Transforming Business People into Testers and Test Managers – How? Paul Gerrard Aqastra Limited PO Box 347 Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 2RD Tel: © Copyright 2008 Aqastra1 aqastra.com

Where do we find our team? Your next project is on the horizon – you need to plan a system/acceptance test You have 2-3 trusted testers of known ability You need perhaps 7-10 more but where can you get them? – UK testing service companies, contractor market, offshore? – Time consuming, expensive, risky – So the business is asked to loan us some ‘free resource’ © Copyright 2008 Aqastra2

Using users as testers Pros – Relatively cheap – free to IT, possibly – Know the business, processes, systems – Already employed – a known quantity Cons – May be reluctant to commit to a temporary role – No testing skills – No project skills – No technical skills – Because it’s a temporary assignment, we can’t invest much in training. © Copyright 2008 Aqastra3

But, what about a permanent move into testing? We’ve all been in the position of using users to do UAT for a few weeks But what if we wanted to build up our permanent testing resource? Can business folk be re-trained to become testers? In an ideal world, how would we do this? Let’s look at the skills they probably have, what they need and the challenge of re-training. © Copyright 2008 Aqastra4

What do business people bring to a testing role? Experience of the company, its business, process, systems and culture Their network – they have extensive networks in the business They are trusted by the business Business will not regard them as ‘time-wasters’ Understanding of requirements, and the reason those requirements exist Understanding of the shortcomings of the existing systems, movements of data, responsibilities, accountabilities, ownership, authorities They think like users – because they are users. © Copyright 2008 Aqastra5

What’s the economic case? An employee doing a mainly clerical job might earn £18-25k per year A tester with experience hired to work in IT might cost £34,423 (according to ITjobswatch) – Number of permanent tester jobs is decreasing even though IT job market is steady/strong – It’s hard to recruit good people, and the service companies are seeing steady growth Average cost of recruitment is £5,000 in UK – try Googling “cost of recruitment” It must be easier/cheaper to recruit internally. © Copyright 2008 Aqastra6

What are the challenges to recruiting internally? Managing the transition from business to IT – Identifying suitable candidates – HR support, guidance, facilitation (and budget) – Mentoring from old and new management Re-skilling – and quickly Acquisition of relevant competencies Cultural change and outlook Practical experience (from somewhere) Probationary period – but how long to be fully productive? © Copyright 2008 Aqastra7

For discussion How do we identify suitable candidates? What mentoring is required? What (new) skills are required? How can these skills be acquired? How do we get candidates to think like a test? Where do they get practical experience? How do we monitor and manage their probationary period? © Copyright 2008 Aqastra8

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Thank-You!