You can now plan your time at the SQC Conference with our new interactive agenda builder and have your personalised agenda sent to you by email.
How to use it:
Enter your email address below.
Then simply work your way through the programme clicking on the Click to Attend button for those sessions you are interested in attending.
If you want more information about a presentation, click on the .
When you have finished your selections, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page and the email will immediately appear on your screen. Just click on the send button in the email and it will be sent to you.
If you change your mind about what you would like to go and see, you can come back at any time and change your choices.
9.00 - 9.10am CONFERENCE OPENING
Welcome
Bob Bartlett, SQS
Competition prize giving
Wayne Mallinson, Test and Data Services
9.15 - 10.15 KEYNOTE
Supersonic Testing
Richard Noble, OBE - The man who brought the land speed record back to Britain achieving 633 mph in Thrust2
Keynote Details: 9.15 - 10.15am
Supersonic Testing
Presenter: Richard Noble
Abstract
The world land speed record pushes car development to the ultimate and its very much a part of British culture. Not many jet aircraft can go supersonic at low altitude and with dynamic pressures of 7.5 tonnes per sq metre, the slightest failure of bodywork could cause instant destruction.
This is the story of how the British challenged the Americans and F1 for the supreme motorsport title - the first supersonic land speed record . But since the Brits were operating on just 12% of the F1 team budget they had to institute advance agile company structures and incorporate development and testing on a miniscule budget - while all the time being safe . There was no alternative - there never was the budget for a traditional relaxed hierarchical and sequential operation. This was a company that had to remain safe and grow at 300% per annum.
And the supersonic record still stands today - and its all British!
Abstract If you want to improve test effectiveness, you must first look your test team. Are they motivated? Are they enthusiastic? Do they have a real sense of ownership for the testing that they do? If they are not, all the good processes and tools in the world will not help you (whether you live in a waterfall or agile world).
So, how do we motivate testers? There are seven key steps:
Your hiring decisions are your most important decisions. Hire the wrong person, and you'll
regret it for quite a while. Hire the right person, and you'll slap yourself on the back each day
they work there. There's no secret to hiring; do the preparation; ask open questions; are they
motivated by the opportunity you're presenting them with?
Ensure they have the mindset of a tester. We test to find bugs. If not, why test? Make sure
each team member knows that they should work towards this end. It's not their job to show
the product is good / works ok. It's their job to find the bugs and inform the decision to
release or not. Congratulate them when they find a bug.
Set clear objectives, with clear measurements of those objectives. Etc etc.
Biography I'm the Product Test Mgr in Sage (Ireland). Sage is the only software company on the FTSE 100. Worked here for three years. We produce accountancy / payroll / HR software for SMEs. I have a team of 9 testers, one test automation engineer and one technical author.
Prior to Sage I was the test manager for eircom IT for two years - the indigenous telecom's provider in Ireland.
So I have five years software test mgmt experience in total in both waterfall and agile dev environments.
Prior to that I was a development manager and a developer and have worked in Motorola, IBM and GE in different roles.
I have a degree in Electrical Engineering.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Sage Ireland, Citywest Business Park, Dublin 24, Ireland
Jim.coyle@sage.com
Phone Numbers: +353 1 642 0817
Fax Number +353 1 634 1651
10.20 - 11.00am
Testing the Microsoft Way
Microsoft
No further information is available about this session
11.00 - 11.30
EXHIBITION AND COFFEE BREAK Join Richard Noble, OBE, in the Exhibition area for questions and discussion
Body Shop to Centralised Onshore / Offshore Testing Service
Presenter Andrew Brammer, Allen & Overy
Level Intermediate
Target Group Test Managers
Key Points
Integrating a 3rd party central testing team into the organisation.
Joint development of a mutually beneficial commercial framework for improving software quality.
Shifting internal perception of the role of testing in the project lifecycle.
Abstract Allen & Overy LLP are a 'magic circle' law firm. With a network of 28 offices in 20 countries, we have over 5,000 staff, including some 2,600 lawyers and over 470 partners.
Technology is critical in supporting our lawyers. It provides the capability to manage hugely complex legal deals and innovate to better serve our clients.
In order to improve the quality and reliability of these global systems Allen & Overy has evolved its managed test service from a 'body shop' to centralised onshore / offshore service that is governed through a strong risk and reward SLA. This has changed the perception of testing from that of the last obstacle before deployment to one of a fully integrated 3rd party embedded into the project lifecycle.
The presentation and paper describe how that transformation took place, offers learning points from our experiences and shares some of our plans for the future.
Biography Andrew Brammer joined Allen & Overy LLP in 2002 from Andersen. From 2004 to 2006 he managed the Firm's global IT Operations.
Since the beginning of 2007 Andrew has had responsibility for the Firm's Global IT project and programme and software development activities. Accountable to the IT Board this work ranges from multi-million pound infrastructure programmes to both large and small scale development and systems integration work.
The focus has been to improve customer delivery and solution quality through stronger process and the use of sourcing agreements to augment the in-house teams.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: Andrew
Surname: Brammer
Company: Allen & Overy LLP
Full Postal Address: Allen & Overy LLP; One Bishops Square; London; E1 6AO
E-mail Address: andrew.brammer@allenovery.com
Phone Numbers: +44(0)203 088 4019
11.30 - 12.10pm
Agile Testing Methods in a Real World Testing Environment
Presenter David Espley
Beazley Group
Level Intermediate
Target Group Test Managers and Test Practitioners
Abstract A presentation on agile development testing methods used in a real world environment (Beazley)
Many software development teams are looking to use 'agile' techniques to develop business critical applications. Beazley are using agile techniques in both development and testing. Having increased productivity, quality and ROI by embracing testing as a core development task this talk seeks to explain how this can be accomplished in an organisation
Discussing:
Use of developers and testers in the same scrum teams with an aim of finishing system testing at the same time as the development.
Fitness and other agile testing tools that enable the business to participate at the earliest development stage.
Test Driven Development and the role of the testers.
Increasing productivity by being test driven throughout the software lifecycle.
The presentation will include real world examples of the above processes being used...
Biography David Espley is the Head of Software Development at Lloyds underwriters, Beazley. He has 14 years experience in developing platforms for market analysts, telecoms, banking and insurance clients mainly using Microsoft technologies, he has also been an agile practitioner for about 6 years.
Currently managing a large development team that uses Agile for all tasks from maintenance through to 4000+ man day projects. Beazley are currently using agile to deliver a trading platform which will form the core of the presentation.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: David
Surname: Espley
Company: Beazley
Full Postal Address: Plantation Place South, 60 Great Tower Street, London EC3R 5AD
E-mail Address: David.Espley@beazley.com
Phone Numbers: +44 7725924441
Abstract Paul considers the past, present and future of testing in the context of seven influences that drive the IT industry - and indirectly the testing industry.
These influences are:
Technological change; Pervasive computing; New Markets, New Competition; Cultural Values and Attitudes to IT; Business Change; ERP and Configurable Packages; and Business Attitudes to IT.
The testing industry is examined in seven dimensions.
These are:
Attitudes to testing;
Process and Techniques;
Improvement; Tools;
Certification and Training;
Outsourced testing;
People;
Skills and the Job Market.
This talk looks at testing through the evolution of IT and business perception of it in each of the seven dimensions. Based on the history of testing to date, Paul draws some interesting conclusions and makes some surprising predictions for the future.
One outcome Paul suggests, is that there is increasing demand for training and certification schemes that are based more on competence, rather than memory. What would such schemes look like?
Biography Paul is Principal of Gerrard Consulting, an influential testing services company based in the UK. He has been a developer, project manager, and consultant in all aspects of testing and quality assurance. He is an author, webmaster, coach, teacher, consultant and conference keynote speaker.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: Paul
Surname: Gerrard
Company: Gerrard Consulting
Full Postal Address: Gerrard Consulting; PO Box 347; Maidenhead; Berkshire; SL6 2GU
E-mail Address: paul at gerrardconsulting dot com
Phone Number: +44 (0)1628 639173
12.15 - 12.55pm
ISO 29119 - The New International Software Testing Standard
Presenter Stuart Reid, Special Interest Group in Software Testing
Level Intermediate and Advanced
Target Group Test Managers & Test Practitioners
Abstract In May 2007 ISO formed a working group to develop a new standard on software testing - a new area for ISO. This initiative is closely-supported by IEEE and BSI, both of which are providing existing standards as source documents to the project.
The proposed standard, ISO 29119, comprises four parts. The first covers 'concepts and terminology', the second 'test process', the third 'test documentation', and the fourth 'test techniques'.
This presentation describes progress on the development of ISO 29119 and the challenges with creating a generic testing standard that is applicable to all organisations and all types of project. It will cover how you can use it, and explains how you can contribute to its development through your national standards body.
Biography Stuart Reid is Convener of ISO WG26, which is developing the new ISO 29119 Software Testing
Standard and represents software testing on the BSI Software Engineering Committee. He is also Chair of the BCS Specialist Group in Software Testing (SIGiST) is a regular presenter at international testing conferences.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: Stuart
Surname: Reid
Company: Testing Solutions Group; Convener of ISO WG26,
Full Postal Address: 50, Berners Way, Faringdon, Oxon, SN7 7NP
E-mail Address: sreid@testing-solutions.com
Phone Number: +44 (0)790 2244975
Fax Number: +44 (0)1367 242860
1.00 - 2.15
LUNCH
EXHIBITION and the LION'S DEN
2.15 - 3.15 KEYNOTE
Agile@IBM - A Case Study
Paul Gibson, IBM
Keynote Details: 2.15 - 3.15pm
Agile@IBM - A Case Study
Presenter Paul Gibson, IBM
Abstract In 2006 IBM started an initiative to bring Agile and Lean approaches to software development teams across IBM. This paper reviews the goals, approaches, progress and results of this initiative.
Abstract Continuously improving development teams' ability to bring value to their clients is a fundamental business imperative for any software development company. While many individual teams had tried Agile practices, in 2006 the senior development VPs in IBM's Software Group recognised that wider implementation of Agile and Lean approaches could potentially bring greater value across the whole software portfolio. The implementation inside IBM of these approaches differs from many companies in being product based and including large multi-location teams.
Over the last two years IBM SWG has made significant progress in building and deploying Agile and Lean development skills and practices across many teams. This has required the creation of an education pro-gram at all levels and the creation of a Center of Competence to provide individual team support and consultancy. This change has significant implications for the underlying infrastructure and culture, not least the way that testing is handled within the teams. Addressing these is a long term challenge.
Not all the results are in but our initial case studies suggest substantial improvement in both perceived client value and field quality.
Biography Paul Gibson is the Development Operations Manager in the IBM Software Development Laboratory at Hursley, a major WW IBM development location which has approximately 1500 active programmers. His responsibilities include improving the overall software development processes, systems and tools a focus on effectiveness and resultant product quality. In addition to this Paul is a member of the core team which is bringing Agile and Lean approaches to all IBM Software development.
Paul is a Fellow of the BCS (British Computer Society) and on their University Accreditation Committee. He chairs the Advisory Board of the Oxford University Software Engineering post-graduate diploma and master's degrees.
Abstract
Performance testing has become an integral part of any project that requires testing. Users today want results at lightening fast speed. The products which are best in the class owe it not just to the features that they offer but also to the performance they can fizz out. People shifted out of hotmail to lesser known players like rediffmail and IndiatimesMail mainly because of performance issues with the Microsoft product.
Google is able to search 100+ million servers spread worldwide and return back the result in less than a second.
In-house customized automation has given a new perspective performance testing and has really pushed it to the limits.
We hope that our paper with illustrative examples from our experience can help you make a better 'performing' product from the very next release itself.
Biography
Abhinav Agarwal (abhinava@adobe.com) is Product Quality Specialist at Adobe since last 3 years. He has worked in various domains like Video, Imaging and Codec .He has worked on various fields of testing including Automation and Black Box testing. Currently he is single handedly responsible for all codec related R & D testing tasks where he is handling the entire QA alone. For his excellent work in performance testing of his product, he was recognized by Adobe Spot Award
Abhinav holds a B Tech degree in Electronics Technology from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, UP
Abhishek Talwar is Lead Software Engineer at Adobe since last 4 1/2 years. He has a total experience of around 5 1/2 years in various domains like Video, Imaging and Telecommunications. He has worked on various fields of testing including White Box testing, Automation, scripting and Black Box testing. His current role involves developing tool which make the life of a tester, at Adobe, easy. Abhishek holds an international patent to his name in the field of video. He also holds a patent publication in the field of Documents. He has written five international paper publications in the field of API testing, Scripting, testing best practices, and project management. One of his submissions "API Testing: Catching hidden bugs early in cycle" was presented at the STC2005 main conference in Hyderabad. One of his papers on Quality mantras was voted as the best paper in Adobe India QE summit, 2005 and was also chosen as an article in QE quarterly newsletter.
Abhishek holds a B Tech degree in Information Technology from University School of Studies, Delhi and MBA (finance) from IMT Ghaziabad (Distance Learning). He is an 'Indian Testing Board' certified foundation level tester.
Email: Abhishek@adobe.com
3.20 - 4.00pm
Massive Data Testing - Applying Risk Based Testing in the Verification of Digital Geographic Maps
Presenter J.H. van Moll, Mapscape
Level Intermediate
Target Group Test Managers & Test Practitioners
Key Points What does quality mean for a digital map?
Problems in testing digital maps.
Dealing with the impossibility of verifying large volumes of geographical data.
Determination of test focus,
Abstract Digital geographic maps as used in among others navigation systems consist of massive amounts of raw data from a large pool of data suppliers that were aggregated and compiled into digital map products. Final map quality can be degraded because of defects present in either the raw input data and/or the map compiler software.
Verification of map characteristics is extremely challenging as the amount of data to be verified is extremely high and pass/fail criteria are often difficult to define. The presentation discusses the definition and use of quality profiles in combination with risk based testing for the verification and validation of digital geographic maps.
This approach is considered innovative in this field of testing high data volumes. It is to ensure a high productivity and effectiveness as testing time is limited, especially in the domain of navigation devices that is known to be a highly dynamic area.
Biography Jan van Moll studied Technical Physics and started his career as a research assistant in Philips Electronics. He holds a PhD in Technical Sciences from the Eindhoven University of Technology. Jan has a background in software engineering, verification & validation and has wide experience in test engineering, test architecture and test project management in various product domains.
He was responsible for the design and improvement of the verification & validation process in many, internationally distributed development projects for consumer electronics, medical systems and industrial equipment. Jan is a lead assessor in test process maturity assessments according to various maturity models like TMM and TPI.
He is a member of the exam committee of the ISTQB-affiliated Belgium & Netherlands Testing Qualifications Board (BNTQB) and of TestNet. He is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences on Verification and Validation.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: Jan
Surname: van Moll
Company: Mapscape
Full Postal Address: J.H. van Moll, Henri Wijnmalenweg 5b, 5657 EP Eindhoven, The Netherlands
E-mail Address: jan.vanmoll@mapscape.eu jan.van.moll@chello.nl
Phone Numbers: +31 (0)40 7113505
Fax +31 (0)40 7113599
Mobile: +31(0)6349355268
3.20 - 4.00pm
Building a Testing Community at Barclays
Presenter
Gary Adams, Barclays UK Retail Banking
Abstract
Gary Adams of Barclays UK Retail Banking will explore the challenges of creating a testing community including:
Implementing Common Processes that are widely understood and executed consistently
Creating a Recognised Career Path supported by training, accreditation and regular events
Implementing Joined-up project testing with greater integration between technical and business testing teams to drive greater focus on Business goals
This interactive discussion will allow you to hear Garys experiences and share your own.
Biography
Gary Adams is Head of UAT in the Distribution Services function at Barclays UK Retail Banking. Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs 143,000 people.
Testable Requirements: What are the Standards we need to adopt to make sure Requirements are Testable?
Presenter Tom Gilb
Abstract Ten principles for testable requirements
Some basic requirements specification standards to make requirements testable
numeric exit and entry levels as a quality level
two levels of quality: clear and relevant
defined 'rules' to teach and measure requirements
well defined concepts - like 'requirement'
templates to guide requirements specs
Ten Principles for Testable Requirements: Based on use of 'Planguage'; a requirements specification language.
The requirements must themselves be clear, complete, and consistent
The requirements must follow our current standards, measurably
Performance, including quality requirements must be specified quantitatively. A 'Scale' and a future point on the scale must be defined.
Requirements must be correctly 'Typed' (Function, Quality, Constraint etc.)
The requirement level priorities must be specified (Catastrophe, Fail, Goal, Stretch)
One or more high level 'Meter' specifications should have been agreed and integrated into the specification initially.
Pointers to corresponding Test Plans, Test Scripts, Test Results, and Test Responsible people should be integrated into the requirement specification itself by the test planners.
Version Control for each requirement change must be fed to responsible test planners (automatically, with note it is done)
The Total set of conditions for a requirement will be specified in one or more [Qualifier] statements.
The Priority Information about a requirement will be suitable to help test planners understand the
priority of test quality and timeliness.
Biography Tom Gilb was born in Pasadena, California in 1940; emigrated to London, England 1956, and to Norway 1958, where he joined IBM for 5 years, and where he resides.
He has worked within the software engineering community, but since 1983 with Corporate Top Management problems, and since 1988 with large-scale systems engineering (Aircraft, Telecoms and Electronics).
He is an independent teacher, consultant and writer. He has published 9 books, including the early coining of the term "Software Metrics" (1976, CMM L4 Foundation); "Principles of Software Engineering Management" (1988) and "Software Inspection" (1993); 'Competitive Engineering: A Handbook for Systems Engineering, Requirements Engineering, and Software Engineering Using Planguage' (2005).
He is recognized as the founder or major driver of several technical disciplines such as software metrics and evolutionary project management, as well as being an innovative pioneer in Inspections, and the inventor of the planning language Planguage.
He is directly recognized as the idea source for parts of the Agile and Extreme programming methods (primarily the incremental cycles).>
His methods are widely adopted by organizations such as IBM, Nokia, Ericsson, HP, Intel, Citigroup, Symbian, Philips Medical Systems, Boeing - and other large and small organizations.
See www.gilb.com, for papers and downloads.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: Tom
Surname: Gilb
Full Postal Address:
E-mail Address: Tom@Gilb.com
Phone Numbers: 47 920 66 705
4.15 - 4.55pm
Testing Big Ideas for Productivity and Interactive Debate
Presenter Wayne Mallinson, Test and Data Services
Abstract You’ve attended the conference, heard it all, and yet everyone has missed your Big IdeaÉ..
Scheduled for the last session of the conference, this is your chance to have your say on testing productivity, as well as listen to what others have to say on the topic.
Changes in the world of testing start as a small ideas which can grow to Big ideas. DonÕt let your ideas slip away or be ignored, share them, debate them and in the process improve them.
A fun session of listening, brainstorming, and voting on ÔTesting Big Ideas for ProductivityÕ
Each Big Idea must be shared in 5 minutes or less, and then questions and responses for 5 minutes will be allowed. The best Big Idea - by audience vote wins BIG!
Key Points
Seedbed of testing innovation
Testing ’Smarts’ from gene-pool of testing
Testing tips worth tapping into
Soapbox of thought, and speech
4.15 - 4.55pm
Models and Testing: A partnership for Improved Productivity?
Presenter Paul Baker, Motorola
Level Intermediate
Target Group Test Managers & Practitioners
Abstract In an ongoing effort to reduce development costs in spite of increasing system complexity, Motorola has been a long-time adopter of Model-Driven Engineering practices. The foundation of this approach is the creation of rigorous models throughout the development process, thereby, enabling the introduction of automation into the development life cycle and supporting frameworks.
In this talk we will discuss Motorola experiences over the past 15 years in using models to improve the effectiveness of testing from advanced verification through to test configuration. We will present cases where models have been used to improve early testing, test development, test automation, test maintenance, and test frameworks. We also present lessons learnt from deploying model-related technologies and the different business strategies Motorola has used to effect their deployment. In doing so, we discuss the lessons learnt and directions/challenges moving forward with the perspective of a large testing technology portfolio.
Biography Paul Baker is Motorola's corporate portfolio manager for verification and validation technologies. He is a co-author of the book "Model-Driven Testing Using the UML Testing Profile" and has numerous refereed publications in the field of software verification, test automation techniques, and model - driven engineering. He has also participated in the development of software and testing standards, such as Message Sequence Charts, TTCN-3, and the UML Testing Profile within ITU, ETSI, and OMG respectively. Paul has an MSc in software engineering from the University of Oxford (UK). Paul currently holds 11 patents and is a Motorola Science Advisory Board Associate.
Full Contact information of the Presenter Name: Paul
Surname: Baker
Full Postal Address: Motorola Ltd, Viables Industrial Estate, Basingstoke, Hampshire. RG22 4PD
E-mail Address: Paul.Baker@motorola.com
Phone Numbers: +441256484117
.
Keynote Details: 9.15 - 10.15am
