In the past, developers knew every line of code in their applications. They designed it, wrote it, tested it, and controlled it. Today’s applications are far different. Rather than written, they are often assembled―from program language libraries, third-party frameworks, encapsulated web services, and even entire external systems—and glued together with small amounts of code. Before your organization committed to using these external pieces of software, were testers part of the evaluation process? Was the software thoroughly tested before betting your organization’s success on it? Or did everyone just hope for the best? Julie Gardiner explains how to make the business case for including test professionals in the software evaluation to add their unique focus on software quality. If you’re already committed to using vendor supplied software, Julie describes how to ensure quality from your vendors, on a schedule that meets your needs—not theirs.
Julie Gardiner
A principal consultant and head of QA and agile for Redmind, Julie Gardiner provides consultancy and training in all aspects of testing, management, and agile, specializing in risk, agile, test management, and usability. Julie has more than twenty years of experience as developer, DBA, project manager, head of operations management, and head of R&D. She has held positions of test analyst, test team leader, test consultant, and test manager in industries including financial, broadcasting, insurance, utilities, retail, web, telecoms and the public sector using approaches from traditional to agile methodologies. Julie is a certified ScrumMaster and agile coach.
The dictionary defines a rainmaker as “an executive (or lawyer) in the unsentimental world of business with an exceptional ability to attract clients, use political connections, increase profits, etc.” Simply put, a rainmaker is someone who gets things done. Is this relevant to testing? Absolutely! It is too easy to get stuck in the status quo and to avoid trying something new because everything works well as it is. But what we do can always be made better. Julie Gardiner focuses on two key areas―(1) becoming a Trusted Advisor, and (2) adapting rainmaking principles to the testing role. Join Julie as she discusses rainmaking topics: The power of relationships—what is your market? Credibility—what is it? how do we get it? and The Platinum Rule—why should we always follow it? If you are looking for ways to enhance your ability to make testing—and your company—work even better, then this session is for you!