What are good practices for testing within the development life cycle?

Testing requires a planned approach to the development process which includes test planning, execution, and analysis to ensure maximum test leverage, consistency, and visibility of testing efforts. The practices used for testing within the development life cycle practices that need to be utilized include strategy, organization, process, design optimization and technology.

Most of these practices are universal. They apply to the development of any type of product in any type and size of the company. The strategic alignment analyses and gap analyses become the basis for identifying implementation actions and priorities.