The operational profile

Operational profiles are an important part of the technology and practice of software reliability engineering. The concept was developed originally (Musa et al. 1987) to make it possible to specify the nature of the use of a software-based system so that testing could be made as realistic as possible and so that reliability measurements would reflect that realism. However, the operational profile rapidly became useful for additional purposes in software reliability engineering (Musa 1993). In fact, it is also proving useful for purposes outside of software reliability engineering as well. This paper gives an overview of operational profile practice, discussing what the operational profile is, why it is important, and how it is developed and applied. It also presents some current open research questions; work in these areas can be expected to affect the practice of the future.