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As AI flies, who plots the landing? Software. Testing. Education.

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Acceptance testing before release, showing user, contractual and regulatory, operational, and alpha and beta testing leading towards the real world.

Acceptance Testing: UAT, Operational, Alpha & Beta Testing

Acceptance Testing

Once a system is built, it must be tested prior to general release to check if the system behaviours are as expected. This can include:

  • User Acceptance Testing – as the name suggests, checking by end users that they system meets their needs.
  • Contractual and regulatory acceptance testing – checking that the system satisfies any contractual or regulatory requirements, such as ‘treating customers fairly’ from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
  • Operational Acceptance Testing – checking that the system can be maintained whilst in use. This includes user management; back-up; recovery; performance.
  • Alpha and beta testing – generally carried out on applications that are sold ‘off the shelf’ such as games, where the organisation seeks out the views of customers prior to general release. Alpha testing is carried out in-house whilst beta testing is conducted in the user environment.

This is the last in my series on test levels. Read the others here:

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