Study of verification, validation, and testing in the automated data processing system at the Department of Veterans Affairs

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5005159· OSTI ID:5005159

Andrews, A. ^[1]; Formento, J. W.; Hill, L. G.; Riemer, C. A. ^[2]

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (USA). Energy Systems Div.
2. Argonne National Lab., IL (USA). Environmental Assessment and Information Sciences Div.

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) studied the role of verification, validation, and testing (VV T) in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) automated data processing (ADP) system development life cycle (SDLC). In this study, ANL reviewed and compared standard VV T practices in the private and government sectors with those in the VA. The methodology included extensive interviews with, and surveys of, users, analysts, and staff in the Systems Development Division (SDD) and Systems Verification and Testing Division (SV TD) of the VA, as well as representatives of private and government organizations, and a review of ADP standards. The study revealed that VA's approach to VV T already incorporates some industry practices -- in particular, the use of an independent organization that relies on the acceptability of test results to validate a software system. Argonne recommends that the role of SV TD be limited to validation and acceptance testing (defined as formal testing conducted independently to determine whether a software system satisfies its acceptance criteria). It also recommends that the role of the SDD be expanded to include verification testing (defined as formal testing or revaluation conducted by the developer to determine whether a software development satisfies design criteria). Integrated systems testing should be performed by Operations in a production-like environment under stressful situations to assess how trouble-free and acceptable the software is to the end user. A separate, independent, quality assurance group should be responsible for ADP auditing and for helping to establish policies for managing software configurations and should report directly to the VA central office. Finally, and of no less importance, an in-house training program and procedures manual should be instituted for the entire SDLC for all involved staff; it should incorporate or reference ADP standards.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA). Environmental Assessment and Information Sciences Div.
• Sponsoring Organization: VETAD
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5005159
• Report Number(s): ANL/EAIS/TM-8; ON: DE90006647
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
DATA PROCESSING
AUTOMATION
DOCUMENTATION
IMPLEMENTATION
INFORMATION VALIDATION
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RECOMMENDATIONS
STANDARDS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TRAINING
US VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
USES
VERIFICATION
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PROCESSING
TESTING
US ORGANIZATIONS
VALIDATION
990300* - Information Handling
990200 - Mathematics & Computers