Lessons Learned in (Selling) Software Testing

In 2013, Keith Klain quit his job as Head of the Global Test Center at Barclays Investment Bank to start a test consulting business based on context-driven testing principles. Keith has spent the past two years wading through industry dogma, pitching new ideas about testing to clients, hiring—and firing—testers, and trying to turn context-driven testing into a viable commercial approach. Succeeding in such a setting requires a balance of practical approaches that can driving improvements against “sunk cost” bias and decades of bad behavior by some test vendors and internal test departments. Keith’s successes and failures have validated the lessons he learned during his twenty-year software testing career and have taught him some new lessons he wasn’t expecting. Join Keith as he shares what has and hasn’t worked when talking to stakeholders about what they need vs. what they want, applying context-driven testing principles on projects that haven’t had any principles, and dealing with test case allergies and the “smarty pants syndrome.” Take back new insights in how to get things done without compromising your integrity.