Most organisations would state that the provision of quality products and services to their customers, is a key strategic objective. To achieve this, quality controls must be part of the production pipeline from design, through build and testing.
There is Project Management Institute (PMI) knowledge area for Quality Management.
Testing should be done in each of the environments:
| Unit test | The person who has done the work, checks their own work |
|---|---|
| Peer review | A peer of the person who has done the work, checks the work |
| System test | The work is put into a simulated or actual environment, and tested |
| Integration test | The work is put into a simulated or actual environment, and tested in related to external influences |
| User acceptance test (UAT) | A test done by the end user |
| Live test | Live tests are done in the live environment, and should be done in such a manner that they do not damage the object |
| Regression test | Test that the change to the object has not broken the object or system / related objects |
| Smoke test | A quick test to ensure the object is working, at least a little and is not broken |
| Black box test | A test done without knowledge from the object's specification |
| White box test | A test done with knowledge from the object's specification |