| |October 20189age, and day-long simulations to test and deploy a quality product. The following types of testing can be considered depending on various conditions:· Security Testing: As IoT devic-es/systems continuously transfer data, we must identify and elim-inate vulnerabilities to maintain the integrity of data and system.· Performance Testing validated the performance of data reading, writing, and data retrieval rate.· Compatibility Testing: In the connected world, it is important to validate the working combination of hardware, protocols, software, and operating systems. All devic-es/system should be in sync and compatible with each other.· Functional Testing ensures that the intended functionalities are satisfied. · Regulatory Testing ensures com-pliance with privacy regulations.· Scalability Testing: The sys-tem and its component should be able to accommodate future potential. For example, if there are 10 sensors in the current sys-tem and we add 40 new sensors then the system must support all 50 sensors without degrading the performance.Formulating an IoT Test StrategyIoT is finding its application in different business sectors. So, test engineers must develop an opti-mum test management strategy to monitor, report, and evaluate the device functioning and its com-munication with surroundings. While developing a test strategy, the business must keep the follow-ing two things in mind: 1) Understand the Technology UsedCommunication is the core of the Internet of Things. Networking technologies help in smooth com-munication between the devices, applications, and services. So, it is important to understand both the underlying technology and the communication framework to smoothly transfer data between `things' and systems. The major technologies and protocols of IoT are cellular, WiFi, and Ethernet, LPWAN, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NFC, and RFID etc. These technologies support the specific networking functionality need-ed in an IoT system. A number of technologies continue to emerge rapidly, so companies need to keep the pace with the latest technolo-gy to maintain competitive edge.2) Understand the ChallengesIoT helps the connected things/objects in our surroundings to be active participants that communi-cate with each other over the net-work (wired/wireless). It becomes imperative that the device must recognize, trigger and change in the surrounding environments and then act accordingly. Follow-ing are some of the key points which need to be considered:· Create and design the test environment which is a replica of the real environment.· In IoT, there are many compo-nents and subcomponents at-tached and communicating with each other. It is imperative to un-derstand their integration and data flow in order to design test scenarios.· Understand the software-hard-ware mesh.· Understand the hardware, its ability, and frequency to emit data. · Understand the objective of the product under test.Many organizations see great potential in leveraging the In-ternet of Things to offer differ-entiated customer experiences. If we want to successfully devel-op IoT applications in-sync with the current pain-point of the business then it will be a boon to the end user. However, it is equally important to address the user' requirement and have the right test coverage to ensure that it's performing well as per the specification.The complexity and the diver-sification included in the IoT pro-cess communication poses many challenges in various stages of testing--test planning, test exe-cution, test monitoring, and test control. However, a well-designed test strategy which includes the complete scope of application and testing can become a weap-on to deliver and deploy projects on time.IoT testing may look like a tough/challenging job initially, but, it is also very exciting and different as compared to tradi-tional software testing. IoT test-ing involves testing a variety of devices, protocols, hardware, op-erating systems, firmware etc. So, the rule is to stick to the plan, cov-er real-time scenarios, carry out a well-controlled execution, and monitor the progress.Happy Testing! C I
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