Conference Presentations

What's That Supposed to Do? The Archeology of Legacy Systems

In testing utopia, all software products submitted for testing have thorough and comprehensive documentation describing how every program function should work. On planet Earth, however, test engineers usually have to make do under less-than-ideal circumstances. It's not uncommon for test engineers to be asked to verify the functionality of a critical legacy system which has no documented requirements whatsoever. While there are many reasons this can happen, the result is the same: You assume the role of an archeologist sifting through the layers of clues to reconstruct the specifications. Patricia Ensworth gives you instructions and tools so you'll be ready to roll up your sleeves and dig.

Patricia Ensworth, Moody's Investors Service
Application Integration

Building an integrated suite of applications can be complicated, especially when several groups are working on the project in different locations. Here are some risks, as well as recommendations for allowing planning, development, and testing artifacts to be shared between disparate groups.

Sam Guckenheimer
Juggling Concurrent Releases

Every day you are faced with juggling resources and attention between customer escalations, current development projects, and planning for the future. With development cycles measured in weeks, you have at least three releases for each product. Multiply that by the number of projects under your responsibility, and you have a dozen or more releases to manage simultaneously.

Neal Reizer
Requirements Are Requirements Are Requirements - Not!

"This isn't what I need," states Customer Bob. "But it's what you said you wanted," replies Engineer Joe. "It's not right. I need something else." We've all encountered this classic users-don't-know-what-they-want scenario. The fact that software professionals continue to have this same experience over and over again suggests that we're overlooking the real reasons for the user/engineer disconnect. This presentation contrasts the different uses of the term "requirements" as it explores the possible solutions to improving understanding between business people and technical people.

Robin Goldsmith, GoPro Management, Inc.
Get Real! Creating Realistic, Actionable Project Schedules

The preparation of a realistic, practical project schedule is an essential management function for obtaining stakeholder commitment, setting expectations, and communicating within the team and organization what is achievable. Doing this preparation well is another challenge-one that must be conquered. Rex Black helps participants see the bigger project scheduling picture by focusing on issues such as constituent tasks, the underlying dependencies between them, and the risks attached to the completion of those tasks.

Rex Black, Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Learning to Test Wirelessly

Wireless testing is closely related to Web testing, but they are not twins. While wired Web access has settled on a handful of platforms with a few dominant operating systems, the wireless world is still a riot of platforms with a small number of operating systems and a myriad of browsers. There's also no way to test a wireless tool directly the way you can a Web site, because the tools rely primarily on emulators. Geraldine Conley talks about these and other surprising experiences in the wireless testing arena. She also covers the testing processes most affected by wireless technology: document reviews, the change control board, and configuration management.

Geraldine Conley, Golden-Gate Technologies, Inc.
STAREAST 2001: Managing the End Game of a Software Project

How do you know when a product is ready to ship? QA managers have been faced with this question for many years. Using the methodology discussed in this presentation, you take the guessing out of shipping a product and replace it with key metrics to help you rationally make the right decision. Learn how to estimate, predict, and manage your software project as it gets closer to its release date. Learn how to define which metrics to track--and how to measure them. Discover how to define the ratings scale for each metric and how to create a spider chart for product readiness. This presentation is a must for any individual or organization that is serious about maximizing the results of positive events and minimizing the consequences of adverse ones.

Mike Ennis, BMC Software
Configuration Management for Testers Working in Web Development Environments

Configuration management has long been a staple activity for large, traditional software engineering projects but has been markedly absent from most Web development projects. This presentation gives a brief overview into configuration management from a tester's perspective. Learn of the costs, drawbacks, and benefits of configuration management. Discover quick and simple ways your testing staff can add configuration management to your Web development environment.

Andrea MacIntosh, QA Labs Inc.
Release Criteria: Defining the Rules of the Product Release Game

How do you know when you're finished testing? How do you know when the product is ready to ship? Sometimes the decision to stop testing and release a product seems as if someone's making deals in a smoke-filled room, or that there are rules of the game of which we are unaware. At times, these rules seem completely arbitrary. Instead of arbitrary decisions, it is possible to come to an agreement about when the product is ready to release, and even when it's time to stop testing. In this presentation, learn how to define release criteria, and then use those criteria to decide when to release the product.

Johanna Rothman
When Test Drives the Development Bus

Once development reaches "code complete," the testing team takes over and drives the project to an acceptable quality level and stability. This is accomplished by weekly build cycles or dress rehearsals. The software is graded based on found, fixed, and outstanding errors. Development strives to increase the grades in each build--improving the quality and stability of the software. Learn how to use this "dress rehearsal" process to build team morale, develop ownership by the entire development team, and ensure success on opening night.

Cindy Necaise, MICROS Systems, Inc.

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