Conformance testing is used to pre-test software new to DGI testing and to ready them for the next scheduled full matrix interoperability certification. Full matrix interoperability is defined as interoperability amongst all products testing in a specific test round.

Standard QA (quality assurance) testing involves conformance testing against a reference platform. It is often difficult to understand why interoperability testing would be any different. Why is full matrix testing necessary? Why is conformance testing against one or two products not enough to ensure full matrix interoperability?

Conformance testing requires reference products to test against. Building new and independent conformance engines generally is very expensive and labor intensive. Given that conformance platforms are just another piece of software to maintain with version changes and updates as the standard evolves, most industries have found it very difficult to recoup any monies spent on these endeavors and even once built, it does not ensure full matrix interoperability. This is because conformance testing removes most errors but does not uncover all interoperability problems. Once products are on the Internet, they need to connect to all points - not just one or two.

DGI's approach is to simulate real world testing. In our years of testing, we have found that the majority of errors center around a small percentage that cause the most problems. Thus, products might be 95% correct but the remaining 5% of the errors could take days or weeks or months to identify. Delays increase implementation costs for supply chains. Full matrix interoperability testing allows participants to identify these errors and correct them before reaching their customers.