TRACKS AND SESSIONS

Leadership Perspectives for Testers

Understanding the business side of testing is as important as amplifying our approaches and techniques. In this track you will learn how to effectively lead diverse test teams, communicate with stakeholders, and advocate for testing.  This track includes topics related to building test teams, leading business testers, handling the challenges of remote teams, communicating the value of testing, and using metrics in the decision making process.

101: Preparing the QA Budget, Effort & Test Activities (Part 1)
201: Preparing the QA Budget, Effort & Test Activities (Part 2)
401: Don’t Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain
701: Technical Debt: A Treasure to Discover and Destroy
801: Maintaining Quality in a Period of Explosive Growth - A Case Study
901: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Testers
901: Redefining the Purpose of Software Testing

Strategic Business Alignment

Strategic Business Alignment – The best way to ensure that the goals of your project, and ultimately those of the organization, are met at the end of production is to make sure they are aligned from the beginning.   This will require an ability to effectively lead diverse teams, communicate with stakeholders, and gain buy-in and agreement throughout the life of the project.  This track will offer sessions based on real life experiences and case studies where true business alignment was achieved resulting in a successful outcome for all parties involved.

202: Software Reliability, The Definitive Measure of Quality
301: Leading Cultural Change in a Community of Testers
501: Building A Successful Test Center of Excellence (Part 1)
601: Building a Successful Test Center of Excellence (Part 2)

Test Strategy, Process and Design

Before you begin testing on a project, your team should have a formal or informal test strategy.  There are key elements you need to consider when formulating your test strategy.  If not, you may be wasting valuable time, money and resources.   In this track you will learn the strategic and practical approaches to software testing and test case design, based on the underlying software development methodology.  This track includes topics related to developing a test strategy, test estimation, risk management and data management.

102: Testing with Chaos
302: Software Testing Heuristics & Mnemonics
502: How to Prevent Defects
602: Aetna Case Study - Model Office
702: Dependencies Gone Wild: Testing Composite Applications
802: Testing in the World of Kanban – The Evolution
902: Advances in Software Testing - A Panel Discussion
1002: Evaluating and Improving Usability

Performance Testing

Performance Testing is about collecting data on how applications perform to assist the development team and the stakeholders make technical and business decisions related to performance risks.  In this track you will learn practical skills, tools, and techniques for planning and executing effective performance tests.  This track will include topics such as: performance testing virtualized systems, performance anti-patterns, how to quantify performance testing risk, all illustrated with practitioners’ actual experiences doing performance testing.

103: A to Z Testing in Production: Industry Leading Techniques to Leverage Big Data for Quality
203: CSI:Miami - Solving Application Performance Whodunits
303: Interpreting and Reporting Performance Test Results (Part 1)
403: Interpreting and Reporting Performance Test Results (Part 2)
603: Application Performance Test Planning Best Practices
703: Top 3 Performance Land Mines and How to Address Them
903: Performance Testing Metrics and Measures
1003: Real World Performance Testing in Production

Test Automation

Which tests can be automated? What tools and methodology can be used for automating functionality verification? Chances are these are some of the questions you are currently facing from your project manager.  In this track you will learn how to implement an automation framework and how to organize test scripts for maintenance and reusability, as well as take away tips on how to make your automation framework more efficient.  This track includes topics related to test automation architecture, continuous integration, agile automation, and what other tasks you need to perform after you have designed your framework and scripted your test cases.

205: Complement Virtual Test Labs with Service Virtualization
402: Optimizing Modular Test Automation
504: Non-Regression Test Automation (Part 1)
604: Non-Regression Test Automation (Part 2)
704: Building Automation From the Bottom Up, Not the Top Down
904: How and Where to Invest Your Testing Automation Budget

Mobile Application Testing

The rapid expansion of mobile device software is altering the way we exchange information and do business.  These days smartphones have been integrated into a growing number of business processes.  Developing and testing software for mobile devices presents its own set of challenges.  In this track participants will learn mobile testing techniques from real-world experiences as presented by a selection of industry experts.  Topics in this track include techniques for mobile testing, the latest trends affecting mobile testing and a framework to manage mobile testing.

104: Mobile Test Automation for Enterprise & Business Applications
304: Finding the Sweet Spot - Mobile Device Testing Diversity
503: The Testing Renaissance Has Arrived (on an iPad in the Cloud)
804: Mobile Testing: Tools, Techniques & Target Devices
1004: Scaling Gracefully and Testing Responsively

Agile Testing

More and more software development organizations are "going Agile."  This track will help participants understand how they can fit traditional test practices into an Agile environment as well as explore real-world examples of testing projects and teams in varying degrees of Agile adoption.  This track will include topics related to challenges in Agile testing, utilizing Agile testing techniques, coaching an Agile test team, and using games to internalize Agile principles and practices

204: Building a Solid Foundation For Agile Testing
404: Agile vs Fragile: A Disciplined Approach or an Excuse for Chaos
605: Keeping Up!
803: Refocusing Testing Strategy Within the Context of Product Maturity

Hands-On Practicals

This track is uniquely designed to combine the best software testing theories with real-world techniques.   Participants will actually learn by doing in this hands-on format simulating realistic test environments.  After all, applying techniques learned in a classroom to your individual needs and requirements can be challenging.  Seven technical sessions covering a wide range of testing topics will be presented.  Participants must bring a laptop computer and power cord.

105: Test Like a Ninja: Hands-On Quick Attacks
305: The Trouble with Troubleshooting
405: Mobile Software Testing Experience
505: Slow-Motion Performance Analysis
705: There Can Be Only One: A Testing Competition (Part 1)
805: There Can Be Only One: A Testing Compettition (Part 2)
905: Memory, Power and Bandwidth - Oh My! Mobile Testing Beyond the GUI
1001: Quick, Easy & Useful Performance Testing: No Tools Required

Tools & Trends Showcase

Join industry leaders to get a fast-paced, content-rich presentation on the latest technology and service trends in our industry. Get an industry update from the people at the cutting edge of what is evolving in technology. The speakers in this group will be representing best practices on some of the latest tools to hit the market. If you are interested in learning about what is new and exciting in the world of technology don’t miss this opportunity to attend sessions in this track.

T&T1: Software Tester Certification Facts and Trends
T&T2: Mobile Application Testing with MonkeyTalk
T&T3: A Pragmatic Approach to Testing Enterprise Mobile Applications
T&T4: Service Virtualization: The Next Generation Test Environment Management

Pre-Conference Workshop

Pre-Con 1: Mobile Test Automation
Pre-Con 2: Testing Metrics: Process, Project, and Product
Pre-Con 3: New World Performance
Pre-Con 4: Hands-on: Remote Testing for Common Web Application Security Threats