and the client can pick up the product (reports, advice and possible defects in the tested objects) at the agreed time. 

Both test organisations make a distinction based on demand frequency in the test services. The test service is approached from a different perspective for incidental requests (“set up a test environment”) than for structural requests (“test releases”). Service levels are agreed on when structural questions are involved. 

Test environments
A fitting test environment is necessary for dynamic testing of a test object (running software). A test environment is a system of components, such as hardware and software, interfaces, environmental data, management tools and processes, in which a test is executed. The degree to which it can be established in how far the test object complies with the requirements determines whether a test environment is successful. The setup and composition of a test environment therefore depend on the objective of the test. However, a series of generic requirements with which a test environment must comply to guarantee reliable test execution can be formulated. In addition to being representative, manageable and flexible, it must also guarantee the continuity of test execution.

Processes for maintaining test environments
To prevent problems in test environments   processes need to be in place for managing the setup and maintenance of the environments. These management processes are:

• Configuration management
• Change management
• Release management
• Incident management
• Problem management
• Data management 

Test tools
To execute the tests efficiently, tools in the form of test tools are necessary. A test tool is an automated instrument that provides support to one or more test activities, such as planning and control, test specification, and test execution.

Types of test tools
Test tools provide support in the execution of certain activities in the various TMap phases. There are different types of test tools, which can be classified in four groups:

1. Tools for planning and controlling the test 
2. Tools for designing the test
3. Tools for executing the test
4. Tools for debugging and analysing the code.