10 | T.E.S.T interview
flagging defects and analysing them,” managing, reporting and working on
she explains. “The analysis can improving what we do as well.”
and often does lead to debate and
discussion between the testing and A young industry
development groups. But we generally As Sally McCowan-Wright points out,
agree on a course of action to fix the testing as an industry is still very much
defects and work out if this affects or in its infancy in many organisations. “It
even stops the next set of tests and is still a very young industry compared
what impact it has on the finish date to software development,” she says.
for the project.” “We have really only been visible for
Sally sums up the reason for the last 15 years and it’s only in the
software testing as follows: “The last 10 years that the powers-that-be
builders of software generally don’t have really sat up and taken notice
use it. So obviously there needs to be and testing has gone from something
stages in the development process which is nice to have to being “A lot of money has
where functionality is thoroughly put recognised as a critical part of the
been wasted because
through its paces before it reaches the business. With the current economic
end user.” meltdown, it is more than ever all
automated systems either
A typical work day for McCowan- about beating the competitor and
were not needed, used or
Wright could involve discussing the getting your product to market quicker maintained. It will never
levels of testing required throughout and with higher quality. It’s all
take the place of manual
life-cycles, writing test scripts and about survival.”
testing because products
actually conducting tests as well as There is a necessity for testers to do
all the usual office business. “My day- as much as possible in the timescales
are very user-driven these
to-day work varies considerably,” she to deliver a quality product. “It’s days so it takes a human to
says. “Some days it’s nearly all testing, called the quality conundrum,” says
spot faults.”
but we also have to consider planning, McCowan-Wright. “It’s a case of cost
T.E.S.T | March 09 March 09 | T.E.S.T
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