RECENT YEARS HAVE BROUGHT A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN THE FIELD OF APPLICATION TESTING. GROWING COMPLEXITYOF TODAY’S APPLICATIONS, COMBINED WITH INCREASED COMPETITIVE PRESSURES AND SKYROCKETING COSTS OFAPPLICATION FAILURE AND DOWNTIME, HAVE CATAPULTED THE NEED FOR TESTING TO NEW HIGHS.WHILE THE PRESSURES TO DELIVER HIGH-QUALITY APPLICATIONS CONTINUE TO MOUNT, SHRINKING DEVELOPMENT ANDDEPLOYMENT SCHEDULES, GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTRIBUTED ORGANIZATIONS, LIMITED RESOURCES AND HIGH TURNOVERRATES FOR SKILLED EMPLOYEES MAKE APPLICATION TESTING THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE.FACED WITH THE REALITY OF HAVING TO DO MORE WITH LESS, JUGGLE MULTIPLE PROJECTS AND MANAGE DIVERSEANDDISTRIBUTED PROJECT TEAMS, MANY ORGANIZATIONS ARE ADOPTING TEST-MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES ANDTURNING TO AUTOMATED TEST-MANAGEMENT TOOLS TO HELP CENTRALIZE, ORGANIZE, PRIORITIZE AND DOCUMENT THEIRTESTING EFFORTS.THIS PAPER EXPLORES THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF TEST MANAGEMENT AND PROVIDES PRACTICAL WAYS TO HELP PUT IN PLACE AN ORGANIZED AND STRUCTURED TESTING PROCESS. IN ADDITION, THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THEBENEFITS OF MERCURY INTERACTIVE’S TESTDIRECTOR — THE INDUSTRY’S FIRST TOOL TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR GLOBALTEST MANAGEMENT.