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Virtual Conference

 

Tune in to the Virtual Conference and be a part of the action!

 

Live Event Dates & Times

Wednesday, May 7
8:30am–5:30pm ET

and

Thursday, May 8
8:30am–5:30pm ET

 

 

 

The STAREAST Virtual Conference will be streaming live on May 7–8 from Orlando, Florida. The Virtual Conference features presentations and interviews straight to your desktop—including the latest testing solutions and networking opportunities.

Watch keynote sessions and industry technical presentations as they are happening live at STAREAST. The STAREAST Virtual Conference also features live interviews with conference speakers!

Attendance is complimentary—so reserve your seat now. Or, view the full program details below.

                                      

 

8:30 AM ET  •  KEYNOTE–Principles Before Practices: Transform Your Testing by Understanding Key Concepts

     Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services, Inc.

It’s one thing to be exposed to new techniques from conferences and training courses, but it’s quite another thing to apply them in real life. A major reason is that people tend to focus on learning the technique without first grasping the underlying principles. Basic testing principles, such as the pesticide paradox of software defects and defect clustering, have been known for many years. Other principles, such as “Test automation is not automatic” and “Not every software failure is a defect,” are learned by experience. Once you grasp the principle, particular techniques become more applicable and extensible. However, principles take time to learn and much practice to apply well.

Randy Rice explains why true learning and application are not instant and what it takes to really absorb what we learn. Randy shows how two specific techniques—pairwise testing and risk-based testing—can be misapplied unless the key concepts are first understood. Leave knowing how to build your own set of software testing principles that can be applied in many contexts.

10:00 AM ET  •  KEYNOTE–Testing in the Age of Distraction: Flow, Focus, and Defocus in Testing

 

       Zeger Van Hese, Z-sharp

We live in interesting times. Knowledge is available at our fingertips, no matter where we are. Social networks enable communication around the world. However, along with these marvels of the information age come weapons of mass distraction. With so many things competing for our attention—and so little time to focus on real work—it’s a wonder we get anything done at all. What does this mean for testers? A common belief is that only focused concentration leads to productive work—and conversely, that distraction causes procrastination and stifles creativity. While it is important that testers find flow and maintain focus,

Zeger Van Hese believes that a state of defocus—guilt-free play—can also be helpful in testing. Zeger shares tips, tricks, and tools that have helped him focus and defocus while testing. He explains not only how to benefit from distraction but also how to return to flow and focus when needed. Learn to make the most of these techniques in your testing.

11:30 AM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • HP

 

      Delivering Velocity and Quality for the New Style of Application Delivery

 

      Michael Cooper, HP, Silvia Siqueira, HP, and Shane Evans, HP

 

Do you want to deliver high performance applications with unprecedented velocity and uncompromising quality?  Join HP Experts, Silvia Siqueira, Michael Cooper, and Shane Evans for an informative discussion about HP’s recent innovations in testing and quality assurance to make delivering with velocity and quality possible including:

  • Cloud Testing for maximum performance and scale
  • Remarkable User Experience for ease of use from any platform
  • Enhanced Mobile Testing with realistic performance and functional mobile testing
  • Continuous Testing to deliver continuous quality with automation and virtualization
  • Flexible Delivery to get started quickly and economically

12:30 PM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • Borland

 

       Cross Browser Testing Made Easy       

 

       Archie Roboostoff, Borland, A Micro Focus Company

 
  • Come see how to harness the power of the Cloud to test your web applications
  • Test across all major browser types without browser setup or hardware configuration
  • Visually ensure your application works across desktop and mobile browsers...in minutes.

1:45 PM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • Oracle

 

     42 Hundred Testers Under the Sea

     Mikael Fries and Mazen Arar, Oracle

 

This true story tells the tale of a company that’s dedicated to unleashing innovation by simplifying IT. But in order to bring these innovations to customers, many thousands of developers and testers spend countless number of hours on testing an even higher number of test cases. This presentation will give an exclusive insight into these massive activities, how they’ve packaged these experiences for customers and partners and which benefits it will bring them as well.

3:00 PM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • Polarion

 

     Put Your Test Automation on Steroids

 

     Regg Struyk, Polarion

 

Do you ever wonder if you are maximizing the potential of your Test Automation process?
Learn what can be done to leverage your entire QA ecosystem.  In this interactive session we will cover how to manage your automation activities using Test Management methodology including a full traceability to your business requirements and show you how to improve your bug detection and responsiveness.

We will examine best practices and common pitfalls including:

  • Compliance with ISO, FDA, CMMI, FMEA, SPICE…
  • Support for multiple environments: Agile, Waterfall, Regulatory & Hybrids
  • Guaranteed traceability
  • Easy definition of Test Steps Automation through Workflow Engine Real-time Test Status
  • Static Source Code Analysis
  • Automated versus Manual Testing
  • 3rd Party integration

4:30 PM ET  •  KEYNOTE–Lightning Strikes the Keynotes

 

     Lee Copeland, Software Quality Engineering

 

Throughout the years, Lightning Talks have been a popular part of the STAR conferences. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Lightning Talks consists of a series of five-minute talks by different speakers within one presentation period. Lightning Talks are the opportunity for speakers to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. And now, lightning has struck the STAR keynotes.

Some of the best-known experts in testing—Scott Barber, Jennifer Bonine, Bob Galen, Philip Lew, Thomas McCoy, Jeff “Cheezy” Morgan, Alan Richardson, Jared Richardson, Lloyd Roden, Alan Page, and Rob Sabourin—will step up to the podium and give you their best shot of lightning. Get eleven keynote presentations for the price of one—and have some fun at the same time.

 

8:30 AM ET  •  KEYNOTE–Extreme Automation: Software Quality for the Next Generation Enterprise

     Theresa Lanowitz, voke, inc.

 

Software runs the business. The modern testing organization aspires to be a change agent and an inspiration for quality throughout the entire lifecycle. To be a change agent, the testing organization must have the right people and skill sets, the right processes in place to ensure proper governance, and the right technology to aid in the delivery of software in support of the business line.

Traditionally, testing organizations have focused on the people and process aspect of solving quality issues. With the ever-increasing complexity of the software needed to run the enterprise, testing professionals must adopt technology to help solve some of the most challenging quality issues ever. In short, testing organizations must make the move to extreme automation and become proficient with modern tooling and its benefits. Theresa Lanowitz focuses on new and emerging technologies—proven and successful—to add to the workbench of the test professional.

9:45 AM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • TCS

 

     Role of Testing in Dev-Ops: Your Part in Driving Superior Customer Experience

 

     Tom Edwards, Nielsen, and Mathew Varughese, TCS Assurance Services

 

The ability to offer superior end customer experience in real time has become an imperative for businesses today. Continuous testing, integration, delivery approaches executed by closely knit development-testing-operations (Dev-Ops) team can make a difference in ensuring a superior experience.

As a Quality Assurance or development professional, are you ready to play your part in ‘Dev-Ops’?

Join us in this session, hosted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), to learn about the role of testing in the Dev-Ops era and the vital role of testing to ensure superior customer experience. Topics include:

  • The emerging trends in Dev-Ops
  • The necessity of a mindset change while testing in a Dev-Ops landscape
  • Assurance practices in a Dev-Ops era

11:15 AM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • LogiGear

 

       Big Testing: Achieving Scalable Test Automation

 

       John Kane, LogiGear

 

Large-scale and complex testing projects can stress the testing and automation practices we have learned through the years, resulting in less than optimal outcomes. However, a number of innovative ideas and concepts are emerging to better support industrial-strength testing for big projects. In this session, you will learn how to systematically develop and scale test automation for complex applications. See how an action-based keyword-driven approach can keep your test cases maintainable, while ensuring readable and understandable test cases for the entire test team. John will also discuss how test teams can leverage the integration of test development with the power of ALM and continuous delivery in an Agile environment.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Develop, execute, and scale to a very large volume of high-quality tests
  • Systematically manage and maintain test cases, even when there are changes to the application under test
  • Validate business-level test objectives for maximum application return

12:15 PM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • Parasoft

 

       Service Virtualization Enables Continuous Testing

 

       Wayne Ariola, Parasoft

 

Build-test-release-deploy processes for today’s interdependent systems are commonly impacted by constraints associated with a staged test environment—for instance, the complexity and/or cost of accessing dependencies as needed for automated continuous testing. Service Virtualization’s simulated test environments eliminate these constraints, enabling organizations to significantly enhance the breadth and depth of their automated testing efforts. This can include complex end-to-end functional, load/performance, and security tests.
Integrating service virtualization into the build-test-release-deploy process allows organizations to establish automated quality gates for even the most complex interdependent systems. This helps organizations reduce their risk exposure, bringing higher quality functionality to the market faster and at a lower cost.

Session Takeaways:

  • Learn what service virtualization entails.
  • Gain an understanding of how to eliminate constraints associated with static staged test environments.
  • Learn the efficiencies to be gained by integrating service virtualization into your existing process.

1:30 PM ET  •  Industry Technical Presentation • IBM

 

     Continuously Test & Deliver High Quality Software Faster

 

     Al Wagner, IBM

 

As organizations strive to embrace a DevOps approach and accelerate the release of quality software to end-users, legacy testing approaches continue to put project release dates at risk. Simply put, measuring quality and how organizations approach testing needs to change. Particularly when you consider that today’s innovators are making mobile apps, which have shorter and quicker release cycles, a priority means to reach their customer base. Implementing continuous testing and having the ability to rapidly responding to customer feedback is critical to releasing quality software. Learning how to balance cost, speed, risk and quality is the key to business success.

This session will discuss:

  • How past attempts to change software development and testing approaches, in order to meet the increasing customer demand for better quality, aren’t really working.
  • What test teams really need to become leaner, test earlier, and test continuously with agile test environments using service virtualization.
  • How to integrate continuous testing with deployment automation accelerating the software delivery lifecycle and achieving continuous feedback.

4:15 PM ET  •  KEYNOTE–The Art of Testing Transformation: Blending Technology with Cutting-Edge Processes

     Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

 

Technologies, testing processes, and the role of the tester have evolved significantly over the past several years. As testing professionals, it is critical that we evaluate and evolve ourselves to continue to add tangible value to our organizations. In your work, are  you focused on the trivial or on real "game changers"? Jennifer Bonine describes critical elements that, like a skilled painter, help you artfully blend people, process, and technology into a masterpiece, woven together to create a synergistic relationship that adds value to your organization.

Jennifer shares ideas in the areas of mastering politics, maneuvering core versus context, and innovating your technology strategies and processes. She addresses questions on how many new processes can be introduced in an organization, what the role of organizational culture is in determining the success of a project, and how can you know what tools will add value versus simply adding overhead and complexity. This discussion can lead you to technologies and processes you can stake your career on.