Jon Hagar

In 2015, it was discovered that Volkswagen had equipped millions of its cars with software to cheat on diesel emissions tests. It was a team of independent testers that uncovered the fraud. Jon Hagar tells testers what they can take away from the scandal and gives some recommendations to consider in order to improve the test industry for IoT and embedded systems.

Take a look at the critical systems in the world today and you’ll find software. From water, power, and utilities to nuclear plants, factories, and cars, pretty much everything has become integrated with digital devices and the internet. We need to do testing from a risk-based perspective and be accountable to the public by acknowledging what is tested and what is not.

The hype around the Internet of Things is at its peak. Should you bother learning the skills developers and testers require in this new field, or will it soon become just another trend that's fallen out of favor? Jon Hagar makes a strong case for why the IoT will be relevant even after the clamor dies down, and why its associated skills will serve you well no matter what.

The silo effect refers to getting “stuck” in a small group with restricted options and a limited vision of the future. Silos are not all bad, though—there are positive aspects to being in a silo—you just need to be aware of their potential effects and realize how to overcome or work within them.

Wisdom is important in testing, but is it a skill? Is wisdom something we learn, or something we gain over the years? Jon Hagar discusses ways testers can expand their perspectives and ignore groupthink to try to become more well-rounded and wiser in their team roles.

A tester's job is to provide information about elements of the system that might make a user unhappy. But Jon Hagar finds that many testers implement limited tours, even when they have robust programs. He writes that when looking for bugs, testers need to look beyond the software to the system and the user scenarios, too.

You've entered the Twilight Zone. A robot that uses the cloud and massive amounts of big data can completely test software programs while detecting all bugs, rendering testers obsolete. But wait—the robot in this dystopian tale isn't utilizing special abilities only it can possess; these are methods any skilled tester should be employing right now.

Agile is growing up and is now officially a teenager. It has moved from being a somewhat rumbustious child with some overzealous followers and a skeptical management crowd to something that is generally accepted by the mainstream IT community and particular management. Has the agile community lost something? Are the founding members and early practitioners evolving the practice? Is this good? Well, the answers are yes, yes, and maybe.

Do you know the latest in test attacks and testing techniques to become a cyber security test warrior? Becoming one is probably not for everyone, but the need is real, continues to grow, and offers a career opportunity for those brave enough to take the challenge.

Jon Hagar writes that testers need to thoroughly understand what certification is all about. As a profession, we need to understand what these pieces of paper mean, the promises they can keep, what they may lead to, and some reasonable expectations for them.