Ralph Decker - AVP, Performance
1. How long have you worked in Quality Assurance and Software Testing and why did you choose to specialize in Performance Testing?
I have worked in the QA and Software Testing industry for over 20 years and specialized in Performance Testing because I find it fun and fulfilling. I did consider a career in coding and development but thought that may be too repetitive. In QA and Testing, there is something new every week which really keeps it interesting for me.
2. As the revenue generated from online transactions increases year on year, how can organizations mitigate the increased risk?
There are two factors to consider with regards to the risk facing website transactions - whether it be a financial transaction or one for amusement - performance and security issues.
If the user experiences a decrease in the performance of a website that has in the past performed well, the chances are they will move away from your site. There are specialist actvities and best practices that you can undertake while developing that will enhance performance. Furthermore, thorough testing should be done. Regardless of how well the application is developed, performance still needs to be verified. Should the application fail, modifications can be made and the test can be reconducted until it passes successfully.
It is important to undertake best practices in terms of security when developing any applications to increase the chances of having a secure application. Testing is again of paramount importance and will, at a minimum, validate that the application reaches the required level of security as set out by the business. Similarly with performance testing, there will be pass or fail criteria stipulated and shortcomings will need to be addressed.
3. Given the above, what advice would you give to organizations where the business (i.e. non-IT departments) is taking ownership of the performance and reliability of applications?
It is so important that the business does not get hoodwinked into believing that the "technical challenges" being offered by the IT teams are always a reason for delay. Applications are generally developed to meet a business requirement and need for cost savings or revenue generation, so it is only right that the customer (the business) has complete control of the specification it requires and gets them delivered.
On the flip side of that, they should work closely with IT to ensure that the requirements are clear, the expectations are sensible and reasonable (and above all else measurable) and that everyone is working within the same parameters - e.g. time, cost and quality. All of these factors will drive behavior so it's important that they are aligned. Typical issues arise when different stakeholders have opposite views about the same thing.
It is refreshing when the business own these facets of the project, but sometimes the lack of technical nouse can, and does, create its own issues if not managed correctly.
4. What changes in technology are being driven by the business and what is their impact?
The way business is conducted today is driving technology and demanding changes to standards and procedures. As businesses expand, the systems are getting so big and complex and there is often the need to incorporate legacy systems. Technology is being influenced by the systems that may be too large to be economically rewritten and as such must be incorporated into new developments - which can create a whole world of challenges!!
5. How do you predict the testing industry will evolve over the next 5 years?
With systems getting so big and complex due to the changing nature of business, there is a greater need to automate testing in order that enough testing takes place on the systems. This will subsequently drive development as the code written needs to facilitate ease of automation - currently there is a lot of maintenance required when automating testing and this must be reduced as systems are getting bigger.
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