Groundhog Day

Continuing with a music theme, I recently heard the song “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher which features in the film Groundhog Day.

Since tomorrow is Groundhog Day, it is as I write, it gave me an idea for this piece.

The underlying them of the movie, as I expect everyone knows, is about Phil the weatherman waking up every day to the same day, Groundhog Day.

This piece is about a phase of the system development project lifecycle that you might say falls into this paradigm.

Testing: perhaps one of the most important aspects of the project lifecycle, and one that isn’t perceived as exciting, but nevertheless essential for the success of a system implementation.

I am reminded about this because of two experiences: the first, where an extra three months of testing was called for by the Program Executive; the second, where all aspects of the testing lifecycle was reduced in order to meet the implementation milestone.

Without writing too much, the first project cutover with only a few minor issues. The second I’ll have to tell you about another time but I expect you will draw your own conclusion.

In short, I believe there is value in doing something over and over again. Repetition can produce quality. Testing in the systems development lifecycle is one of those things.

As in the movie, where Phil starts out as a seemingly unpleasant character and one not accepted by his colleagues, he learns to change and become a better person. In the same way, testing fully completed can result in a system that works and be accepted by its users.

About the Author:

Michael has over 25 years experience in leadership roles in prominent customer and vendor organizations working in the UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Hong Kong in the Airline, Banking, and Telecommunications sectors. He apologies to the late Harold Ramis for simplifying a theme from a far more complex and brilliant movie to draw inspiration for this piece.