Speaker Background
Archana
Test Automation in Agile
Archana — Senior QA Manager — Ariba

Archana had more than 14 years of experience in the Software Development Industry with almost 10 years totally devoted to Software Quality Assurance — specifically Product testing.

She holds an M.S. Degree in Information Technology from Bharathidasan University. Currently, she works for Ariba — a well-known Software products and Services company, as a Senior QA Manager. She has been with them for more than 3 years now, setting up niche Agile Testing teams, specifically for their Infrastructure Department which develops the full J2EE software platform on which all Applications are built. Today, the areas covered by her team are Platform Testing, Test Automation, Sustaining Engineering Testing, Performance Testing and Suite Integration Testing.

Prior to Ariba, she served with HCL Technologies, where she built large Testing Offshore Centres for companies such as i2 Technologies, ModelN, NextSet, etc — again for their Products Testing. She has designed and implemented many test frameworks using different tools like SilkTest, Winrunner, jUnit, etc.

She is a Certified SCRUM MASTER, has been practicing it for the past 4 years and is a strong proponent of Agile Testing Methodologies.

She has spoken at a SEMINAR on Software Testing, organized by Vibrant Tech P Ltd. — on Agile Testing Methodologies. She has also led many Agile sessions and Scrum workshops within Ariba.

 

 

Software Product development methodology trends today see us leaning more and more towards Agile practices. Software Test teams therefore, need to re-align to this changing trend. Test Automation is the key to the success of software development projects using Agile methodology. The scalability and effectiveness of Agile Test teams depend on the level and maturity of Test automation available and the on-going investment the team makes into this area. Strategic thinking towards Test infrastructure development, Choice of tools and increase in Test Coverage‚ are the needs of the hour. The session will cover why Test Infrastructure and Automation is so key, stressing on what will happen if these are missing and what the best practices are in strategizing this function. Setting up the right kind of Test Infrastructure is the top most item in the Strategist’s agenda. Choice of tools, selection of processes, test cases to be automated come a close second. The challenge of On-Demand (subscription based and hosted) Software Testing are different from that of licensed software — this can be met with Agile Test practices and the session will share how this can be achieved. Hiring the right talent for an Agile Testing Team and motivating them to their peak efficiency is a challenge. Some experiences and learnings in this area will be shared and discussed too.

The session will also elaborate on the following:

  • Agile Manifesto and Principles

  • SCRUM — Agile development methodology

  • SCRUM — Testing

  • Test-Driven Development

Application of the above:

Ariba has been using this methodology for the last 5 years and has contributed heavily to the evolution of the same. Some best practices shared will be real examples of what has been currently implemented in the testing teams. Increased scalability in the delivery of the Agile testing teams and lower defect backlog, are the most significant benefits among others.