STANZ 2011 - Speakers

Check out Jonathan Khol's blog Collaborative Software Testing on software development issues and you'll get a feel for just how talented he is. Fluent in Agile (Scrum and XP) and traditional software development methodologies, including waterfall and iterative life-cycles his expert coverage areas include: Exploratory Testing, Testing in Agile Environments, Mobile Applications Testing, Test Strategy, Test Planning and Execution.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Jonathan is a recognised consultant, author, and speaker in the software industry. A natural investigator, Jonathan is a noted software testing thinker and strategist.

Bridging technical and business interests within an organisation, Jonathan is as at home in the software development lab working on technical projects, as in the boardroom, assisting with strategic business decisions.

Jonathan is recognised as a leader in the exploratory testing community and mobile testing space.  He wrote the March/April 2010 Cover Article for Better Software magazine  - Demystifying Exploratory Testing. In addition to assisting teams with testing, Jonathan helps companies define and implement their ideas into products, coaches practitioners as they develop software on teams, and works with leaders helping them define and implement their strategic vision. Jonathan is also a popular speaker and author. His blog on software development and  testing issues is one of the most well-read testing blogs in the industry.

Jonathan doesn't just write about and talk about developing software, he actively helps teams deliver the best products they can.

The founder and principal software testing consultant with Kohl Concepts, Inc. you can find out even more about Jonathan at his web-site http://www.kohl.ca/  

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Am I Creating Value With My Testing?
keynote, Jonathan Kohl, Kohl Concepts (Canada)

Determine whether your tools and processes are helping you create value or if they are distracting you.

In this thought-provoking talk, Jonathan challenges all of us to look beyond the form, tools and techniques of our testing to examine how they are helping us create value in software, on projects and within teams -

I am often asked how to transform a good testing team into a great testing team. Individual testers want to know what skills or tools they should learn so they can improve. Managers want to know how to spot great testers during interviews as they hire and build teams. What is it that makes certain testers top performers?

After working with and observing hundreds of testers over the past decade, I've noticed that it is more than knowing the right tools, techniques and memorizing buzzwords - great testers understand value.

They see the value in their contributions to their teams, and in the software that they help produce. They also apply that standard to their own work.

In this thought-provoking talk, Jonathan challenges all of us to look beyond the form, tools and techniques of our testing to examine how they are helping us create value in software, on projects and within teams.

Jonathan focuses on understanding why we are developing software, for whom, and what our end users and team members value. 

It's easy to get caught up with the newest trends and tools and measure our success based on their adoption, while forgetting about the basics. Jonathan helps you determine whether your tools and processes are helping you create value or if they are distracting you.

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Test Planning for Mobile Application Projects
workshop (2.5hrs) in-conference, Jonathan Kohl, Kohl Concepts (Canada)

Why mobile?

• The post-PC era is here; the smart phone and tablet market is exploding, and people are rushing to support these devices with software. "Developers now start with mobile apps because that's where the growth is." - Google CEO, Eric Schmidt (Mobile World Congress, February 2011).
• If your company isn't supporting or creating mobile applications yet, they will be soon. 
• It's different for mobile: Although some concepts transfer directly from desktop to mobile, testing mobile applications presents special challenges you must consider.

Start your mobile testing project with confidence! Learn his tricks of the trade for planning testing of mobile applications.

How many times have you created a test plan by filling in a template, changing some project details and adding in the new features? More times than you care to admit?

If you are starting out testing mobile applications, you might be tempted to approach testing as you always have.

But beware; testing mobile applications isn't just a copy/paste of how you have planned for testing desktop applications. There are important differences. Jonathan shares his experiences with testing mobile apps and how they affect planning.

Although some concepts transfer directly from desktop to mobile, testing mobile applications presents special challenges you must consider:

• Smaller screens and unique input methods that can cause physical strain on testers and slow down the testing effort.
• Less memory and processing power in the device mean tests often interfere with the application's normal operation.
• And, these smaller, transportable devices need to be taken care of differently. Network and communication plans need to be taken into account, as do location-based services such as geo-location capabilities and communication services. 
• The portable nature of the devices is important in how they are used, and how they function.
• With the combinatorial explosion of device offerings becoming available all the time, how do you choose what platforms to test on?

Join Jonathan to learn his tricks of the trade for planning testing of mobile applications. Start your mobile testing project with confidence!

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Exploratory Testing Applied  
full day workshop (Melbourne Only), Jonathan Kohl, Kohl Concepts (Canada)

What you will learn:

• Exploratory testing contrasted with other approaches.
• The underlying structure of skilled exploratory testing.
• How to guide testing with strategy.
• Modeling and other mind hacks to help frame testing.
• How to use guidance to focus testing and describe coverage.
• Test execution styles and strategies.
• How documentation and reporting fits.
• To bring it all together we'll test a real mobile application. (If you have a smart phone, bring it with you.)

The content builds on itself to help provide you with a complete picture of exploratory testing, with enough examples and comparisons to make applying it to your projects easier. Gain confidence with the approach, and start using some of these concepts on your projects when you get back to your office.

This workshop will focus on two areas:

• Structuring exploratory testing and testing mobile applications.

Structuring your exploratory testing helps you apply it successfully to real, live projects, and we will look at testing mobile applications to help make some of those concepts more tangible.

Why mobile?
The post-PC era is here; the smart phone and tablet market is exploding, and people are rushing to support these devices with software. If your company isn't supporting or creating mobile applications yet, they will be soon. "Developers now start with mobile apps because that's where the growth is." - Google CEO, Eric Schmidt (Mobile World Congress, February 2011).

Exploratory software testing is a popular approach. The adaptability, speed and effectiveness of this approach appeals to those of us who work on projects that have aggressive deadlines, changing requirements and technology. However, applying the concepts to your own project can be challenging.

Effective testing is critical to a project's success, but the effective application of exploratory testing hinges on implementing concrete tasks and techniques.

Jonathan Kohl, internationally recognised expert in the areas of exploratory testing and mobile application testing, will share experience in the following areas:

• His thought processes when testing.
• How he structures and manages exploratory testing projects.
• The tools, techniques and skills he uses when doing actual testing work.
• How he records, documents and reports on testing.

Join Jonathan as he shares his expertise and experience on how he applies exploratory testing to testing projects. Jonathan has been using an exploratory testing approach to lead testing projects for over a decade. He has used exploratory testing on a wide variety of projects, including critical, regulated industries such as medical, financial and aviation.

(this full day workshop can be booked in conjunction with your conference participation or seperately. An additional fee applies - please contact for full details, info(at)softed.com)

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Known for her technical achievements and her refreshing wit, Goranka Bjedov works as a Capacity Planning Engineer at Facebook. Her main interests include performance, capacity and reliability analysis, and test planning.

Prior to joining Facebook, she spent five years doing performance testing for Google.

Her career also includes a senior engineer and manager positions at Network Appliance and AT&T Labs, respectively. Before joining the industry, she was an Associate Professor in the Purdue University Schools of Engineering. A speaker at numerous testing and performance conferences, Goranka has authored many papers, presentations and two textbooks.

Goranka was extremely popular at STANZ 2007 where she delivered a keynote and workshop session. It's fantastic to be able to have Goranka return. In 2011, Goranka will deliver a keynote that could well set some cats among the pigeons and an interactive hands-on workshop. Don't miss out!

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The Future of Quality
keynote, Goranka Bjedov, Facebook (USA) 

This talk addresses the impact of changes such as Cloud, Open Source and Software Complexity on testing professionals and looks to assess where the future will take us. It summarises two years of research on this topic, discussions with hundreds of software testing professionals, and provides suggestions on possible solutions.

The world has changed.
I see it in the water.
I feel it in the Earth.
I smell it in the air.
Much that once was is lost,
For none now live who remember it.
- J.R.R. Tolkien

If you feel lost and confused, and even ready to give up - do not despair. First - you are not alone. There are many testing professionals struggling with the same issues. Second - change is constant. While you are trying to figure out what you (and your teams) should be doing today, the rate of change is increasing exponentially. Third - things will get worse (before they get better). Even if you are currently offering a product that does not rely on cloud services or is based on open sourced code, there is a start-up somewhere, working out a cheaper solution to your offering. Cloud and open source are here to stay because they provide cheaper and faster way to deploy products and reach customers.

Software services have entered the infinite complexity era - where it is impossible to understand what any single layer does. At the same time, customer expectations have aligned with what is available - while they certainly would not object to higher quality, they are unwilling to pay for it (in numbers large enough to matter), and would strongly object to any delay in shipping or deploying new features. Coincidentally, this change can be seen outside of our field as well.

Think of this talk as a courtesy invitation to the wake of IEEE 829 (829 Standard for Software Test Documentation) - long has it lived and restricted how we did our work. May all the test cases, specifications, plans and procedures rest in peace.

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Testing Skills: How to Find and Develop Skilled Testers
workshop (2.5hrs) in-conference, Goranka Bjedov, Facebook (USA)

Joel Spolsky of JoelOnSoftware wrote on April 30th 2000: “With testers, like programmers, the best ones are an order of magnitude better than the average ones.” I could not agree more with that statement. But, over the years, I have seen organisations failing to hire good testers or failing to help them develop to their full potential. I have seen good testers leave companies en masse, and move to different jobs.

This workshop will address the following questions:

• What are the characteristics and skills of good software testers?
• How do you check/interview a person for testing position?
• What types of people make bad testers?
• How do you develop potential, if you do not have experienced team?

This workshop is a result of industry observations and experiences. Additionally, it will introduce some simple methods of checking if a person has a developer or a tester mindset. And, finally, it will provide you with a list of topics, games and exercises to sharpen the skills and increase effectiveness of your current team.

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Drs. H.J.J. (Jan Jaap) Cannegieter graduated in 1993 as a Business Economist from the University of Amsterdam. He started his career implementing various automated systems. When he discovered that the quality of the delivered systems was often poor, he turned his interest to testing, quality assurance and requirements.

Examples of organisations in which Jan Jaap has been active include local government agencies, Dutch Tax Administration, various ministries, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, Postbank / ING, Rabobank, ABN AMRO, Corus, Central Book house, Swiss Life, Cordares, Achmea Mortgage,  Dutch National Railway, KPN, Tele2 and Ziggo.

In addition to his consulting positions, Jan Jaap delivers courses and workshops in Quality Assurance in ICT and requirements. He regularly publishes articles in journals and is the (co)author of eight books in Dutch books about Quality Assurance in ICT, requirements, CMMI and TMMi.

He is co-author of 'The little TMMi, the first book in English about TMMi. Jan Jaap is also co-author of the SEI Technical Note 'CMMI Roadmaps'. He regularly speaks at (international) conferences such as Testnet, ESEPG, SPIder, PROFES, Dutch Testing Day, LaQuSo and Prince 2 User Group. As a member of the development group for TMMi Level 4 and 5, Jan Jaap worked on the process areas Software
Quality Evaluation, Advanced Peer Reviews and Defect Prevention.

At this moment Jan Jaap is member of the executive board of SYSQA B.V., an independent organization specialising in requirements, testing, quality assurance and process improvement. Within SYSQA he is responsible for knowledge management, product management and quality management.

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Test Process Improvement: Testers Get Out of Your Cave!
keynote, Jan Jaap Cannegieter, SYSQA (Netherlands)

Only by involving stakeholders outside of test processes will an improvement in the test processes be accomplished. The process areas we as testers can fully control are pretty mature. The process areas where we need other stakeholders like project management and general management are less mature. Consider results of Test Maturity Model (TMMi) Assessments and learn that if we want to make testing more mature, we have to get out of our cave.

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TMMi (Test Maturity Model integrated): Valuable Practice with Quick Scans
workshop (2.5 hours) in-conference, Jan Jaap Cannegieter, SYSQA (Netherlands)

We all aim at improving our test processes. Learn how you can easily run Quick Scans from the TMMi across a number of key areas to gauge your levels, benchmark and discover where to focus your efforts.

During the workshop you'll have an introduction to the basics of TMMi, the history and structure, a comparison between TMMi and other test process improvement models. Most importantly you'll learn how to execute TMMi-based Quick Scans with an easy-to-use tool. 

This is a hands-on, interactive session covering the tool and technique. You'll look at key aspects the scans cover, discussing the outcomes and how to get the most out of Quick Scans to benefit your improvement programme.

This session is applicable to all organisations and test groups. The Quick Scan tool is independent and provides visibility into improving your test processes.

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Karen Johnson is an independent software test consultant. She is frequent speaker at conferences. Karen is a contributing author to the book, Beautiful Testing released by O'Reilly publishers. She has published numerous articles and blogs about her experiences with software testing. She also teaches classes on different topics within software testing. You can visit her website at: http://karennicolejohnson.com/  

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Working with Remote and Distributed Teams
keynote, Karen N. Johnson, Software Test Management, Inc.

It would be great to be sitting together; having a chance to talk face to face might make our work easier, smoother, clarify some communications and maybe even speed up the work we're trying to complete. But our professional lives are just not that simple sometimes.

Frequently many of us work with other team members in various locations across our own country and even across the globe. Sometimes we work with small inconvenient time zone differences and other times, the time discrepancy is so significant we're perpetually catching each other only at the start or the end of each other's day.

Webcams, Skype sessions and instant messenger chats replace face to face conversations we would prefer to have.  Getting “good” at communication skills can be difficult enough when we can see the other person and have a better chance to build a rapport, now add a large time zone gap and never having a chance to meet in person and we've really added a challenge to the project mix and overall project communications.
And as the time zone gaps get larger, we've likely introduced cultural and language differences to the conversation as well. It can be challenging enough to stay awake or get up early for a call but add a language difference and now we've made “good” communication a true challenge.

Using the Agile development methodology, co-location is the preference but even if your company or project moves to Agile,  you can't move an office and you can't readily move people just because the development life cycle is switching from waterfall (or something else) to Agile.

Let's look at the time zone difference challenges and talk about solutions and ways to cope. Let's look at language barriers and find ways to improve how we communicate with each other.
Let's talk about how to get good at communication skills when we cannot see the other person.

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The Strategy Part of a Test Strategy
workshop (2.5hrs) in-conference, Karen N. Johnson

Are you a test manager or test lead that needs to develop a test strategy? This session is about strategy - business strategy and test strategy.  Strategy is about having a systematic plan of action. This workshop is not about writing a test plan. This workshop is about mapping out a tactical strategy for getting testing done.

Instead of focusing on testing or technical challenges we may have to address - this session focuses on tactical planning, as well as addressing the political obstacles for getting testing accomplished. We'll look at ways to work with what you have ‐ ways to work with the reality of what you face versus what you might wish you were working with - so that planning is effective.  

Experiences on building test strategies, assessing ongoing changes and adjusting throughout a project will be shared and explored.

We'll review different ways to gain input from other team members. And different ways to build acceptance (and buy in) throughout your organization and project team for the plans your team has built. And since strategy is about ongoing assessments and adjustments, we'll look at ways to continue to assess and monitor your teams testing efforts. 

If you need to build a test strategy for a project, this workshop will offer you ideas on how to get started and how to think and plan strategically throughout a project.

Strategic planning is an indispensable skill for test leads and testers alike. Regardless of the technology you work with - strategic planning is necessary.

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IV&V specialise in software testing strategies and consultancy. Mark Feldman is a consultant and experienced director, with 25 years of experience in IT and finance. He has a background in Engineering, Information Technology, Finance and Business Management. Having lectured at postgraduate level, he specialises in the area of strategy and managing technology outcomes. He has worked in various environments - industrial, financial, investment banking, travel and leisure, government, and technology services, and has served on a few boards in various leadership roles, including that of CEO. He is focused on promoting a business interest and accountability in technological minds, and promoting a technology interest and accountability in business minds, in order to foster results that are truly beneficial, and to advance constant learning, accountability and wide participation.

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What Does A CEO Want From Testing
keynote (Melbourne Only), Mark Feldman, IV&V Australia

As waves of technology change wash over us, it is all too easy to be consumed by trying to make sense of our own internal testing world. We frantically develop new processes, models, methodologies, certifications, standards, buzzwords and so on, to try and agree on a common understanding of “the way things should be”. 

Instead of perfecting the world in isolation, though, shouldn't we be contributing to it now, in collaboration?

Our profession exists only because of demand from other areas, external to testing. Our salaries are paid by other people. Perhaps we should also be taking into account the needs and views from our “clients”, and trying to understand and serve them better, as opposed to ignoring them or dictating to them what our industry “experts” are spruiking. It could be asserted that, for whatever reason, there is still a significant level of dissatisfaction, or unawareness of testing, within corporate leadership areas. This needs to be addressed. It is no longer sufficient for testing leaders to be focused only on testing techniques and abilities - testing needs to be tailored to align interactively with organisational objectives and add value to them.

How will your CEO determine if you did good a job in testing? Is your “good” his/her “good”? As a testing leader or decision maker, how should you be thinking about this?

This presentation examines the roles of the CEO, and some of the expectations and concerns they have for their organisations, and how testing affects, or is affected by them. It identifies the need for a common language through which CEOs may understand better what happens in the testing space, and what the elements in this language might be. Some current examples are covered, including cloud computing, open source, and ERP systems, and how understanding how the CEO thinks can affect testing decisions in these three areas.  

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A consultant and trainer specializing in software testing and agile practices for Software Education in Australia and New Zealand, Sharon Robson has more than eighteen years of experience in information technology, software testing, and business analysis. She consults, develops, and delivers training courses at levels from introductory to advanced.

She was a founding board member of the Australia-New Zealand Testing Board (ANZTB) serving from 2005 until 2010, in addition, from 2008 to 2010, Sharon was chairperson of the Marketing Working group for the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB). She holds ISTQB Foundation, ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst, ISTQB Advanced Technical Test Analyst, and ISTQB Advanced Test Manager certifications and is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Sharon is a frequent speaker on software testing and certification at industry events around the world, and has published articles in Quality Matters and Software Test and Performance magazine where she was named one of the thirteen most influential women in software testing.

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Focusing with Clear Test Objectives
keynote (Wellington Only), Sharon Robson, Software Education (AU)

Frustrated with your team's testing results—sometimes great, sometimes lacking? Do you consistently over promise and under deliver? If these situations sound familiar, you may be suffering from the ills of UCT (Unclear Test Objectives).

Clearly defining test objectives is vital to your project's success; it's also seriously hard to get right. Test objectives are often driven by habit - “Let's copy and paste the last set of objectives”; by lack of understanding - “Let's use whatever the requirements say”; or by outside forces - “Let's just do what the user wants.”

Sharon Robson shares the structured approach she uses to define test objectives, including key test drivers, approaches, processes, test levels, test types, focus, techniques, teams, environments, and tools.

Sharon illustrates how to measure, evaluate, compare, and balance these often conflicting factors to ensure that you have the right objectives for your test project.  

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Craig Smith has been active in the IT industry for over 15 years. He has been an agile practitioner for over 10 years and is a Certified Scrum Master and a member of both the Scrum Alliance and Agile Alliance. He is currently working within Suncorp's Business Services division as an Agile Coach, on a number of high profile technical and business projects. He is a regular trainer for the Agile Academy and has presented at a number of international conferences such as Agile 2008, Agile 2009, Agile 2010, Atlassian Summit, ASWEC, CITCON, Agile Australia and OSDC.

Dr. Adrian Smith is a software engineering and technology consultant who specialises in Agile and Lean methods. His experience spans a variety of industries that include Mining, Aerospace, Public Infrastructure, Digital Media, Banking and Insurance. Adrian has led and coached engineering and software development teams for organisations that include Airbus, GKN Aerospace, BBC Worldwide and Suncorp. He has also proposed and supervised research projects with RMIT, UNSW and the CRC for Advanced Composite Structures. Adrian is the Director of Technology for Ennova and regularly shares his experiences online at AgileEngineeringDesign.com.

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The Future Tester At Suncorp: A Journey of Building Quality In Through Agile
stream session (Melbourne Only), Craig Smith, Suncorp (AU) and Adrian Smith, Ennova (AU)

When Suncorp started down the path of rolling out its agile program over four years ago, it was viewed by many internally and the industry with much scepticism and angst, yet now it is approaching mainstream adoption in the industry.

One of the key challenges of becoming agile was improving our approach to testing and quality. In this talk we will talk about why we had to change, why we had to improve the “speed to cool” in relation to testing, our challenges and approach and our blueprint for the “future tester” at Suncorp.

Like our agile journey, our vision for testing has been regarded as ambitious, so join us to hear why we believe raising the profile, empowerment and skillset of testing is critical to our (and your) future success.

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Thomas Hadorn
Tricentis, AU

Dominik Weissboeck
Tricentis, AU

Thomas Hadorn is Co-Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific division of TRICENTIS Technology & Consulting. His responsibilities at TRICENTIS primarily include consulting, sales and marketing, as well as the internationalization and expansion of the company.

Prior to joining TRICENTIS, Mr. Hadorn was Pre-Sales Manager at HP Software/Mercury Interactive for Austria and Switzerland. He also worked as a Consultant at IBM Business Consulting Services in Australia and as a Technology Consultant at IBM Rational in Europe.

Thomas received an MBA degree from the MGSM at Macquarie University in Sydney, a MSc degree in Business Engineering from the UAS PHW Switzerland and a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the UAS HSR Switzerland.

Dominik Weissboeck is Co-Manging director of the Asia-Pacific division of TRICENTIS Technology & Consulting. His responsibilities at TRICENTIS primarily include consulting, sales and marketing, as well as the internationalization and expansion of the company.

Prior to joining TRICENTIS, Mr. Weissboeck was responsible for all Software IT Architects at IBM in Central and Eastern Europe. Preceding his IT Architect manager career he worked as a consultant for software engineering at IBM Rational across Europe and Asia Pacific.

Dominik received a MBA degree from the MGSM Macquarie University in Sydney and a MSc degree in Computer Engineering from the Technical University of Vienna.

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Originally from Ireland, Anne-Marie Charrett has seen the sun (again). Now based is Sydney as a professional software test consultant she runs her own company Testing Times.

An electronic engineer by trade, software testing chose her, when in 1990 she started conformance testing against European standards. She was hooked and has been testing since then. She works as an Exploratory Tester, Trainer/coach and Inhouse test consultant.

She is passionate about Exploratory Testing, motivating testers to test better and the benefits of social media on testing.

Anne-Marie offers free IM Coaching to testers and developers on Skype (id charretts). The IM Coaching initiative has been co-developed with James Bach.

She also assists in e-training on the BBST Foundation Course run by the Association for software testing.

In her spare time, Anne-Marie runs the twitter (at)dailytestingtip where she encourages testers from around the world to contribute software testing tips.

You can find out more about Anne-Marie on her bolg, http://mavericktester.com/anne-marie-charrett , and hear her in conversation with with Matt Heusser on a Software Test Pro (.com) PodCast at this link http://testingtimes.com.au/mavericktester.com/TWIST-008-MixDown.mp3    

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From Jaded to Jubilant: Invigorating Your Test Team
stream session (Melbourne Only), Anne-Marie Charrett, Testing Times (AU/IRE) 

This case study is of a test team that turned themselves into a group of passionate and effective testers.

A tester's life can often be a hard one. Sometimes, working in an undervalued and little appreciated role can have detrimental affects on a tester's ability to perform their work well. It can also impact test team morale.

Testers can become jaded, and quickly loose the passion they perhaps once felt when they first started their career as testers.

In this talk I will explain my approach and how I helped the team restore their passion in testing. I will discuss the approach I took, the goals I had and the steps taken to achieve these goals.

Some of the areas that I discuss are:

• Why it's so important to have passionate testers on your team. What is a passionate tester and how do you tap into that passion?
• Some approaches and goals to the testing transformation. What did I want my legacy to be? What philosophies did I use when approaching this task?
• Some practical ways of implementing change.  

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Trish Khoo began her career as a commercial web applications developer in Brisbane and then moved to Sydney to become a .NET developer at Microsoft. After discovering an affinity for testing, Trish moved into a consultancy role as a tester for the Microsoft Solutions Development Centre, where she specialised in test automation solutions. After several very different test management roles, Trish finally found a home at Campaign Monitor. Her experience and creativity have inspired her to create innovative testing solutions for this unique company.

Trish regularly writes about software and testing on her blog ( http://trishkhoo.com ). She also writes articles for The Testing Planet ( http://www.thetestingplanet.com/ ) and Testing Circus ( http://testingcircus.com/default.aspx ) online publications. Recently, she launched the software testing podcast Testcast ( http://testcast.net/ ), with co-host Bruce McLeod. She encourages a more active testing community in Sydney by organising Sydney Tester Meetups. 

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Cultivating an Organically Grown Test Approach
stream session (Melbourne Only), Trish Khoo, Campaign Monitor (AU)

This is a story of a tester who was given a complex system to test, almost zero documented requirements and complete control over the test approach.

Equipped with a background in automated testing and test management, this is a talk about my experiences in cultivating a constantly evolving test approach to fit a constantly evolving development process.

I will talk about the unique challenges I faced in each release cycle, the lessons I learned and how I used those lessons to grow my test approach. As the test process grew, I slowly discovered what my company really needed from testing and how I could deliver it to them.

In particular, I will relate the following examples:

• The different ways we experimented with trying to report test results to a team that rarely used meetings or emails. This includes utilizing the product under test to send professional email campaigns, using a chat room for bug reporting and numerous experiments in hand-written dashboards.
• The tools we wrote to assist us in simulating large amounts of user activity over extended periods of time, as well as the issues faced in creating long-running automated tests and how we addressed them.
• How GUI automation was used in performance testing, and how involving the development team had unintended positive side-effects.
• The legacy automation suite - how we improved it and how we extended it to assist us with manual tasks.
• How mind-mapping was used to gather requirements when documentation was scarce.

This talk will suit anybody with an interest in customizing their test approach to fit their client's needs.  

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Chris Stapleton is a Senior Manager with ANZ, one of the largest financial institutes in New Zealand.  She holds the position of Senior Manager Enterprise Testing and Business Analysis. Chris has more than 20 years experience within the financial industry (both Banking and Insurance), of which 15 years has been within technology.  She came from a branch banking background and from there started her technology career in the Help Desk.  She then progressed to Network Engineer roles and through to management.  A change in direction saw Chris move into the testing world, where she spent a number of years, through to her current role looking after the New Zealand Test and Business Analysis practices.

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From New Zealand to Bangalore: A Case Study on a Remote Test Team
stream session (Wellington Only), Chris Stapleton, ANZ New Zealand (NZ)

In this case study we look at the successful addition of our Bangalore based test team, part of the New Zealand Enterprise Testing Team.  What are the challenges?  What works, what doesn't.  What tips and tricks have we learnt?

We will touch on the following topics:

Setting up the team:

• Who is involved.
• How to bring two international teams together.
• Legal aspects you needed to consider.
• What you need to plan for.
• Recruitment - how we undertook this, differences between the countries.

Business as Usual:

• Time zone differences.
• How the work flows between teams.
• Escalation.
• Cultural Differences - what do we need to take into account.
• Communication - nuances, communication options (how to bridge the distance between the teams).
• How to maintain success. 

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Aaron Hodder is a test analyst for Metra ( http://www.metraweather.com/ ), the international commercial subsidiary of the Meteorological Service of New Zealand ( http://www.metservice.com/about/about ).

He works on the Weatherscape XT product which is a weather graphics presentation system used by television stations to present the graphics on their weather reports. Clients using Weatherscape XT include the BBC in the UK, channel 9 in Australia, and TVNZ and TV3 in New Zealand.  Before joining Metra, Aaron worked as a test lead at Catalyst IT, New Zealand's largest open source development company. While at Catalyst, Aaron led the testing efforts on projects for many large clients including Fairfax (Stuff.co.nz), Telecom Mobile, and the Real Estate Agents Authority.

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Software Cartography: Building a Test Plan Using Heuristics, Mind Maps, and Test Charters
stream session (Wellington Only), Aaron Hodder, Metra (MetService) (NZ)

Creating test plans can be a daunting task, especially when time is short. "We need you to test this application. Oh, and we go live next Monday." 

How can you create a plan to test that is accountable, transparent, and structured, yet lightweight enough so that it can be rapidly edited? A plan that will be quickly understood by developers, project managers, other stakeholders, and any new testers that may be brought on to help out?  And not only that, but a plan that can be created quickly, using as little as possible of that precious time?

In this talk, I'll present a solution derived from knowledge and techniques developed and used with the context-driven school of software testing.  I'll also show how mindmapping software can be a cheap and lightweight, but powerful tool in the tester's toolbox. 

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Mike is an outspoken advocate for continuous improvement and Agile delivery, and has worked in the IT and Telecoms sector for 24 years, over 6 of which he has focused on actual Agile delivery not theory. He is a certified Scrum Professional. He actively looks to use his practical experiences to help teams who are just starting on their Agile journey to transform them into sustainable agile teams who will help the community understand the power of the tools we have at our disposal.

He has worked for the ACC where he lead a team of 15 project managers and actively supported the ACCs introduction of Agile methods. He also worked as a full time scrum master delivering Agile web projects to the New Zealand Market and is now working 100% as an Agile coach helping teams in their agile transformation.

Mike was introduced to Agile techniques as a senior project manager (PM team Lead) at the BBC. Prior to 'seeing the light' he worked for two 'big-5' consultancy firms, delivering local government IT projects in the UK and working in telecommunications manufacturing. He was also in the Army where he learnt some other useful skills such as adaptive, responsive planning to dramatically changing situations... perhaps the Army was Agile?

Mike is an Agile Coach with Assurity Consulting ( www.assurity.co.nz ) in Wellington.

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Testing User Stories: An Introduction
stream session (Wellington Only), CMike Lowery, Assurity Consulting (NZ) 

Whether you have just gone Agile? or thinking about it, testing a "user story" or indeed understanding what a "user story" is can be confusing. This short talk aims to lift the lid on user stories and presents a view on how testers not only fit into an Agile team but perform an essential role to glue it together.

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Are You Ready For The Scrap Heap?
dinner keynote (Melbourne Only), Anders Sorman-Nilsson, Founder/Creative Director, Thinque (AU) 

Knackering, isn't it? Keeping up to date with all the latest trends.

Just when you figured out how to monitor how much milk you have left with your in-fridge camera synched up to your iPhone you find yourself trying to open your front door with your office swipe-pass.

If you're being honest life is much easier when you can just spend each day doing the same thing you did the day before. After all, you already know how to do what you've already done.

Unfortunately for you, change is attacking your peaceful utopia, marching on regardless, ignorant of your feelings. Change doesn't care. Change leaves you behind, cracked and dusty, boxed up and stuck in the attic alongside your Commodore 64 and Atari 2800.

But it's not all doom and gloom; just as you upgrade your hardware you can also upgrade your thinking and Anders Sorman-Nilsson is here to help you do just that. He believes that "the current rapid pace of change in every industry means that we need to be constantly upgrading our personal, organisational and leadership software" and spends his time advising clients like Apple, MTV, Johnson and Johnson and SAP on 'next practice'.

He constantly watches the world around him, analysing what is going on and providing organisations with the tools they'll need for the future. In fact he's so good at guiding people you almost believe he's been programmed with an internal GPS.

Come along to the Melbourne STANZ Conference Dinner to hear Anders speak and benefit from his 'Thinque Funky' approach. In the words of Scott Barber, "developers are creators. Testers are explorers. Their job, their whole mind-set, is to find the stuff that others don't" so rediscover the joy of exploration and avoid the testing rubbish bin.  

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Everyone Loves Lawyers
dinner keynote (Wellington Only), Mai Chen, Founding Partner, Chen Palmer (NZ) ( http://www.chenpalmer.com/ ) 

Everyone loves lawyers. Always the life and soul of the party, there is no one better to enjoy a cold beer and interesting conversation with.

Sometimes it's difficult to remember the old days when they were seen as objects of ridicule, stuffy old upper-class boring white men who spoke in a convoluted, superior manner. Then Mai Chen came along.

She arrived in New Zealand in 1970 from Taiwan. She was six years old and didn't speak any English. Today she is a prominent constitutional lawyer and founding partner of the law firm Chen Palmer, alongside forward NZ Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer.

Mai Chen is also an Adjunct Professor in Commercial and Public Law at the University of Auckland Business School. She has ranked in Unlimited magazine's 50 top Influencers List and the Readers Digest list of the 85 Most Trusted New Zealanders.

Mai Chen has a unique point of view with experience in law, Government and business. She has advised many corporate and quasi-public sector organisations in New Zealand and Australia including Origin Energy Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline, Telecom, Sky, Southern Cross, Citibank and TVNZ. She tells business and Government not to believe the stereotypes they have each heard about the other, but to seize the opportunity to work together.

After all they have the same ultimate goal; to grow the NZ economy. It's a principal every person in every company can relate to, how do we put our differences aside and achieve success?

Mai Chen is undoubtedly academically accomplished (just look at her company profile ), but she is also a fun and engaging public speaker whom knows how to get CEOs, judges and ministers to listen to her.

You can see her recent five minute presentation at ICE IDEAS Conference, Auckland, July 2011 here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqgdXacdcNc&feature=related

Come along to the Wellington STANZ 10th Anniversary Dinner to hear her speak, you'll never look at lawyers in the same way again.

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Martyn Jones is Managing Director and part-owner of Software Education Associates Limited ( http://www.softed.com ). He was a co-founder of the Australia New Zealand Testing Board ( ANZTB ).

His initial years in the computer industry were spent in a variety of technical and managerial roles with Databank Systems, which at the time was New Zealand's largest computing environment (17 computer centres, 200+ development staff). The last 5 years were spent as Manager Education Services, with a staff of 38. This involved the development and delivery of training for Databank's 1,700 staff, together with commercial training contracts in New Zealand and South East Asia.

At the beginning of 1990, Martyn Jones, John Watson and Merrill Holdsworth took the opportunity to orchestrate a management buy-out of Datacom Education from Datacom Group. This took effect on 1 February 1990, and Martyn was appointed Managing Director. He is also Managing Director of Software Education Australia Pty Ltd.

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Heaven or Hell? A Critical Examination Of Software Testing Certification
stream session, Martyn Jones, Software Education

Has ISTQB certification helped the software testing profession? The co-founder of ANZTB will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of software testing certification, from both the perspective of the individual tester and that of the employer.