Service Description: Non-Functional Testing

Making sure non-functional does not mean "none"

Of all the testing disciplines, non-functional testing can appear to be the hardest to understand and manage from a customer's perspective. The name, non-functional testing, is confusing. Who but IT people would give something a name which it is not? If it's not functional, what IS it?

Functional requirements refer to WHAT is built, non-functional requirements relate to HOW that functionality is delivered to the end user. So, you could regard non-functional testing as a way to answer some straightforward questions:

• Is it fast (enough)?
• Is it reliable?
• Is it secure?
• Is is usable (by typical users)?
• and so on.

The non-functional test techniques include Performance/Stress/Load, Security, Reliability, Usability, Accessibility, Recovery/Disaster Recovery, Maintainability, Compatibility and Installability. You can see definitions of these various types of test in our Glossary of Testing Terms.

Get in touch with us and we'll arrange a meeting to discuss Non-Functional Testing, what it means, what can go wrong, and how we can help you.