You have completed a project and the live date is nextday, you got one big problem but that problem can't be resolved in short time and the estimate is 30 days. Waht are your options ..?
If all the processes (unit testing, component testing, system testing etc) were followed correctly then this problem whose fixing/retesting estimation is 30 days should not have come at all.
If at all such issue has come, then call an urgent meeting with the client, test engineers, developers. Look for a work around. If there is nothing, take the permission of the client and drop that feature and mention in the release note as a known issue.
In real time defect's can be found at any point of time, but defects that takes 30 days to resolve then no client will accept the it, because definately such defects impact will more on the application.
So, Project Manager should convenience the client and release the product/application with known issues and fix the defect ASAP and release the patch and make sure that is working fine
Or else release date should be extended to 10 or 15 days and by taking client's acceptance and fix the defect ASAP by making use of more resources and then release the product/application.
As a tester we can find out the issues at any time as no one can give 100% bug free product, but the thing is we must find out the major issues while doing regression testing, alpha or beta testing it self.
If at all found the issues in above said situation, first of all need to intimate to client ( through our TL or PM) and need to explain with proper reasons why that was missed in our testing, try to convience him, i feel no client will accept the application with major issues, so altimately he can give the time.
Our options depend on the company profitability and customer perception.
Options:
1) If the functionality is not mission-critical, then release the application with the impaired functionality. Inform customers that this is a known defect.
2) Create a workaround (a patch) that will fix the problem in the short term. This option sounds good on paper. Yet this is feasible only if the patch can be furnished in a short period of time. If it takes two weeks to produce a workaround, then it may be better to postpone the release for 30 days and place all of our development effort toward permanently fixing the impaired functionality.
3) Simply postpone the release of the product until the broken functionality is fixed. Maybe our business can live without this product over the next 30 days and a development effort to produce a workaround would not be cost-effective.
4) Remove the problematic functionality and release the product. Probably the least likely option. Yet this may be feasible if it is not a mission-critical functionality, if other functionalities do not depend on it and if this option can be accomplished quickly.
You have completed a project and the live date is nextday, you got one big problem but that problem can't be resolved in short time and the estimate is 30 days. Waht are your options ..?