Introduction to Acceptance Testing
Acceptance testing is a type of software testing which is performed to test whether the system is meeting the business requirements and is acceptable to be released to the end-user in the production environment or not. It checks whether the software product is conforming to the requirements of the end-user and is working as expected. Generally, Acceptance Testing is adhoc testing and is generally done manually for small projects. It is the last level of testing after the Unit, Integration and System testing before the product’s final release. Here we will see the various types of Acceptance testing which are performed before releasing the software product.
Various Acceptance Testing Types
Given below are types of acceptance testing that are performed on the software product before releasing it in the market for final use to the end-users:
1. User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
As the name indicates, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is performed from the end-user point of view. The end-users or the clients do it to check whether the software product is working as per the requirements of the user correctly before moving it into the production environment.
User Acceptance Testing is performed after the functional, integration and the system testing as it is the last phase of testing. This testing is performed in a different production-like set-up environment. In this testing, the important functionality of the software, which the customer often uses, is tested instead of focusing on the cosmetic errors and spelling mistakes. This testing is also known as End- User- Testing.
2. Contract Acceptance Testing (CAT)
Contract Acceptance Testing (CAT) involves a contract which is signed in this testing is known as ‘Service Level Agreement (SLA)’ that specifies certain criteria and specifications related to the software product and also includes that the payment would be made if the all the functionalities of the software product are working as expected. This contract is signed by both the development party and the client. The contract also specifies that acceptance tests would be performed within the predetermined period once the product is live, and it should pass all those acceptance tests.
3. Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT)
Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT) is non-functional testing which is performed to check whether the product is operationally ready. Before releasing a software product, it includes testing user manuals, compatibility, maintainability, compatibility, reliability, and various security checks. Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT) is also known as Operational Readiness Testing (ORT). This testing plays an important role in determining whether the software product is able to be deployed on the network according to the ITIL standards. The basic objectives of OAT being the software resilience, determining the integrity, recovery ability and supportability of the software product.
4. Business Acceptance Testing (BAT)
As the name indicates, Business Acceptance Testing (BAT) is used to determine whether the software product is able to meet the business requirements or not. It mainly focuses on the business risk and the financial factors, which is one of the challenging things in the changing market conditions and the advancement of technologies. It checks whether the software product is able to meet the operational needs of the real world.
Business Acceptance Testing assesses the business requirements and deals with strategy. It includes the coverage of automated requirements, manual processes and usability. It involves eliminating the irrelevant steps that can hamper the business needs. As BAT testing is purely based on the business goals and objectives, this testing is performed by Business Analysts working in that particular department.
5. Regulations Acceptance Testing (RAT)
Regulations Acceptance Testing (RAT) is also known as the Compliance Acceptance Testing, which is done to check whether the software product developed complies with the rules and regulations of the country or region where it is getting released. Since every country has some rules and regulations which the governing parties apply, it is mandatory for any software product to follow them. If any of the software products is not complying with the rules, the government has the right to restrict the release of that product. If any product is released even in the case of violation of rules and regulations, the software product owner will be considered responsible.
6. Alpha Testing
Alpha testing is a type of Software Acceptance Testing which is performed to check whether the product meets the business requirements and works as expected before handling it to the end-users. The main aim of this testing is to identify the possible bugs before handling them to the end-users. It is performed by the QA team (which are internally a part of the organization). It involves both the black box and white box testing of an application. The issues found in alpha testing can be corrected immediately in alpha testing. Alpha testing is performed at the developer’s end and needs the lab environment to perform. Therefore, it is typically done before the beta testing at the near end of software development.
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7. Beta Testing
Before releasing the final product on the web to all the end-users, it is released for the limited number of end-users for testing and their feedback and the issues they face in the software product. This testing is performed by the “real users” (customers) in the “real environment” (production environment). It basically reduces the risk of failure of software products and boosts the confidence in the product quality if everything goes as expected. Therefore, beta testing is quite helpful as it allows direct end-user feedback and testing the software in the real environment. Moreover, it helps to decide whether the product is good enough to be released finally to the end-users.
Conclusion
The above description clearly explains what the Acceptance testing in a software product is and its types. Acceptance testing is quite useful as it helps to uncover the various defects missed in other testing phases. In many cases, Acceptance testing helps to reduce the risk of failure, loss of money and company reputation in the market by detecting the critical errors before the final release of the software product.
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