Bringing testing into the fold [software testing]

If software bugs could be all be detected at the same time, life would be easier. The challenge we face is to find previously undetected software errors "all together" during a disciplined testing process. If this can be accomplished, the delivered software will give far less offence to users. In this article, the author discusses the "black sheep" of software engineering. All too frequently, testing is performed with too little planning by people with too little training. The result can be disastrous. The manager's responsibility is to empower testers to do the job. The author notes the pitfalls to avoid and the proper philosophy to adopt in order to get people and technology to work together.