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Full-Day Tutorials: Monday, April 28th

    1. MANAGING SOFTWARE QUALITY AND TEST TUTORIAL
    2. TEST DESIGN TUTORIAL
    3. AGILE TESTING TUTORIAL
    4. MEASUREMENT TUTORIAL
    5. PROJECT MANAGEMENT TUTORIAL
MANAGING SOFTWARE QUALITY AND TEST TUTORIAL

Managing Testing using Six Sigma, TSP/PSP, PMBOK & Poka-Yoke
Mukesh Jain, Microsoft Corporation

Today, the competitive marketplace demands the best of everything - the best quality, reduced costs, and a perfect schedule.  Multinationals are no longer just looking for "cheaper" - they want "better, faster, and cheaper."  With more companies applying a Global model, geographically distributed teams, cultural differences, attrition all add to the challenges.  It is not an easy task to meet these challenges without compromising quality or schedule or cost.  There is no silver bullet.  We can meet all these goals and challenges, however, by managing the test project with the right set of matrices and by managing the quality instead of focusing solely on the management of people, schedule, and cost.  In this tutorial, Mukesh will share his experience in managing large scale test projects and working with global teams within Microsoft. He will share success stories, explaining how the teams achieved better work-life balance and delivered very high quality products on schedule and within budget.  The techniques from Six Sigma, TSP/PSP, and Poka-Yoke that helped the team to manage the project effectively and drive quality improvements upstream will be highlighted.  Also, Mukesh will instruct you in avoiding some of the pitfalls that can occur while managing these major test projects.

  • Learn about managing large scale, global testing projects.
  • Study helpful techniques from Six Sigma, TSP/PSP, and Poka-Yoke.
  • Understand how to avoiding pitfalls in major testing efforts.


1About the instructor...
Mukesh Jain is a Quality Manager for Microsoft leading efforts in improving the quality of service in Microsoft's Online Services Business.  During the past eight years, Mukesh has successfully led the implementation of TSP/PSP, Six Sigma, ITIL/MOF, Poka-Yoke, test automation, Model based testing, and the Test Maturity Model.  He has managed large test projects for two major releases of Microsoft Office.  Prior to Microsoft, Mukesh led multinational companies in India in implementing process maturity and certification.  Mukesh holds an Engineering Degree in Computer Science.  He is a Six Sigma Black Belt, TSP Coach, PSP Instructor, SEI Certified PSP Developer & Engineer, ISO 9000 Internal Auditor, CQA, CQIA, CSQA, CSTE, and Master-Microsoft Office Specialist.  Mukesh has written several papers on the subject of software quality and project management and presents at international conferences, including IEEE, ASQ, SQE/Better    Software, STPCon, SPIN, PNSQC, PMI, and SEI.

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TEST DESIGN TUTORIAL

Introduction to Exploratory Testing
Cem Kaner, JD, PhD, Florida Institute of Technology

Cem Kaner coined the phrase "exploratory testing" twenty-four years ago to describe a style of skilled work that was common in Silicon Valley.  The concept has evolved significantly since then - the leading practitioners now see exploratory testing as a style of testing that emphasizes the personal freedom and responsibility of individual testers to continually optimize the value of their work by treating test-related learning, design, execution, and result interpretation as mutually supportive activities that run in parallel throughout the project.  The most widely publicized exploratory methods are the quicktests (attacks) - cheap tests that require little preparation, knowledge, or time but are rooted so well in common error types that they are often successful.  These are useful, but exploratory testing goes beyond rapid-fire, creative testing at the keyboard.  Skilled explorers do plenty of test planning, but they don't create scripts, they create a framework for adaptive investigation.  This tutorial considers the ideas of exploration and several of the skills you can develop and tools you can use to do testing that much better.

  • Learn about common quicktests, why they work, and how to use them.
  • Explore using heuristics to support rapid learning about a product and its risks.
  • Understand how to create lightweight test plans

2
About the instructor...
Cem Kaner is a professor of software engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology and Director of its Center for Software Testing Education & Research.  Before joining Florida Tech, he worked in Silicon Valley for seventeen years as a software developer, manager, consultant, and lawyer.  Cem is the senior author of Testing Computer Software, Lessons Learned in Software Testing and Bad Software. His doctoral research was in psychophysics, the measurement and mathematical modeling of human sensory/perceptual experience.  Cem's legal work focuses on the law of software quality.  Also, join Cem for his Wednesday keynote address, Improve the Power of Your Tests with Risk-Based Test Design.

 

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AGILE TESTING TUTORIAL

Test Case Development in an Iterative and Highly Incremental Agile Environment
Timothy Korson, PhD, Qualsys Solutions

"Pure" Agile development uses story cards to scope and organize requirements.  Each story is described in a sentence or two with details filled in by verbal conversations.  Because there are no written requirements that contain enough information for independent test teams to create comprehensive test suites, testers often find themselves in a difficult position.  The Agile philosophy is that testers must create test cases directly from verbal conversations with clients.  In effect, the test cases become the detailed requirements and testers take on the role of system analysts.  Eliciting test requirements directly from stakeholders requires that testers learn a new set of skills and processes.  In addition to explaining how to effectively create system test cases from stories and stakeholders, this tutorial will examine the development of unit, component, increment, and regression tests as a part of a comprehensive testing process in an agile development environment. Test automation strategies and tools will be presented, and best current practices discussed.

  • Learn the skills necessary to develop test cases in an Agile environment
  • Discover Agile test automation strategies and tools
  • Understand the framework of a comprehensive testing process in an Agile world

3About the instructor...
Dr. Timothy Korson has had over a decade of significant experience working on a large variety of systems developed using modern software engineering techniques. This experience includes distributed, real time, embedded systems as well as business information systems in an n-tier, client-server environment.  Tim's typical involvement on a project is as a senior management consultant with additional technical responsibilities to ensure high quality, robust test and quality assurance processes and practices.  Tim has authored numerous articles, and co-authored a book on Object Technology Centers, Object Technology Centers of Excellence.  He has given frequent invited lectures at major international conferences and has contributed to the discipline through original research. The lectures and training classes he presents receive uniformly high marks.

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MEASUREMENT TUTORIAL

Managing the Test Project Using Verification Metrics
Dr. Lawrence E. Day, Boeing

In this tutorial, Lawrence will examine the purpose of software measurement.  He will provide a definition of software measures and metrics, including specific examples.  Areas of definition include ITIL, Planguage, ISO and academia.  Metrics categories will be reviewed, including product and process, objective and subjective, direct and indirect, explicit and derived, absolute and relative, dynamic and static, and predictive and explanatory.  You will learn about the internal and external attributes of the components of software measurement specifications, design, code, test data, construction specification, detailed design, and testing. The Goal/Question/Metric (GQM) approach to measurement and metric generation will be introduced together with a hierarchical model.  GQM examples will be thoroughly explained and there will be a workshop on developing a GQM for the participant's organization.  The session will also contain a section on the software development process metrics areas of planning, organizing, controlling and improving with the indicator categories of progress, effort, cost, results, training, trouble reports, requirements stability, size stability, computer resource utilization, and training.  In-process testing metrics will be covered as well as various types of defect tracking, system metrics, and CPU metrics.  Finally, Lawrence will discuss the concept of Agile Inspections as measures of quality upstream that will give the testing organization a preview of what to expect in terms of defects that will come with the code to be tested.   You will also have the opportunity to participate in a workshop covering ways to conduct an "Agile" inspection.

  • Receive an introduction to software measures and metrics
  • Develop and in-depth understanding of software development, testing, defect, and system metrics
  • Practice developing a GQM model and an Agile inspection

4About the instructor...
Dr. Lawrence E. Day has over 35 years of experience in software and computing in the aerospace industry with 17 years in engineering and computing management.  Lawrence is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, and consultant.  He has participated in software projects covering every aspect of the development lifecycle both as an engineer and as a manager.  He has worked in military and commercial products organizations and within IT groups.  Lawrence has a BSEE, an MBA in Technology/Engineering Management, and a ThD.  He is a PhD candidate in Information Systems Management.  Lawrence is a Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA), a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and an FAA Certified Flight Instructor.  He has partnered internationally with both British and Israeli firms for training and consulting.


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PROJECT MANAGEMENT TUTORIAL

Project Management for Everyone
James Vaughan, Coach N Train Ltd.

The benefit of implementing project management to improve project delivery is now being recognized by many organizations. Applying project management techniques, however, can be quite overwhelming.  In the latest Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, the Project Management Institute defines 44 different processes that can be applied to any project.  In addition to having the knowledge and ability to apply these processes and techniques, there are also the human relation skills required to successfully lead a project.  While large and complex projects typically utilize a well-trained project manager, many other projects tend to be managed by technical managers and team leaders without extensive training in the discipline.  There are some basic techniques that can be used by the non-project manager, though, to help ensure the success of a project.  There are also some basic human relation skills that can be of benefit to anyone who is given the task of leading a project.  This tutorial will explain some of those basic techniques and concepts that can be used by anyone attempting to effectively manage their projects.

  • Learn the various process groups and knowledge areas of project management
  • Understand how to apply project management practices to all phases of a project
  • Explore some basic human relation skills essential to managing projects

About the instructor...
Jim is a successful project manager who developed his skills in one of the most demanding of today's technical environments, global telecommunications.  Jim successfully delivered the first non-Japanese cellular system in the Japanese market.  Recently, he successfully led a $56M data center consolidation project completing the project within 0.3% of budget.  Jim currently provides individual coaching for those seeking to increase their personal leadership.  He has a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Illinois, is a certified Project Management Professional, a graduate of CoachU, and is currently seeking a master's degree in spirituality from Loyola University.  Jim is also the VP of Education for the PMI Chicagoland chapter.


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