Why Test Nonfunctional Requirements?

Testing nonfunctional requirements is often relegated to the end of a software delivery project, and sometimes completely ignored, particularly within small teams constrained by resources (and expertise). Enterprise development teams can fare somewhat better, partly through access to specialized skills and partly by understanding their customers and associated resource usage better.

Many enterprise organizations conduct capacity and security planning within the feasibility study of a large project. In reality, this is often fraught with uncertainty and danger, as business teams are unsure of the number of customers, usage patterns, and potential threats; and the engineering teams are unsure of the impact and capacity requirements of each unit of functionality offered by the …