What Effective Test Automation is... and Why it's NOT Testing!
12:45 - 1:45 Great Hall 3
In the frantic race to automate everything, one critical fact often gets overlooked… that test automation is NOT testing. Many organizations equate a comprehensive automated test suite with an effective software testing function. However, their definition of test automation is often limited to the automated execution of scripted test steps. Even in the best case scenario, this approach can give a false sense of security - especially when executing automated checks is the only “testing” that's performed in the development cycle. In this session, Lee will discuss why he sees the craft of software testing being swallowed up by test automation. He will help you think beyond just execution of scripted tests and apply automation principles more generally to testing activities. You will learn how to look at testing and automation as complimentary activities and take back techniques for using a context-driven approach to automaton to improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of your software testing.
Lee Barnes
I have over 25 years of experience in the Software Quality Assurance and Testing field. I have been involved in the implementation of test automation and performance testing solutions in hundreds of environments across a wide array of industries. Most recently, I've been involved with bringing quality practices (with a focus on automation and performance) to DevOps teams. I regularly speak at industry conferences including QA or the Highway, StarWEST, EuroStar, DevOpsDays, Agile+DevOps East, STPCon, and TestCon Europe