Agile Test Automation for Data-Centric Applications
Test automation is one of several key technical enablement practices that allow teams to be more successful in their agile journey. Although there are many test practices and automation tools available for software development teams to leverage, few are targeted to data-related development and testing. This lack of data-centric testing tools leaves teams working on data warehousing, business intelligence, and other data-centric applications thinking they can't possibly automate their tests. Why is test automation important to agile data teams? Why aren’t they automating their tests today? What is the path to test automation? Lynn Winterboer and Cher Fox answer these questions, bringing the concepts to life using small-group exercises and a short demo of how they make test automation work. Leave knowing that a lack of vendor-supported tools is not the issue. If you roll up your sleeves and develop good testing practices and procedures, you can easily start automating those practices and procedures using the tools and development languages you already use.
Lynn Winterboer (@AgileLynn) coaches and educates DW/BI teams on how to apply agile principles and practices to their work. In various roles within multiple teams, Lynn has focused on agile and business intelligence. She understands the unique set of challenges faced by DW/BI teams who want to benefit from the incremental, value-focused approaches of agile and lean development. Read Lynn’s blog.
Cher Fox (@TheDatanista) brings thirty years of experience as a solution architect, developer, tester, and analyst for business intelligence, data warehouse, and software development industries. Her experience includes more than twenty-five years of training corporate users on IT applications and business processes. A board member for the Colorado Chapter of TDWI (The Data Warehouse Institute), Cher is active in the SQL community, collaborating at local SQL Saturdays, SQL Server and Power BI user groups, PASS Summits, and BA conferences. Cher enjoys sharing her expertise via local, national, and international speaking engagements. Reach Cher at [email protected], Fox Consulting, and at LinkedIn.