RMO No. 24-2003: Prescribes the revised guidelines and procedures for testing and acceptance of in-house developed and outsourced application systems

Key points

1. Project team. Each application system to be developed has a project team. It has a Project Manager, Co-Project Manager, Requirement Team, Development Team or BIR Counterpart for outsourced projects, Acceptance Team, Support Team and Rollout Team.
2. Acceptance testing. All application systems, whether in-house or outsourced, and enhancements to existing ones, pass functional and technical acceptance testing. For new systems and enhancements, testing covers the complete Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), and a later cycle does not start until the previous deliverables are signed off. A Product Acceptance Certificate is issued for each accepted deliverable.
3. Documentation. For in-house applications, the Process/System Owner prepares the Operations Manual and the Training Management Division prepares the User Guide/Job Aid. Modifications are documented by updating the affected modules. For iterative systems, no enhancement is implemented unless the Change Request is signed or approved by the concerned officials.
4. Testing process. Acceptance testing covers documentation review plus system and integration testing, guided by the Evaluation Criteria Checklist and Technical Data and Documentation Standards. The Acceptance Team prepares its own test plan.
5. Issues found. Issues are logged in the Discrepancy Log Sheet and classified as major or minor using the Condition Type and Severity Matrix. Logged issues are addressed within seven (7) working days upon submission, and re-testing is completed within seven (7) working days upon receipt of notice, based on severity.
6. Sign-off and pilot. All issues must be resolved before a phase is signed off. A product can still be signed off if unresolved minor issues are listed in the Conditions List attached to the Product Acceptance Certificate. A system rolled out in production undergoes pilot testing with live data, and the head of the pilot site issues the Pilot Acceptance Certificate.

Who is affected

• BIR project teams developing or acquiring application systems

Deadlines and effectivity

• Logged issues addressed within seven (7) working days upon submission
• Re-testing completed within seven (7) working days upon receipt of notice