RAJ UPPADHYAY - Chapter Lead, Countdown

INTELLIGENT TESTING 101 - BUILDING BLOCKS FOR MODERN TESTING

The software industry is going through a score of revolutions, start from a waterfall development methodology to a modern agile approach. With every new change in the way we develop the software, we also need a better and enhanced way to ensure the quality of the software, and hence we witnessed the corresponding approaches in testing as well from manual testing to automated DevOps integrated testing.

The new paradigm of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) is a new wave in the industry and now it is time to enhance our testing approach to adopt and utilize this technique to make our testing more robust, self-healing with continuous learning i.e. Intelligent.

In this quick talk, we will discuss the building blocks of Intelligent testing and explore how to utilize our existing tools towards it.

SCOTT STEVENS - Principle Consultant, Planit testing

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD

Automated performance testing is one of the touchstones that is meant to enable the dream of continuous integration and delivery: Shifting left, catching performance defects early so they don't become bigger and more complex at a later stage. When it comes to automating performance testing there are some things that can be done to add value, while others tend to re-enforce the old maxim that "Just because you can, does not mean you should". Part of this presentation will be outlining how an over-reliance can result in catastrophic consequences and offering some insights and offering advice on how to avoid this in your project.

MOHAMMAD SHAHID SIDDIQUI - Senior Consultant, The Testing Consultancy

TESTING TODAY’S APPLICATION - BLEND OF APPIUM, PERFECTO, TOSCA, AND CI/CD

Mobile computing is ubiquitous now. With the new frameworks for developing applications effectively, advancements in UX, the need for highly secure, API based data-driven applications that also ensure data security and privacy, the current mobile applications demand a good amount of focused testing. With each update, or feature addition, the regression test cases need to be executed.

I will be talking about risk-based testing using Tosca, Android and iOS app, Perfecto environment where shared repository is involved - a highly distributed environment where shared repository, test case execution, devices under test - all are located at different geographies.

PRIYA BALACHANDRAN - QA & Capability Manager, Datacom

BRINGING QUALITY ASSURANCE TO THE FOREFRONT OF THE BATTLEFIELD

2020 , a year that has gone yet will be remembered worldwide as a year like no other! Social interaction became a memory to be replaced by social distancing. Mankind was at war with an invisible enemy on a battlefield we were not accustomed but needed to defeat.

In some ways , Quality professionals have always been subjected to the invisible bugs/defects that needs finding so it can be fixed or eliminated. However, in most cases ‘Quality’ is an after-thought often resulting in the Tester/QA being under the spotlight towards the end of sprint-cycle or brought in after a failure of production release. As organizations and businesses embark on their Agile transformation journeys where continuous testing and delivery are a must yet many still find themselves far from their optimal performance goals.

In this presentation , we will explore ways of ‘Bringing Quality Assurance to the forefront of the battlefield” by focusing on the 3R’s – Recognize, Reflect & Re-adapt.

ROWAN TEH - Co-Founder, Boxfish

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS – EVOLUTION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE TO BUSINESS ASSURANCE (Co-Presenting with Sharon Lee)

“What got you here, won't get you there”, is very much applicable to the practices of Quality Assurance. Since the origins of QA, focusing on tests and inspections, it has moved on over the years to integrated assurance around all aspects of delivering IT projects. From technology risk to now risks around project governance and delivery approaches, QA has continued to evolve as more risks are recognized with digital transformations.

As organizations embrace greater change from digital transformations, the risks and demands on QA are moving towards the need for Business Assurance. This stems from the fact that significant risks are driven by process and people change than just technology alone. We are now looking at the next step-change in QA to Business Assurance and how to incorporate business process and organizational change risks as part of an overall Business Assurance approach.

In this presentation, we will present the convergence of QA with Business Assurance and the tools and techniques that now must be incorporated to manage business processes and organizational change risks.

SHARON LEE - Regional Practice Lead - Business Analysis, Qual IT

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS – EVOLUTION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE TO BUSINESS ASSURANCE (Co-Presenting with Rowan Teh)

“What got you here, won't get you there”, is very much applicable to the practices of Quality Assurance. Since the origins of QA, focusing on tests and inspections, it has moved on over the years to integrated assurance around all aspects of delivering IT projects. From technology risk to now risks around project governance and delivery approaches, QA has continued to evolve as more risks are recognized with digital transformations.

As organizations embrace greater change from digital transformations, the risks and demands on QA are moving towards the need for Business Assurance. This stems from the fact that significant risks are driven by process and people change than just technology alone. We are now looking at the next step-change in QA to Business Assurance and how to incorporate business process and organizational change risks as part of an overall Business Assurance approach.

In this presentation, we will present the convergence of QA with Business Assurance and the tools and techniques that now must be incorporated to manage business processes and organizational change risks.

AKSHAY JOSHI - Sr Test Specialist, Waikato DHB

LCNC APPROACH TO TEST AUTOMATION

Development cycles these days have been considerably shortened by methodologies such as Agile and DevOps. Testing has gained more importance with the need to get a quality product to the user quickly. Developers have already understood this and have started adopting the ‘low-code/no-code’ approach to development. Why not, as testers, we join our developer colleagues in this approach with a lightweight approach to testing?

I will talk about what this upcoming strategy is, and how it supports the maximum output with minimal efforts approach. In my talk, we will take a look at what this strategy is, it’s origins, some of its benefits and gotchas and if time permits a quick demo.

ANGELA EVANS - Senior Software Engineer, Auror

TESTING DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS - A TEAM'S TESTING JOURNEY

With a change away from software monoliths, test strategies need to evolve as well. Component tests for (micro)services fill the gap between unit tests and end-to-end tests. Since they only exercise part of the system, they are easier to deploy, faster and less brittle than End-to-End tests. Component tests allow testing of edge cases which otherwise are hard or impossible to reproduce otherwise. They help to release software faster and more often in an agile environment.

Apart from reducing the time needed for regression testing, component tests also add value in other phases of the development life cycle: Developers can run component tests locally during development, since no special licenses are required. On-boarding of new developers is faster, as less setup is required. Of all tests, component tests are the ones which reduce the risk of refactoring or non-functional changes and allow teams to reduce technical debt. And last, but not least, the component tests are likely the most up to date and complete documentation of a service.

This talk follows a team on their journey of testing for a new service and highlights strategies for success.

RUSSELL EWART - Head of Digital Delivery, Assurity Consulting

CUSTOMER AT THE HEART OF AUTOMATION.

The speed of the digital evolution is creating increased pressure on organizations to remain competitive. With organizations around New Zealand, there is growing recognition of the importance of automation to support fast, safe, incremental changes; the principles underpinning successful delivery.

Through his work on multiple at-scale transformations, Russell Ewart shares what Assurity believes to be the biggest principle of all: Placing your customer at the heart of automation to build trust in change.

However, putting the customer first is easier said than done.

With software at the heart of every organisation, technical change drives an internally biased view. Effective automation strategies are instead about understanding the ‘outside-in’ customer view, ensuring high value and enduring automation is created.

That’s why Assurity Consulting uses customer engagement and rapid prototyping to build automation that matters. Through rapid, iterative design cycles, Assurity embeds the voice of the customer from conception to delivery and production. The outcome is customer-centric automation that reduces the total cost of ownership for change.

Demonstrable results are what matters as evidenced on the Inland Revenue Business Transformation programme. Assurity Consulting took a customer-centric approach which provided customer-focused continuous testing of new systems and processes as they rolled out, giving rise to enhanced return on investment and a lasting end-to-end view of customer experience.