Often times, IT Management has little patience or time for detailed test status reports because the metrics are hard to interpret. By the same token, they misunderstand the objectives of software testing. Hence, the perception of testing is that it is an effort to improving solution quality, that it is considered a linear and independent task, and that test results are assumed to stay valid over time. Control is an important aspect, maybe the most important, of any software project, including during the testing lifecycle. Significant time and effort (money) is invested in preparing testing dashboards with detailed metrics and reports. But, many wildly successful projects have proceeded without much control, like Google Earth or Wikipedia. This session reviews how different kinds of projects have different control needs and changing expectations of what can be controlled. It will present some alternative and less complex approaches to metrics and reporting.
Bernd Haber is responsible for Accenture’s North America Testing Service for the Products Industry Operating Group that includes clients in Retail, Life Science, Consumer Goods, Airline, Automotive and Hospitality. He is a senior executive member of Accenture Testing Platform, the firm’s Global Testing Practice and Testing Community of Practice. Bernd specializes in the field of test strategy development, test operation transformation, process performance & quality assurance, as well as test metrics and measurements. He is one of the winners of 2011 Accenture’s Inventor Award program as related to his patent-pending QA Metrics Dashboard solution. Bernd has been with Accenture for more than 22 years and holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Aided Manufacturing.
