8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
1/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Software Testing Career Paths
For an Outsourced Economy
Michael Hackett
April 2, 2009
STP Spring Expo
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
2/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Welcome
LogiGearprovides global solutions for software testingincluding the world-leading test automation solution with
Action Based Testing. For over a decade, we've workedwith hundreds of companies, from Fortune 500 tostartups, delivering unique testing solutions that meettheir unique needs. We double their test coverage, cuttest time in half, improve quality and reduce cost.
LogiGearhas built a reputation for offering the widestrange of services in the software testing industry. Be itturn-key test automation, consulting, training, outsourcedtesting, or products, we partner with softwareorganizations to create approaches that precisely meettheir demands.
www.LOGIGEAR.com
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
About meMichael Hackett, Senior Vice President, is a founding partner of LogiGear
Corporation. He has almost two decades of experience in software engineering
and the testing of shrink-wrap, client/server and web-based applications in
Banking, Securities, Healthcare and Consumer Electronics.
Michael has helped well-known companies including Palm Computing, Oracle,
CNET, Partners Healthcare, ADP, Electronics for Imaging, Adobe Systems, The
Learning Company, and The Well produce, test and release applications ranging
from business productivity and eCommerce to educational multimedia titles - in
English as well as a multitude of other languages.He has co-authored two books on software testing. Testing Applications on the Web-
Test Planning for Mobile and Internet-Based Systems (Wiley, 2nd ed. 2003),
available in English, Chinese and Japanese and Global Software Test
Automation (HappyAbout Publishing, 2006).
He currently sits on the Board of Advisors and teaches for the Certificate in Software
Quality Engineering and Management at University of California at Santa Cruz
Extension. Michaels training has brought Silicon Valley testing expertise to 12
countries. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Carnegie Mellon
University.
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
3/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
What we will talk about
Outsourcing does not mean the end of testing in the U.S.
but is does mean the end of testing as we know it!
In this session we will talk about how US-based testteams continue to be a crucial asset to the developmentorganization and more importantly, amplify our value tothe company as a whole.
We will do this by examining: The stereotypical, traditional role of testing,
The needs of the organization And, career paths.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
What we will talk about
Experts agree that an internal team is essential to theeffective outsourcing of testing, onshore or offshore.That team must provide maximum value by using thebest of both worlds.
How can we make it work and build a successful and
rewarding career in software testing?
The days of a room full of subject matter experts orgeneralists are gone and they should be!
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
4/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Problem Statement
How did we get here:
Lower-cost teams- Outsource (leveraging specialty
and elasticity) & offshore (leveraging lower cost
structure)
Distributed teams/Remote-work- no availability of
skilled staff
Reduced work force/team size
Work faster
And, there is still a need for Quality
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Some History
Stereotypical, Traditional QA/Test people
Old model- failed developers
90s boom- anybody
The Dot Bomb and now- do more with less
Test faster
Agile
More automation
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
5/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Some History
Focus on black-box testing
Finding bugs too late in development
Need for Subject Matter Expertise
Test team as user advocates
Understanding of users for scenario design and test
case development
Test team as bridge from development to the
users/business
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Typical Current Work
Focus on Testing and Quality Control rather than QualityAssurance
Downstream quality- test-in rather than build-inquality.
Limited value or failed automation
Requirements-based testing- necessary but notinteresting or skilled, also, not a primary method ofbug finding.
Limited tool use
Limited use of, or useless metrics
Not managing source control
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
6/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Some Definitions
Outsource- send work outside the company.
Offshore- send work to your companys office in another
country, presumably a lower cost center. Offshore Outsource- send work outside the company to
another country.
Inshore, Nearshore, Reshore.
This is not new.
Examples:
ADP- 1949- payroll, accounting, data processingoutsourcing.
TI (Texas Instruments) began in Bangalore 1978
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Some DefinitionsBlack box- Testing focuses on software external attributes and behavior. Such testing
looks at an applications behavior from the users perspective or expectation.(Hung Q. Nguyen)
Focus on input, outputs, and an externally derived theory of operation. (CemKaner)
Gray box- A combination of Black-box and White-box testing methodologies: testing apiece of software against its specification but using some knowledge of its internalworkings.
Testing consists of methods and tools derived from the knowledge of theapplication internals and the environment with which it interacts. Gray-box testingevaluates application design and implementation in the context of theinteroperability of system components.
Testing involving inputs, outputs, but test design is educated by information aboutthe code and the program operation of a kind that would normally be out of scopeof the view of the tester. (Cem Kaner)
White box-In White-box testing, the tester (usually the programmer) uses his/herknowledge of the source code and analysis of the internal structure of the softwaremodule or component to create test cases. White-box testing focuses ondeveloper/designer context (source code). (Hung Q. Nguyen)
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
7/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Before we plot a course
To figure out best career path we will first do someanalysis:
What value do you currently provide the team? What skill sets are easily available at home and
offshore? Who is your staff?
What work should be sent offshore and what keptonshore?
Career paths to solve gaps.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
What do you provide?
What value do you provide:
Built-in expertise, subject matter expertise?
Specific skill set?
Location usefulness & immediacy of results?
This will inform:
Who does what work (how to distribute work, offshore &
onshore)?
Who manages it?
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
8/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Skills of the Trade
Necessary skill sets for any test project, there are 3
essential skill sets.
Domain Knowledge
Technical Skill
QA/Test skill
Where any of these is lacking there will be problems. We
need balance in these skills, preferable finding a sweet
spot to have enough of all 3.
Before charting a path forward, assess for strengths and
weaknesses.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Skills of the Trade
Domain
Knowledge
TechnicalKnowledge
QA & Testing
Knowledge
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
9/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Skills of the TradeDomain knowledge
understanding and expertise in the area of the products activity.
biologists or chemists working on medical device software
Technical knowledge
Understanding the platform, language, or system on which the product isbuilt.
If your application is coded in Java you have different testing needs than inC++ or C#.
If it runs in IE only or IE, Safari, Firefox, WAP-compliant mini-browsers, thetest effort is different.
QA and Testing knowledge
thorough understanding of quality and testing.
This is knowing how to write an efficient test plan, a few methods for test
case development. Solid ideas for what data to test with and how to build and maintain that data.Necessities of code review, inspection, requirements analysis. How to write agreat bug report. A few ways to measure and report test coverage.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Typical Onshore
DomainKnowledge
TechnicalKnowledge
QA & Testing
Knowledge
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
10/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Typical Offshore
Domain
Knowledge
Technical
Knowledge
QA & Testing
Knowledge
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Who is your staff offshore?
The various skill levels of the home team and the
offshore team may have you re-consider what work to
send and what work to keep in the home office.
Example:
send automation
send low-level & API testing
keep business process
keep user scenario
etc
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
11/24
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
12/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Choose wisely!
Thinking about
Nearness to developers
Nearness to users,
What does not have to stay near users or developers?
Regression?
Automation?
Requirements validation?
what else?
This should be the first to offshore.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Choose wisely!
Think about build-in skill sets:
More tech skill? Offshore
API, Unit testing, 3rd party integration tests
More Automation
More domain knowledge? Keep at home.
Test case design
Data design
Building behavior models
Build better test data or environments
Designing workflows, scenarios
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
13/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Choose wisely!
A simplified example: In most cases you have a higher
level of programming skill in your offshore team than in
the local team. It makes sense to offshore testautomation and keep user- focused scenario
development and business process testing in your office
where you have more knowledge of the domain and the
user.
These are choices that will influence your career path as
well as the value you provide.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
14/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Career path solutions
The career paths
1 Quality Engineer- get better at what you do.
2 Offshore Project Lead/Manager- offshore projectmanagement.
3 Senior Test Engineer- move from Black box to Whitebox tester
4.Test Architect- Focus on maximizing test automationon a large scale with the most coverage and lowestmaintenance.
5 Be more Agile- take on more technical tasks, learn
and apply the essentials of Agile Development.Become a Scrum Master.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
1: Quality Engineer
Get better at what you do!
Do better, earlier, more effective Testing
Become a Quality Engineer instead of Tester.
Move quality upstream
Manage:
code inspection
code review
requirements engineering
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
15/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
1: Quality Engineer
Get better at what you do!
Excellent, optimized Test Case designMore Subject Matter Expertise
Better data design and data management
Build models early!
Behavioral models, Activity diagrams, State
models
Measure and communicate test coverage better
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
1: Quality Engineer
Post project:
Run post mortems
Implement continuous quality improvement
(CPI)
Root cause analysis (RCA)
Measure and report effectiveness of test effort-
defect removal rates, test effectiveness
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
16/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
1: Quality Engineer
Understand and measure levels of quality
Measure levels of customer satisfaction
Metrics
Manage
Examine effectiveness of
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
1: Quality Engineer
Look at the ASQ Software Quality Engineer Certification
http://www.asq.org/certification/software-quality-engineer/
17% of the exam is on Systems and SoftwareEngineering
17% on Validation and Verification 10% on Software Configuration Management
Testing makes up a very small part of thecertification exam.
How strong are you in these non-testing areas?
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
17/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
2: Offshore Project Lead/Manager
Offshore Project Manager-
CIO Magazine lists it: Hot IT Jobs
Learn more about Offshoring Better project sizing and estimation
Offshore process improvement
Better communication and collaborationinfrastructure & tools
Better source control tools
Test and project deliverable sharing and archiving
Build People skills Better onshore and offshore training
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
2: Offshore Project Lead/Manager
Learn:
Various offshore models
SLA management, reporting, visibility
Better, more meaningful offshore metrics
Optimize division of labor
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
18/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
2: Offshore Project Lead/Manager
Very important for all global development teams: having a
structure for reporting, metrics, tools for sharing files, tools
for communicating- set up the infrastructure and train on it.
Learn more about wiki, blog, sharepoint technologies.
Add document control, source control, change
control, source control, requirements management,
test case management, defect management tools and
infrastructure.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
2: Offshore Project Lead/Manager
Increase yourPeople skills:
Managing work across teams
Team building
Career growth/path for other team members
Coaching- be a excellent coach. Build team trust.
Be a better manager Leading/ Being a leader How to be an excellent Trainer
Be a Cultural Difference problem solver: Working with Americans
Working with XYZ Country
Problem resolution
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
19/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
3: Black to White
Black box to white box tester- Senior test engineer
Similar to current Senior test engineer career path (tactical,
execution) with a focus on the new division of laborand supporting an offshore team.
Grow technically take on more technical tasks
Unit testing
API testing
3rd party integration
Build engineering/configuration management
Greater tool use for earlier test results
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
3: Black to White
Learn more technical and earlier testing
SOA (skill)
SAAS (process)
Security
Performance
Continuous integration
Test Team takes over build process and re-running
unit tests, etc.
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
20/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
4: Test Architect
Similar to existing Test Architect career path(strategic, long term view, designing code for
testability, designing frameworks) with a focuson Test Automation, for offshore or onshore.
Working with developers on designing code fortestability.
Choosing the right testing automation strategiesand framework.
Reviewing test design and test automation
implementation.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
4: Test Architect
Examine automation:
High volume automation- automate more
Optimize automated regression
Automate for more coverage
More effective, more efficient
Lower maintenance
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
21/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
5: Agile Development
Learn about Agile Development- Become a ScrumMaster
Learn the process, theories, manifesto, how itworks, what it is trying to fix, most commonareas where groups fail.
Essential processes: Unit Testing
How can Test Teams help or take this task?
parameterized unit testing
Continuous Integration Test team runs continuousintegration
Immediacy of results/ Instant testing automate regression- automated builds.
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
5: Agile Development
Overcoming Issues with Offshoring and Agile
Division of Labor- example
Onshore does daily ad hoc testing and test case
development
Offshore does automated regression
Agile will exacerbate communication problems How to overcome face-to-face communication issues
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
22/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
5: Agile Development
Different collaboration tools needed
Rational Jazz platform type tool
Continuous Integration tool
BuildForge, SourceForge type
Unit testing platform
JUnit, nUnit, etc.
Regression Automation tool- essential!
white board or card collaboration tool
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
To Execs- Why this matters
Essential to have local test staff Best source for corporate quality guidelines across all teams
Use their knowledge of quality practices to optimize whole team
This staff needs career growth
Great source of on-the-ground, offshore issue resolutionexperience
Focus on higher productivity- more automation
Use home staff more effectively find/fix bugs earlier
Better sleep at night Trust and assurance from responsible, experienced people
Nave to offshore it all. Moving alldevelopment and testing away from users is a
problem.
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
23/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Summary
Decide/describe value of home test team to organization.
What does the development organization need?
Examine the skill sets- home and offshore
Chose division of labor wisely:
what gets sent, what stays home
Chose a career path that interests you!
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Wrapping-up
Q & A
8/14/2019 Tester Career Paths Outsourced Economy
24/24
2009 LogiGear Corporation. All Rights Reserved
Thank you
LogiGear Corporation2015 Pioneer Court
San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 572-1400 Phone
Michael Hackett
Top Related