Acceptance testing is the final stage of testing before a system is delivered to a live environment. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is performed by the end user, while Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) is performed by the vendor. Test cases are individually documented scenarios with pass or fail results, and payment may depend on achieving a certain level of results.
Acceptance testing is a final stage of testing that is performed on a system before the system is delivered to a live environment. Systems subject to this testing process could include products such as a software system or a mechanical hardware system. Acceptance tests are typically performed as a “black box” test, meaning that the tester uses specified inputs into the system and verifies that the resulting outputs are correct, without knowing the internal workings of the system.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the term used when these tests are performed by the person who will be using the live system once it is delivered. If the system is built or developed by an external vendor, this is sometimes called a customer acceptance test (CAT). The TAO or CAT serves as a final confirmation that the system is ready to go live. Success at this stage may be a contractual requirement before the system is approved by the customer.
In some industries, such as manufacturing, the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) is the term usually used for the formal testing phase. This test can be performed by the system vendor or vendor and observed by the customer. This is often done very formally, with each factory or site test documented in detail and each part signed off.
This form of testing often consists of many individual “test cases,” which are individually documented scenarios. Each test case that is part of the overall process will usually document what the input to the system is and what the expected output should be. If the actual output is as expected, the test case is said to return a pass or succeed result.
When acceptance tests are designed and specified, often a customer or group of end users will document what level of results will be considered good enough to allow acceptance of the system. Payment to the supplier or vendor may be dependent on achieving this goal. During testing, each test case is usually assigned a pass or fail result. Some test cases may be extremely important, while others may test non-essential parts of the system. Therefore, for the system to achieve a “pass” overall, it may not be necessary for each individual test case to achieve a pass result.
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