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STAREAST 2006 Concurrent Sessions
Go To: Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
View by Track
| Wednesday, May 17, 2006 11:30 AM | | Credibility: Your Key to Success as a Test Manager
Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services Inc
For test managers and testers, credibility is everything. Without credibility, people won't take you seriously or believe your findings. There are very specific and achievable things every test manager can and should do to make sure the information conveyed to stakeholders is accurate and reliable. Randall Rice talks about the credibility factors you need to exhibit for success: knowledge, attitude, objectivity, accuracy, trust, and attention to detail. With real-world examples, Randall teaches you to build long-term trust with creative ways to document test findings and present to your stakeholders the information they want—when they need to know it. Take away a list of eight credibility killers, and learn how to rebuild you team’s credibility once it is lost.
• A template for assessing your team’s present credibility rating
• Ways to deliver accurate and timely information to all project stakeholders
• Grow as a test manager or tester by building trust and respect |
| | Capitalize on Static Analysis Testing
James Bach, Satisfice Inc
By evaluating software based on its form, structure, content, and documentation, you can use static analysis to test code within a program without actually running or executing the program. Static analysis testing helps us stop defects from entering the code stream in the first place rather than waiting for the costly and time-consuming manual intervention of testing to find defects. With real-world examples, Djenana Campara describes the mechanics of static analysis—when it should be used, where it can be executed most beneficially within your testing process, and how it works in different development scenarios. Find out how you can begin using code analysis to improve code security and reliability.
• The mechanics of automated static analysis
• Static analysis for security and reliability testing
• Integrating static analysis into the testing process |
| | Five Core Metrics to Guide the Testing Endgame
Robert Galen, RGCG, LLC
By its very nature, the endgame of software projects is a hostile environment. Typical dynamics include release pressure, continuous bug discovery, additional requirements, exhausted development teams, frenzied project managers, and “crunch mode”—a politically correct term for unpaid overtime. Although testing teams are usually in the thick of this battle, they usually do not do enough to help guide the project in this critical stage. To improve the overall endgame experience, testers can help entire team’s focus with a few key defects metrics. Robert Galen discusses ways to track these five key defect metrics: found vs. fixed; high priority defects found; project keywords; defect transition progress; and functional distribution of errors. Join Robert to increase the likelihood of delivering your projects on time—and surviving yet another endgame.
• Help traffic the action for the incoming defect stream during the endgame
• Highlight defect repair performance characteristics without alienating development
• Provide Pareto guidance into project risk areas |
| | Trends, Innovations, and Blind Alleys in Performance Testing
Ross Collard, Collard and Company
Scott Barber, PerfTestPlus
Join experts Scott Barber and Ross Collard for a lively discussion/debate on leading edge performance testing tools and methods. Do you agree with Scott that performance testing is poised for a great leap forward or with Ross who believes that these “silver bullets” will not make much difference in resolving the difficulties performance testing poses? Scott and Ross will square off on topics including commercial vs. open source tools; compatibility and integration of test and live environments; design for performance testability; early performance testing during design; test case reuse; test load design; statistical methods; knowledge and skills of performance testers; predicting operational behavior and scalability limits; and much more. Deepen your understanding of the new technology in performance testing, the promises, and the limitations.
• The latest tools and methods for performance testing
• Opportunities and limitations for performance testing complex systems
• Compare the effectiveness of your performance testing to others |
| | Sarbanes and Oxley: Your New Stakeholders
Elle Ringham, Fidelity National Financial
Determining whether legal and contractual issues apply to your development efforts isn't always simple. There may be some obvious factors: a well-regulated industry, service level agreements, and state or federal agency oversight. However, other factors may not be so obvious. The new Sarbanes-Oxley Act is largely legally untested, subjecting your company to unknown legal issues. You have an eCommerce site that stores credit card information. Your portal collects personal information. You produce proprietary software . . . and more. Covering legal, compliance, and audit throughout the QA process lifecycle, Elle Ringham discusses the right questions to ask and what to do with those answers. She provides guidelines for working with stakeholders, attorneys, and auditors. Take away audit templates, metrics to help you, and sample reports you may need to produce.
• Legal and compliance issues within QA scope
• Questions to ask and what to do with the answers you get
• Reporting the results of compliance tests |
| | | Wednesday, May 17, 2006 1:45 PM | | Hallmarks of a Great Tester
Michael Hunter, Microsoft Corporation
As a manager, you want to select and develop people with the talents to become great testers, the ability to learn the skills of great testers, and the willingness to work hard in order to become great testers. As an individual, you aspire to become a great tester. So, what does it take? Michael Hunter reveals his twenty hallmarks of a great tester from personality traits—curiosity, courage, and honesty—to skills—knowing where to find more bugs, writing precise bug reports, and setting appropriate test scope. Measure yourself and your team against other great testers, and find out how to achieve greatness in each area. Learn how to identify the great testers you don’t know that you already know!
• The personality traits a person needs to become a great tester
• The talents a person needs to become great tester
• The skills you need to develop to become a great tester |
| | | W7 is a Double-Track Session! | Testing Dialogues—Technical Issues
Esther Derby, Esther Derby Associates Inc
Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Is there an important technical test issue bothering you? Or, as a test engineer, are you looking for some career advice? If so, join experienced facilitators Esther Derby and Johanna Rothman for “Testing Dialogues—Technical Issues.” Practice the power of group problem solving and develop novel approaches to solving your big problem. This double-track session takes on technical issues, such as automation challenges, model-based testing, testing immature technologies, open source test tools, testing Web services, and career development. You name it! Share your expertise and experiences, learn from the challenges and successes of others, and generate new topics in real-time. Discussions are structured in a framework so that participants receive a summary of their work product after the conference. |
| | S-Curves and the Zero Bug Bounce: Plotting the Way to Better Testing
Shaun Bradshaw, Questcon Technologies, A Division of Howard Systems Intl.
The use of objective test metrics is an important step toward improving your ability to effectively manage any test effort. With the two test metrics—the S-Curve and Zero Bug Bounce—you can easily track the progress of the test effort. Learn to graph the S-Curve, showing cumulative test cases planned, attempted, and completed over time. Keep track of the Bug Bounce—the number of open bugs at the end of a period (usually one to several days)—and especially Zero Bug Bounce—the first time development has resolved all the bugs raised by the testers and there are no active outstanding issues. Improve your ability to communicate to the project team test results and test needs and make better decisions about when your application is ready to ship.
• Derive a theoretical and actual S-Curve for test cases using historic and current data
• Use the Zero Bug Bounce for tracking defect correction activities
• Assess the risk of component and application failure prior to release |
| | Using Production Failure to Jump Start Performance Test Plans
Sandra Bourgeois, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Learning from a production system failure is not a model MassMutual Financial Group would have chosen. However, when one of their key applications failed under load in production, they turned on a dime and changed their performance testing approach, focus, and capabilities. Let’s set the scene: They ran large numbers of transactions through a performance test tool and, then, went live with a new application that was to be used by all their key users. Within hours, the application had ground to a virtual halt under normal production load. What went wrong? Join Sandra Bourgeois to find out not only what went wrong but also what they learned from failure and how they set about to improve their knowledge, skills, and tools. This is your chance to learn from their mistakes and avoid repeating them in your organization.
• Lessons learned from the performance failure of a mission-critical application
• DITL (Day In The Life) performance test and why you need one
• Component and integrated performance tests of complex architectures |
| | ISQTB™ Certification: Setting the Standard for Tester Professionalism
Rex Black, Rex Black Consulting
A good test certification program confirms, through objective exams, the knowledge and professional capabilities of software testers. The International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB™) was formed as a non-profit organization to develop and promote just such a certification throughout the world. The ISTQB™ is comprised of volunteer representatives from eighteen national boards, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Israel, India, Japan, Korea, Poland, and other European countries. Rex Black, current President of both the ISTQB™ and the US national board (ASTQB), presents an overview of the first truly international tester certification program. He describes the development of the standard syllabus outlining required knowledge and skills and presents an overview of the three levels of certification available to professional testers.
• Introduction to the ISTQB™—an open, international tester certification program
• Represents the distilled wisdom of many experts including practitioners, consultants, trainers, and academicians
• A program with over 25,000 certified testers around the world |
| | | Wednesday, May 17, 2006 3:00 PM | | Apprenticeships: A Forgotten Concept for Testing
Lloyd Roden, Grove Consultants
The system of apprenticeship was first developed in the late Middle Ages. The uneducated and inexperienced were employed by a master craftsman in exchange for formal training in a particular craft. So why does apprenticeship seldom happen within software testing? Do we subconsciously believe that just about anyone can test software? Join Lloyd Roden and discover what apprenticeship training is and—even more importantly—what it is not. Learn how this practice can be easily adapted to suit software testing. Find out about the advantages and disadvantages of several apprenticeship models: Chief Tester, Hierarchical, Buddy, and Coterie. With personal experiences to share, Lloyd shows how projects will benefit immediately with the rebirth of the apprenticeship system in your test team.
• Four apprenticeship models that can apply to software testers
• Measures of the benefits and return on investment of apprenticeships
• Advice on making apprenticeships work in your team |
| | Test Metrics in a CMMI® Level 5 Organization
Shalini Aiyaroo, Motorola Malaysia Sdn. Bhd
As a CMMI® Level 5 company, Motorola Global Software Group is heavily involved in software verification and validation activities. Shalini Aiyaroo, senior software engineer at Motorola, shows how tracking specific testing metrics can serve as key indicators of the health of testing and how these metrics can be used to improve your testing practices. Find out how to track and measure phase screening effectiveness, fault density, and test execution productivity. Shalini describes the use of Software Reliability Engineering (SRE) and fault prediction models to measure test effectiveness and take corrective actions. By performing orthogonal defect classification (ODC) and escaped defect analysis, the group has found ways to improve test coverage.
CMMI® is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University.
• Structured approach to outsource testing
• Framework for setting up a client-focused Testing Center of Excellence
• Measurement of the business value of test outsourcing |
| | Progressive Performance Testing: Adapting to Changing Conditions
Jeff Jewell, ProtoTest LLC
An inflexible approach to performance testing is a prelude to disaster. “What you see at the start isn't always what you get in the end,” says Jeff Jewell. Based on his experience performance testing applications on numerous consulting projects, Jeff demonstrates the challenges you may face testing your applications and how to overcome these obstacles. Examples from performance testing on these projects will demonstrate some of the ways that changing conditions of the projects and the information they discovered in early tests caused the testing approach to change dramatically. Find out how hardware configuration, hardware performance, script variations, bandwidth, monitoring, and randomness can all affect the measurement of performance. Learn to use the data from early tests to guide the rest of the performance testing effort and take back new insights in what to look for to make your tests accurately predict production performance.
• Real-world examples of e-commerce and online banking performance tests
• Performance testing challenges presented by test environments
• Using early performance tests to guide the way |
| | Build Rules: A Management System for Complex Test Environments
Steve Hagerott, Engenio Storage Group, LSI Logic Corporation
Due to the interaction of many software components, there is increased complexity in testing today's software solutions. The problem becomes especially difficult when the solution includes combinations of hardware, software, and multiple operating systems. To automate this process, Steven Hagerott’s company developed "Build Rules," a Web-based application with inputs from their build management and test execution systems. Using logical rules about the builds, test engineers define the characteristics of the build solution points. To deliver the latest and greatest builds that meet the characteristics defined for each solution point, the system dynamically translates these rules into server side nested SQL queries. Learn how their efficiency and accuracy has improved significantly, allowing test engineers to stay on track with many different build combinations and to communicate results to outside departments and customers.
• The test challenge of complex solution points
• Process and politics behind a dual layer build rule system
• A case study in solution point management success |
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