Six challenges in Software Integration testing:

Integration testing has been changing over the time with the development of web services and change from integrating large application to smaller sets of application. In this article, we will focus on the major challenges in the system integration testing.

1.     Perception for Integration testing

The perception that Integration testing is testing the integration points between two units or system and verifying if the systems are working properly. This can actually cause issues when the actual user s) uses the application. Integration between different systems should not be oversimplified and should follow by an exhaustive testing considering collection of Systems integrated together as an environment focusing on different sets of inputs and corresponding outputs from other system.

2.     Our Individual systems are perfect, but together teamwork is missing.

Let us consider a banking system. There are multiple layers  Individual systems) for Front Office, middle Office and back office. While delivering the system, there may be possibility for systems developed by different parties. The integration testing should be done in a manner that the integration testing suite should be minimal impacted by change in other third party systems. While Creating individual systems, we should keep in mind, possible integrations with other software systems with which the software will interact, so as to minimize efforts and seamless integration of software with other soft wares

3.     Are we following the standards

 Consider transfer of banking instruction across the globe in the form of Swift messages? Suppose different banks have different messaging format, it would have been very difficult to integrate between different bank and virtually impossible to create an interconnected network between systems. Similar to this, we can follow standards of messages in the form of web services with predefined set of request and response messages. Use of Web Services also helps in integrating systems developed by different teams

4.  Complexity in managing Systems Integration

Test includes factor like Application, Platforms, Environments, data and resource availability for different application.

5.  Most of the legacy systems were isolated system with lot of functionality

Integration of new systems with the legacy system or between two different legacy systems requires a lot of changes in both the systems.

6.   In earlier systems, there was relatively small number of large application as compared to new system which focuses on large number of small applications. 

This results in changing approach for Integration testing with time.