Featured Partner
SwissQ Consulting AG is a Switzerland-based company that specializes in management consulting and training in the area of software testing. In addition to their main services such as aligning test organizations with corporate IT strategy, performing feasibility studies for outsourced and offshore testing, and instituting test process improvement, SwissQ also organizes the Swiss Testing Day( www.SwissTestingDay.ch) in collaboration with several client organizations. Adrian Zwingli, CEO of SwissQ, recently stated, "As a result of our cooperation with RBCS, we are able to offer a broader spectrum of best-in-class trainings to our clients, who can benefit now from the vast experience of RBCS." |
| ISTQB Certified Tester Training
January 22-25, Toronto, ON, ISTQB Test Engineering Foundation. $2,500.
February 25-27, Toronto, ON, ISTQB Advanced Level Functional Tester. $2,000.
February 26-29, Austin, TX, ISTQB Advanced Level Test Management. $2,500.
March 3-6, San Jose, CA, ISTQB Test Engineering Foundation. $2,500.
March 18-21, Toronto, ON, ISTQB Advanced Level Test Management. $2,500.
March 31-April 2, San Jose, CA, Advanced Level Functional Tester. $2,000.
April 9-11, Atlanta, GA, Advanced Level Functional Tester. $2,000.
April 28-May 1, Richmond, VA, Advanced Level Test Management. $2,500.
Register Today! |
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Other Public Courses
February 6-8, Toronto, ON, Managing the Testing Process. $2,000.
March 5-7, Toronto, ON, Performance Testing Immersion Workshop. $2,500.
April 7-9, Austin, TX, Performance Testing Immersion Workshop. $2,500.
April 23-25, San Jose, CA, Managing the Testing Process. $2,000.
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Future Test Conference
If you are reading this, you are probably interested in the future of software testing. So, why not come to see Rex Black and other software testing luminaries speak at the upcoming FutureTest conference in February 2008? More details at http://www.futuretest.net/ | |
| Greetings!
Welcome to our November newsletter. This newsletter covers a lot of territory, literally and figuratively. We go from Pauillac, France, to Zurich, Switzerland, to Wellington, New Zealand, to Seoul, Korea. We open a new RBCS branch, add a new RBCS partner, and run 42.2 km of prime vineyards. We quantify the return on the testing investment, mention public certification and non-certification courses coming in 2008, and provide some handy aphorisms that can help you achieve your best test effort ever.
Before we get to that, though, as we wind down the year, I would like to thank all of our clients and colleagues for the chance to work with them in 2007. We at RBCS look forward to working with you in the coming year, and wish you a happy holiday.
Regards,
Rex Black, President
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What IT Managers Should Know About Testing:
How to Analyze the Return on the Testing Investment
by Rex Black
To run a successful project, the management team must ask--and answer--four questions:
Features: Can we deliver a system with the functions the users and customers need?
Schedule: Can we deliver a system in a timely fashion?
Budget: Can we deliver a system that is profitable, yielding more value than it cost to build?
Quality: Can we deliver a system that has all the right quality characteristics, such as capability, security, accuracy, reliability, usability, and performance?
Using configuration management techniques, managers can answer the first question. Using traditional project management techniques like work-breakdown-structures, earned value analysis, project accounting, and cost-benefit analysis, managers can answer the second and third questions.
Using the latest tools and techniques in system testing, test professionals can provide accurate, timely assessments of system quality that help managers answer the fourth question. However, testing a medium to large system can consume a significant portion of the project budget. So, smart managers should ask, "What quantifiable value do I receive from this large investment in testing?" In this article, you'll learn how to answer that question. There are four quantifiable values that testing provides. I'll give you techniques for estimating these values. Using these estimates, you'll be ready to make hard-headed, dollars-and-cents decisions about how much testing you should conduct. I'll illustrate these ideas with a running case study. Click here to read the entire article.
To see more tips and articles by RBCS President, Rex Black, visit the library at www.rbcs-us.com. |
Some useful aphorisms to help you plan, manage, and execute testing.
"Find the scary bugs first."
"Testing should be more than a bug hunt."
"Formal test design techniques are useful, but never let a test design
technique get in the way of a good testing idea." |
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RBCS-NZ is Official
RBCS, in conjunction with Software Education, is excited to announce the formal legal creation of RBCS NZ in Wellington, New Zealand. The New Zealand government issued RBCS' certificate of incorporation on October 15. RBCS NZ Ltd, a joint venture with Software Education, will provide industry-leading test consulting and outsourcing services in Australia and New Zealand.
Rex Black, President of RBCS, Chief Technical Officer of RBCS NZ, and Chief Technical Officer of PureTesting (India), said, "RBCS NZ is the next logical step in expanding our presence in the important Australia/New Zealand market. We will have infrastructure and consultants available locally to better serve our existing and new clients in that region. We will expand the menu of services we can offer to our Australia/New Zealand clients, especially in terms of local staff augmentation and mid-level consulting. Of course, we will continue to offer excellent high-level consulting and high-value outsourcing through our international consultants and our Indian testing services facility. With Software Education delivering our first-tier training courses, we now offer the same complete spectrum of testing services in Australia and New Zealand that we have offered our clients in North America for over a decade." Contact [email protected] for more information. |
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New Advanced Level ISTQB Syllabus Officially Released
October 12, 2007
New Advanced Level Syllabus 2007 Officially Released
In its last meeting at Seoul, Korea, on October 12th, 2007, the ISTQB General Assembly officially released the new Advanced Level Syllabus 2007. Local National Boards will post this new and greatly improved syllabus on their Web sites soon, along with a detailed plan for deployment.
In addition, three new boards have joined the ISTQB:
- Vietnamese Testing Board (VTB)
- Hungarian Testing Board (HTB)
- and Gulf Cooperation Council Testing Board (GCCTB).
Now Representatives from over 36 national testing boards cooperate in the ISTQB to set up the global standard for the training and certification of software testers. More than 65,000 people have already been certified according to the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level and Certified Tester Advanced Level standards.
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Allez! Allez!
On September 8, 2007, RBCS Principals, Rex Black and Laurel Becker, participated in the Marathon du Medoc in Pauillac, France. Marathon runners and walkers from all around the world come dressed in their wackiest attire. The marathon, known as the "longest marathon in the world," is known for it's gorgeous course through the vineyards of Medoc and frequent wine tastings along the route! | |
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