Why is Compliance Testing Important?

• What is Compliance Testing?
  Compliance Testing also called conformance testing, is a type of testing method used to decide whether a system complies with some internal or external standards. Compliance testing can be undertaken by an internal or external organization. It is done to validate if the system has met the standards of the organization or not.
  Compliance testing is a non-functional method of testing. As the name suggests, it is used to test the non-functional features of any software.
• Objectives of Compliance Testing
  Objectives of compliance testing are:
  • To determine if the development process and the maintenance of the system are as per the prescribed methods.
  • To ensure that the deliverables of every phase of development meet the required standards, guidelines and procedures.
  • Check and evaluate documentation of the software project to ensure compatibility and completeness.
• When do we use Compliance Testing?
  The management of the company decides when compliance testing is to be done, the degree of compliance needed and what may be the possible violators. Sometimes, non-compliance could be due to a lack of understanding of the standards and procedures. In this case, management must take the necessary steps to make the team get a clear understanding of the rules, standards and methodologies of the system in consideration.

  Other reasons for non-compliance could be that the standards are not communicated properly to the team or that the standards themselves are of poor quality. In this case, steps must be taken to rectify the methodologies, adopt new ones and publish them to the benefit of all the organizational staff.

  Compliance checks must begin right from the project inception because if the requirements are not properly documented, it will be a cumbersome task to make corrections going forward.

• How is Compliance Testing done?
  Compliance testing method is quite simple. At each step of the software development lifecycle, a set of procedures and standards are prepared and documented. Then the deliverables in each phase are compared to the standards set and the gaps are analyzed.  This is done through inspection by the proper teams.

  After the inspection is over, a list of areas of non-compliance is made and steps for its correction discussed.

  After the action items are addressed and worked upon, the inspection must be done again so that the non-compliant items are completely validated and closed.

• The various steps in a typical compliance test program will be:
  • Analyze the standard and procedures
  • Select the right test tools
  • Design the testing procedures
  • Check for necessary validations
  • Check compliance, else perform corrections.
  • Validate and certify compliance.