Many small companies find themselves in a dilemma when it comes to testing. They know that the software must be tested but cannot afford a full time tester or any automation tools. With no test strategies, testing becomes haphazard and difficult to monitor. Management have little or no idea of what is tested or the quality of the testing, and open themselves up to unknown risks when delivering the software. Serious software failures hurt the vendor’s reputation, impact on the production of the next software release and ultimately lose the clients.

This tutorial will look at the components of the software development lifecycle and propose methods which can be employed to improve software quality management and development. The tutorial will also look at improving recording of issues to minimize risks and to maximize on testing given limited resources and budget.

Employing methods proposed may aid in production of metrics, pave the way for possible automation and raise the confidence levels of the management. Most importantly, the proposed methods will increase not only the software quality but also increase client satisfaction in the final product.


About your tutor:

Profession: Support Analyst and Product Management

Experiences: Peter holds a Computer Science (Honours) degree from University of Cape Town. He has worked in a large computer organization in Zimbabwe for over 11 years gaining experience in the whole software development life cycle from business analysis to coding, from installation to training and support. His experiences cover systems in retail, manufacturing and banking. He has also lectured computer related subjects to part-time students in the evenings for a number of years. Moving to Australia in October 2000, Peter has worked for 8 years with his current firm in the roles of Systems Tester and Systems Analyst, providing invaluable input to the development of the analytical software developed, and providing testing strategies. He has also provided much needed help in the support team and has recently taken over the role of Product Management, being responsible for software quality.

Peter was a founder student of the Certified Software Test Professional (CSTP) course offered by with K.J. Ross & Associates in 2001.

Field of Activity: Systems Analyst, Systems Tester, Support Analyst, Product Management

Peter is based in Brisbane and works for Oniqua Enterprise Analytics which produces Enterprise Analytical Software for asset intensive organisations.