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| QUEST Chicago 2008 |
Last updated: 05/05/2009 |
Management's Role in Achieving Predictable Software Development Track 1: 11:00 - 12:00 Many software development organizations lack discipline, credibility, and predictability. As a result, these organizations are unable to accurately predict when products will be released. The goal of Predictable Software Development is simply to deliver what was promised, when it was promised, and with the level of quality that customers expect. Becoming more predictable usually means changing the culture. To do this, management must provide leadership, support, and commitment. This talk describes the critical role management must play to help the organization achieve Predictable Software Development. Join Steve and learn how managers can influence the development and testing process in positive ways including specific areas where management focus can achieve improved results in process effectiveness and time to market. In short, learn how to lead, not dictate, process improvement efforts. About the speaker... Test Metrics: A Practical Approach to Tracking & Interpretation Track 2: 11:00 - 12:00 Test metrics can be used to track and measure the efficiency, effectiveness, and success or shortcomings of many activities on a software development project. While it is important to recognize the value of gathering test metrics data, it is the interpretation of that data that makes the metrics meaningful. This session is designed to help test analysts and lead testers learn how to establish a test metrics program. Shaun will describe a metrics quick start program and provide examples of metrics that can be tracked during the testing effort. Most importantly, you will discover how to decipher these metrics in a way that makes the information meaningful to the overall quality of the project. About the speaker... How Can a Tester Cope With the Fast Paced Iterative/Incremental Process? Track 3: 11:00 - 12:00 About the speaker... Building a Software Testing Strategy Track 4: 11:00 - 12:00 If you need to build a test strategy, this presentation will offer you some practical ideas for getting started. Karen will provide an in-depth look at the elements that should be included in a test strategy. She will also cover techniques for soliciting ideas from other leads and members of your project team. You will learn how to update your strategy through the course of the project and how to discuss and gain input and acceptance throughout your organization. Karen will share from past experiences and will illustrate why building a test strategy isn't about creating a document, but is about thinking and planning strategically for a product release. Karen offers ideas for uncovering testing challenges and tackling those challenges both in hands on project work and by incorporating those insights into a test strategy. Geared for beginning and experienced test managers, this presentation will benefit anyone who needs to build a test strategy. About the speaker... Testing Services Within a SOA Architecture Track 5: 11:00 - 12:00 SOA based applications present their own set of difficulties to testers, but they also provide exceptional opportunities. In this session, you will learn about the unique quality challenges of SOA-based applications, how an application's web-services are tested, and how the HP solution can facilitate the testing and test-management process around web-services. This session will provide an overview of HP Software's solution for managing quality and test-automation around SOA-based applications. Chip will demonstrate the HP Service Test and Service Test Management products, which are part of the widely-used Quality Center suite. About the Speaker…Chip Crawford is a Solution Architect for the Application Quality Management products group at Hewlett Packard Software. Formerly with Mercury, Chip practices in a pre-sales role around the Quality Center and Performance Center product line, which includes hands-on work with the Service Test and Service Test Management products used to manage and validate SOA application quality. Prior to his tenure at Mercury, Chip has over 10 years working in the enterprise applications space with Oracle. Avoid Creep: Discover the REAL Requirements Track 1: 9:45 - 10:45 There is a simple, although not easy, way to avoid much of the requirements scope creep that many developers assume is normal and unavoidable. "That's not what I expected" and "Users don't know what they want" indeed are repeatedly predictable outcomes of the inadequate way requirements are defined conventionally, but such problems can be avoided. Creep mainly occurs when products, systems, or software requirements fail to meet the REAL business requirements. This usually happens because developers don't understand the important differences between business requirements and system requirements and do not know how to discover them. In this interactive session based on his recent book, Discovering REAL Business Requirements for Software Project Success, Robin will discuss powerful techniques for discovering the REAL requirements and documenting scope in ways that can dramatically reduce creep. About the speaker... TSP Teams Transform Test Track 2: 9:45 - 10:45 As pervasive as software has become in today's world, it is remarkable that the development of that software is the only modern technology that depends upon testing as a primary method of defect removal. The current expectation in most organizations, large and small, from initial development and major enhancements through lifecycle maintenance, is that finding and fixing defects during testing typically consumes half or more of allocated software costs. Why is this so? What would a different reality look like? Could that reality be achieved using known methods? There is a potential for a very different reality for test using the Team Software Process (TSP) and the Personal Software Process (PSP). This session presents an overview of the TSP and PSP with actual results from classroom and real-world usage, showing how a coherent packaging of known methods used at the individual and team levels can transform testing phases from high-cost defect removal to high-value-added functional verification. About the speaker... Automation and the Magic of Metrics Track 3: 9:45 - 10:45 Metrics, when gathered and analyzed correctly, can provide invaluable information and can assist in the best decision making. This is especially true in the world of test automation. How do we determine if our current process is the "best" process? Which manual test cases should we automate and which should we leave manual? What strategy should we use in implementing test automation? Are we realizing a return-on-investment? Has our testing process improved with automation? These are all important questions when needing to compare processes, track progress, and determine R.O.I. This presentation will provide key metrics which should be tracked to answer these questions and more. A practical worksheet will be provided to you that will assist in the analysis of amazing, magical metrics! About the speaker... Measuring Test Effectiveness Track 4 9:45 - 10:45 Every organization spends a lot of time, effort, and money in doing testing. Even after spending the resources, organizations grapple with lack of a deterministic approach for justifying the value of testing. The issue becomes more imminent in the current uncertain environment. Interestingly, there are many variations of approaches and measures organizations have created for understanding when to stop testing. Using NFR approach published by Chung, the presentation focuses on evolving a deterministic approach to Test Design. The four main elements of interest for managers to take decisions in the field of Testing have been Rigor, Speed, ROI, and Defects in the Testing activity. For each of the desired elements, the presentation proposes a set of attributes and influencers to be considered, and suggests metrics for effectiveness of Tests. Using these metrics, the author highlights and suggests specific measurable and predictable criteria for making the most important decisions - “When to Stop Testing”. About the speaker... The Final Quality Gate: Software Release Readiness Track 5: 9:45 - 10:45 The implementation of a software release brings a level of risk to the stability of a business. The challenge of Information Technology is to deliver constant application software changes to meet business needs, while ensuring minimal disruption of service to internal and external customers. A company faced with frequent or highly visible production problems impacting customers needs improved control over the introduction of software releases. How do we determine if a software release is ready to "go live?" Are QA test results sufficient evidence for the release deployment decision? This presentation will address the multi-dimensional criteria for evaluating readiness beyond product quality, that include dimensions for customer, deployment, support, operational, and security readiness. A simple yet effective process for evaluating multi-dimensional readiness will also be provided for the final quality gate within the software release life cycle. This approach integrates with any formal or informal methodology to achieve a better informed and more confident "go live" decision. About the speaker... The Power of Inspections and Peer Reviews Track 1: 1:00 - 2:00 Most organizations rely on traditional testing to determine whether software works or has bugs. Yet, for over 30 years, the formal Inspection process developed by Michael Fagan has proven to be more effective and efficient at finding defects. If you use inspections early in the life cycle when defects are easier and less costly to find and fix, you generate major savings in time and money. Learn how to unleash the power of Inspections (Static Testing) while implementing a technique that has proven strategic value for finding defects and improving processes. Use Inspections as your peer review procedure to improve maturity. Show your management significant bottom-line value and ROI. Learn from case studies demonstrating millions of dollars in savings in companies like yours. Get the information you need to make a persuasive case to management. About the speaker... Getting to Consensus Quickly Track 2: 1:00 - 2:00 How many times have you had project delays because new ideas emerged late or the key stakeholders couldn't reach consensus? This session will help you learn different techniques you can employ when having to bring together people with different agendas. Sandra will discuss establishing team charters and delineating roles early on in a project. You will also review meeting management, including building agreements, voting and ranking techniques, managing strategic moments, and capitalizing on energy and creativity. Finally, we will discuss steps you can take to influence those who seem reticent to take on the group goal or charter. About the speaker... A Quick Automation Guide for Testing Managers Track 3: 1:00 - 2:00 Almost all test managers face the dilemma, "Should I or shouldn't I go for automation?" There are many pros and cons and the answer does not come easily. Several factors need to be considered before making a decision. In his presentation, Robby will discuss how to make this choice. What set of information should be taken into account? What are the risks in automation? How should automation be presented to senior management? Join Robby as he presents both automation projects that were successful and some that failed and discloses the reasons behind these outcomes. An overview of the categories of automation tools and cost estimates of automation projects will be given. Finally, the soft side of the automation project will be covered, how to get the cooperation of the existing test team and overcome their fear of becoming redundant? About the speaker... Assuring Certainty through Effective Regression Testing Track 4: 1:00 - 2:00 Effective regression testing is a mainstream IT initiative that ranks among the top priorities of management. This presentation is based on Vishvesh's experience in the testing of various web based applications for a global market leader in automotive systems and facility management & controls. During his discussion, Vishvesh will outline the regression testing approach adopted to optimize the business outcome. There will be a focus on best practices followed during the test cycle highlighting some of the unique practices that proved to be the most successful. The importance of repeatable process to reduce testing cycle time and improve overall quality will also be stressed. As a final point, methodology that embraces Six Sigma principals, reduces project risk, and streamlines test delivery will be covered. About the speaker... Performance Testing Best Practices Track 5: 1:00 - 2:00 In his presentation, Lee will focus on general best practices and ideas for those looking to implement performance testing in their organization. High level topics covered will include resource requirements, planning, scripting, data management, execution, and analysis. Lee will particularly discuss the importance of planning in performance testing. You will come away with a performance testing roadmap that you can use in your own organization to avoid common performance testing pitfalls thus enabling you to focus your efforts on the specific performance details of the systems you are testing. About the speaker... 360° Project Lifecycle Health Assessments Track 1: 9:45 - 10:45 Now, more than ever, businesses cannot afford costly surprises, flawed information, and limited visibility into project performance. Proactive, preventive, “early warning” processes must be put in place to help diagnose and manage project health and reduce the cost of poor quality. This presentation will address how the rigorous application of project assessment and independent verification and validation (IVV) processes, tools, and techniques throughout the project lifecycle can increase an organization’s ability to detect, measure, and manage risk more effectively. This will reduce the likelihood of budget overruns, late deliveries, sponsor dissatisfaction, and reduced work product quality. Leveraging best practices knowledge to customize scorecards and conduct health assessments that combine subjective intelligence with statistical data, helps to solve immediate problems and prevent their root causes from degrading future performance. About the Speaker… Using CMMI for Services for IT Excellence Track 2: 9:45 - 10:45 About the Speaker… The Importance of Securing Test Data Track 3: 9:45 - 10:45 A widespread and crucial issue facing organizations during the testing of mission critical applications is how to handle test data in a secure way. Testing directly on live production systems is, of course, out of the question, therefore separate and isolated testing environments are created. Because of recent regulations like PCI and Sarbanes Oxley, providing copies of production data for testing purposes is no longer an option unless the data is de-identified. In his presentation, John will highlight the dangers and pitfalls of testing insecurely and will suggest approaches to addressing this critical issue. About the speaker... Port 80 Is Wide Open: Scanning for Application-Layer Vulnerabilities Track 4: 9:45 - 10:45 If your web application or service is vulnerable to corrupt or unsanitized user data, no conventional firewall will protect you. Learn how hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in your web application and how you can fight back. IT security testing has focused overwhelmingly on events at the hardware, network, and session levels, but most actual attacks now occur at the application level. This session will provide a quick tour of cross-site scripting, SQL injection, server-side injection, and other attacks that can sail right through the window your network administrator explicitly leaves open for your users. Joshua will offer state of the world advice about the malware ecosystem and will describe testing methods to detect vulnerabilities before your software is deployed. About the speaker... Conference Sessions: Keynote Presentations | Industry Practices Sessions | Solutions Benchmarking Sessions | Best Practices Workshops Coaching Sessions | Panel Discussion |
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