Conference Presentations

Optimize Application Infrastructure Performance Before Going Live

Our surveys have shown that over 75 percent of applications fail to meet their performance goals. With today's complex multi-tier systems and integration projects, finding these performance bottlenecks can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Customers need a systematic approach to identifying, isolating and resolving performance bottlenecks prior to going live. Mr. Radhakrishnan will address methodology and technology available today to solve performance problems for multi-tier systems in a deployment or production setting. the presentation will cover:

  • Practices for dealing with performance optimization in the lab and in deployment
  • Solo tools for databases, J2EE apps, ERP/CRM solutions, as well as holistic system wide tools
  • A complete methodology for tuning and optimization practices
  • Expanding performance assessment and optimization to capacity planning
Rajesh Radhakrishnan, Mercury Interactive
Application Performance and Reliability Management - 24x7

Managing system performance and reliability has never been as significantx0151or as challengingx0151as it is now. These days, most organizations have multi-technology, multi-vendor, multi-tier environments. In other words, it’s a world rife with 24-hour, alwaysx0151on complexity. Add to this the need for continual changes to react to shifts in business conditions, technology advances, and mixes of demands and you have a recipe that calls for the highest level of performance and reliability possible. But getting there is next to impossible. However, new concepts emerging from research labs are delivering usable products such as flexible computing, autonomous computing, and self-tuning systems. These possibilities have revolutionary potential for performance management.

  • Examine recommended suites of tools and their limitations
  • Look at the major innovations and trends, such as self-tuning systems
Ross Collard, Collard and Company
Testing Toolkit for J2EE Systems: A Case Study

Taking a test team from a client/server environment to J2EE-based Web technologies and implementing test automation at the same time is a challenge. Introducing an agile test methodology into a traditionally waterfall-oriented organization at the same time is even bigger. In this case study, share Clay Coleman's successes and challenges as he mentored and supported a test group throughout this project. Walk with Clay from the days of early analysis and design; through test strategy development and planning; on to test case design and automation efforts; during all stages of test execution; past system rollout; and, finally, completion of an initial regression test suite. If you think you may go through such an experience, you'll learn some lessons Clay will never forget.

  • Integrate test automation into the construction phase of a development project
Clay Coleman, CapTech Ventures
Beyond GUI: What You Need to Know about Database Testing

Today's complex software systems access heterogeneous data from a variety of back-end databases. The intricate mix of client-server and Web-enabled database applications are extremely difficult to test productively. Testing at the data access layer is the point at which your application
communicates with the database. Tests at this level are vital to improve not only your overall test strategy, but also your product's quality. Mary Sweeney explains what you need to know to test the SQL database engine, stored procedures, and data views. Find out how to design effective automated tests that exercise the complete database layer of your applications. You'll learn about the most common and vexing defects related to SQL databases and the best tools available to support your testing efforts.

Mary Sweeney, Exceed Training
Testing "Best Practices": From Microsoft's Context to Yours

Testing is a never-ending series of trade-off decisions, what to test and what not to test; when to stop testing and release the product; how to budget your testing resources for automated vs. manual testing; how much code coverage is good enough; and much more. To make these difficult judgement calls, we often turn to the "best practices" recommended by testing experts and others who have encountered similar problems. The key to successful implementation is matching their "best practices" to your own context (team make-up, company culture, market
environment, etc.). Barry Preppernau shares his insights gathered from over 20 years of testing experience at Microsoft. You'll learn about the tools and processes that have been successful within Microsoft and ways for you to identify, adapt, and implement successful test improvement
initiatives within your organization.

Barry Preppernau, Microsoft Corporation
The Best Testers are Free

Beta programs and early release programs are commonly used in software release cycles. The next level of partnership is bringing actual customers into the test lab. When customers test, even for short periods of time, their contribution can change your test practices and test environments forever. The best part is, they’ll do it for free! Learn how to recruit customers for testing and then use them to improve test practices within your test team.

Adam Tate, IBM Corporation
Getting Things Done: Practical Web Application/e-Commerce Stress Testing

Web and e-commerce applications are still the rising, often unreachable, stars of the testing world. Your team's ability to effectively stress test Web applications-before your customers do-is critical. This double-track session shows you the tools that support stress testing, including several that cost absolutely nothing. It also walks you through a variety of approaches to stress testing that are available during all phases of development. This journey allows you to develop a plan to automate your stress testing, as well as know how and when to implement it as part of the software development process.

Robert Sabourin, AmiBug.com Inc
Testing Component-Based Software

Today component engineering is gaining substantial interest in the software engineering community. Jerry Gao provides insight and observations on component testability and proposes a new model to represent and measure the maturity levels of a component testing process. In this presentation, you will identify, classify, and discuss new issues in testing component-based software.

Jerry Gao, San Jose State University
Modeling the Real World for Load Testing

Requesting your Web site's home page one hundred times per minute is not going to give you a very accurate idea of how your Web site is actually going to perform in the real world. Explore the variables that you need to consider when designing a Web load or stress test, including user activities, graphics, security, user access speeds, and geographic locations.

Steve Splaine, Splaine & Associates
Managing User Acceptance Testing in Large Projects

Managing user acceptance testing poses many challenges, especially in large-scale projects. Julie Tarwater explores the issues of planning, coordinating, and executing effective user testing with a large number of end users. Learn strategies for ensuring user acceptance while exploring the pros and cons of each. Discover ways to prioritize issues that arise from user testing.

Julie Tarwater, T. Rowe Price Associates

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