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There are very few business system applications under development for which 100% testing is feasible or likely. This is especially true with systems under development which take advantage of some of the newer technologies and high level programming languages. Planning the expenditure of valuable, and often limited, testing resources becomes critical. This presentation will describe a process for evaluating risk based on business functions which can be used to drive testing efforts.
Ms. Barbara Martens has extensive experience in all aspects of systems development, with a focus on software testing and training. Ms. Martens has been in the data processing field for better than 20 years, over ten of which have been with Computer Power Group. Ms. Martens is a dynamic speaker who has presented at numerous conferences and professional organizations on various topics related to software testing. Ms. Martens has been advocating the use of risk analysis with regard to software testing for many years and has an article published in System Builder entitled, "Maximum Testing, Minimum Cost".
Following this presentation, you are invited to join the meeting of TCQAA’s special interest group (SIG) on GUI Testing. They will meet from 4:30 - 5:30 PM in the same room as this presentation.
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ISO 9000 Certification has become a necessity for those companies wishing to market their products in Europe. The standard was originally developed for manufacturing. However, guidelines for applying the standard to software organizations have also been developed and become part of the standard. The impact of this certification on the quality of the software process has been a controversial issue. The purpose of this panel discussion is to shed light on this issue and provide some guidance to organizations looking to improve their software process through the ISO 9000 certification. Panelists have been selected to form a mix of opponents and proponents.
The GUI Testing Special Interest Group meeting will follow from 4:30 to 5:30. All are welcome.
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Achieving a software quality related certification can help you with your career goals and marketability. This set of presentations will inform you about several of the certifications available to the software quality professional.
Fred Knotek, the founding member of TCQAA and a board member of our national affiliate, Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) in Orlando, Florida, will present on two of the certifications available through QAI. The first is the Certified Quality Analyst (CQA) of which there are several thousand worldwide. The second is the Certified Software Test Engineer (CSTE) which is a brand new certification available through QAI.
Gregg Peterson, Vice Chair of Education and Advancement with the local chapter of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) will present on three of the certifications available through ASQC. The first is the Certified Quality Manager (CQM) which is a fairly new certification for ASQC. The second is the Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) which is a brand new certification and for which a pilot exam will be given locally a few weeks. The third is the Certified Quality Auditor (CQA). There are several other certifications available through ASQC that Gregg will mention and have information available on, but will not cover in detail.
Betty Ingram, Director at Large for the Minnesota chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) will present on their certification available in project management. This certification is entitled Project Management Professional (PMP), of which Betty is one of the many who hold this credential locally.
There are several other software quality and quality management certifications or designations that can be achieved that won’t be covered during these presentations. However, a list of these will be available for you to take with you. Come and join us in learning about ways to escalate your knowledge and skills to a professionally recognized level!
Following this presentation, you are invited to join the meeting of TCQAA’s special interest group (SIG) on GUI Testing. They will meet from 4:30 - 5:30 PM in the same room as this presentation.
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Your choice -- a Cadillac or a bicycle! This is how many discern the technical review options. Either one chooses a software inspection (the Cadillac) or some form of informal review (the bicycle).
This presentation will describe the defining characteristics of a formal technical review (FTR), different forms of software evaluation (SE) activities, and the instantiation of the FTR "class" by different SE activities in order to create various forms of formal technical reviews from formal buddy checks through High-Impact Inspections. The presentation will provide the rationale and mechanics for providing several effective options between the Cadillac and the bicycle.
David Gelperin of Software Quality Engineering (SQE) has more than 25 years of experience in software engineering. He is the architect of the Systematic Testware Engineering Process (STEP), the High-Impact Inspections (HII) review methodology, and the Testability Maturity Model (TMM). Mr. Gelperin chaired the development of both ANSI/IEEE standards on software testing. He leads seminars and consults on software quality and testing across the United States and abroad. He is also program chair for SQE’s Software Test, Analysis, and Review (STAR) conferences.
Following this presentation, you are invited to join the meeting of TCQAA’s special interest group (SIG) on GUI Testing. They will meet from 4:30 - 5:30 PM in the same room as this presentation.
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Board Meeting Only
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Software testing as a final step in the development life cycle is not enough to assure the quality that our users demand. Pam Lindberg will present a methodology for a testing life cycle which parallels the development life cycle. Pam will address questions such as: How do you convince management that the testing team needs to be involved early in the software development life cycle? How do you measure testing progress? When is software ready to "ship"? Where do you start a measurements program? What about risk analysis? As part of the methodology presented by Pam, she will include practical tools and techniques that you can bring back to your organization and use immediately
This presentation discusses a testing approach based on a structured mathematical technique used for defining all levels of test case design. A graphical model of the decision structure of a process is developed. Test scripts are then defined using this model as a guide to determine the minimum number of test cases required to reach a very high confidence level in the quality of the testing effort. These graphical models are also used as external documentation and provide the baseline for ongoing regression testing.
Pam Lindberg is a Software Quality Assurance and Testing consultant with AmeriData Consulting. She has over 10 years of experience in Software Quality Assurance and Testing with financial systems. Pam has worked in SQA and Testing for large insurance companies, financial services companies, banking institutions, accounting systems and a commodities system. She is currently working on her MBA and MSDD at the University of St. Thomas.
Karen Bishop-Stone has taught seminars on Software Testing and Quality Assurance Management internationally since 1980 and is a national conference lecturer on software life cycle testing methodologies. She has recently managed testing in eight states for a large, complex Federally mandated program. Ms. Bishop-Stone is the principal owner of Testware Associates, Inc., a firm dedicated to the independent testing and quality management of software.
The Special Interest Group on GUI Testing will be meeting from 4:30 - 5:30 in the same room as the presentation. The meeting topic is Best Practices for Prototyping.
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Benchmarking is the practice of comparing business products, services, functions, process or practices for the purpose of performance improvement. In her presentation In Search of Advanced Practices: The Basics of Benchmarking Ms. DeMasters will introduce us to basic benchmarking concepts as well as some practical tips for those considering benchmarking as a performance improvement tool.
Tanya M. DeMasters is the President and CEO of BenchMark Dimensions International, a Minnesota corporation that offers a new innovative Information Technology process benchmarking program. She founded the program in 1993 to provide an Information Technology (IT) discipline across all life cycle processes, e.g., Information and Technology Planning, Information Infrastructure Delivery, Information Solution Delivery, Production Support/Operations management, and Information Services Management. "Universalizing" process definitions and measures with subject matter expertise and support from several Fortune 100 corporations, the program strives to deliver the first true cross-industry, full IT-discipline, IT process benchmarking program in existence today.
Topic: Testing Techniques for GUI Menus and Controls
It will be held from 4:30 - 5:30 in the same room as the presentation.
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Practical
Software Quality Techniques PSQT'96
Pre-Conference
Tutorials October 1, 1996
Certified
Quality Analyst (CQA) Exam given locally on October 1, 1996.
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Software measurement is a valuable tool to be used to quantify an organization's current state and determine future goals. Come and learn about a measurement process for IT, the benefits and the critical success factors in starting a measurement program. A review of 3 business problems faced at a software division of a major health care organization will be provided along with the measurement solutions and the lessons learned.
Have you considered measurements after implementation? Dayton Hudson Corporation IS has created an application that allows them to monitor the continuing performance of application software, systems software and hardware in their ever changing environment - - both from an IT perspective and from their client's perspective. The presentation will cover the history behind why this application was created, what data is captured, and how the data is helping them to be more productive. Also discussed will be how the Company's President and Senior Management team have become key users of the data.
Mary DeFoe Certified Quality Analyst within the Infrastructure and Planning division of Dayton Hudson Corporation IS, has been involved in various roles of IT for the past 12 years. She has managed projects implementing processes for project estimating, project planning, time reporting, system development methodologies, quality tools and techniques. She is a member of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) and a 1996 Minnesota Quality Award Examiner.
Jenny Geisler Project Manager, DHC IS Total Quality, has been with the IS division for the past year. She brought to IS a business perspective, having over 14 years of experience in the retail industry, having held positions as Buyer, Store Area Manager, Credit Customer Service Manager and Information Systems Auditor.
Topic:
It will be held from 4:30 - 5:30 in the same room as the presentation.
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Wayne will be sharing with us the practices that have made project management successful at American Express. He will talk about the up front process of clearly defining the problem to be solved and the importance of practicing the basics. Wayne will also share with us what to be aware of and to plan for when managing client/server projects.
Project Management isn't just about Gantt charts, deliverables and milestones. Leadership and people skills play a large part in the success of well-managed projects. You will hear answers to questions such as; "What makes the best leaders/managers the best?", " Why are hard skills easy, and soft skills hard?", "How do we learn new skills?". Jesse will impart to us some of what he has learned in his many years of management and leadership of software development teams.
Wayne Metcalf is a Project Management Consultant in the Project Office department of American Express Financial Advisors. Wayne has better than 30 years in the computer systems industry; with Control Data, as an Independent Consultant and now with American Express. He has worked or managed in most aspects of software development for various business applications, scientific/government development and commercial turnkey systems.
Jesse Freese is a partner with Fissure Corporation, which provides simulation workshops in Project Management, Leadership and Managing Cross Functional Teams, to name just a few. Jesse has combined a masters degree in business with over 17 years of experience in software development. Currently he assists in new product development, and conducts project management, project estimation and planning, and process improvement training for Fissure.
Topic: Testing the GUI in a RAD environment.
It will be held from 4:30 - 5:30 in the same room as the presentation.
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