Conference Presentations

STARWEST 2003: Testing Dialogues - Management Issues

Testing dialogues are a unique platform for you to share your ideas and learn from experienced testers from around the world. In this double session, test managers engage in in-depth, small group discussions with their peers. You'll share your expertise and experiences, learn from others’ challenges and successes, and generate new topics in real-time. Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby facilitate this session, focusing on management issues such as: release criteria; determining ROI of test; coaching and feedback; managing new employees; estimating test time and resources. Bring your BIG issue and start a new dialog with your management peers. Discussions are structured in a framework so that participants will receive a summary or their work product after the conference.

Facilitated by Esther Derby and Johanna Rothman
Creating and Maturing a Testing Center of Excellence

How can your test organization help drive improvement in the overall software lifecycle? During the past several years, Capital One Financial has developed a Testing Center of Excellence (COE) that brought together disparate testing organizations to align their test processes and technical discipline. In addition to the measurable results of the COE, this initiative has supported and encouraged similar improvements in requirements development, project management, systems architecture, and software development methods. Learn how to significantly increase the business awareness of testing’s value and establish testing at the critical element to quality delivery in your organization.

Thomas George, Capital One Financial Corp
Sell Your Management on a New Testing Process

New test approaches and methods can temporarily disrupt your testing department's productivity, often making it tough to get these new approaches embraced by senior management and accepted into test teams. For the past few years, Microsoft has experimented with and finally embraced advanced methods, including model-based testing. Small-scale pilot projects, readily available tools, and widespread education can ease your migration to a new generation of software testing. Harr y Robinson shows how a small group of people successfully introduced test innovation into teams across Microsoft, and how they won acceptance for improvements that flew in the face of conventional methods and metrics.

Harry Robinson, Microsoft Corporation
Negotiation Bootcamp: Effective Techniques for Software Managers

Conference Presentation Effective Techniques for Software Managers

Michael Mah, QSM Associates, Inc.
Software Engineering Optimization: Measurement and Managing Change

Technical leaders and software managers face constant changes in the technology and processes used to develop and deliver applications. Discover appropriate measurements to assess and manage your projects. Discover where the optimization opportunities are in your organization, and learn what to where the optimization opportunities are in your organization, and learn what to do when things don't work out, and see how to rapidly diagnose and correct the problems. You'll also find out whether your engineering processes match the needs of your customers.

Ram Chillarege, Chillarege Inc.
Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Tossed: New Perspectives for Test Management

A paradigm is a set of rules and regulations that does two things: it establishes or defines boundaries; and it tells you how to be successful inside the boundaries. This paper discusses why paradigms are important and how they relate to test management.

Harry Robinson, Microsoft Corporation
STAREAST 2003: Rapid Web Testing in a High-Velocity Environment

This paper discusses implementing METS (Minimal Essential Testing Strategy) for your test team. METS is a strategy to help get the essential testing for your project done within the time frame allowed. Step by step instructions for using this methodology are included.

Greg Paskal, Kinko's
Questions That You Should Ask Your Test Manager (And How They Should Answer)

This article gives tips on the right way to approach your test manager when an issue arises involving the test team. Taking the time to plot out the right agenda before you begin communication is the key to a successful outcome.

Brian Warren, Dell Computer Corporation
Test Priorities in the Wake of Customer Clamor

This article discusses some of the challenges that testers face and how to overcome them. It also explains why it's important to conduct an analysis of the possible ways
in which a system could fail, and how to structure the testing to mitigate the most significant of those failures.

Steve Splaine, Neilson Media Research
The Testing Holodeck: A FREE Tool for Runtime Fault Injection

This article details some interesting software bugs and explains to the reader why they occur. The author discusses using this understanding to help your testing team improve their skills.

James Whittaker, Florida Institute of Technology

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