A decade ago Microsoft had over twelve thousand full-time testers, and when you added up all the contract and outsourced testers too, there were more software test engineers than developers. The test automation solutions alone had more than a hundred million lines of code. However, that process was built for a company that would release a new version of a monopoly-scale product once every three years and ship it on a CD. That world had already begun to change, and Microsoft was missing the boat. When Microsoft tester Ken Johnston first encountered agile development and DevOps, he realized...
Learn MoreSTARWEST 2019 Virtual Conference
-THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED-
Wednesday, October 2 | 8:30am–5:30pm PT
Thursday, October 3 | 8:30am–5:30pm PT
-THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED-
The free annual STARWEST Virtual conference was streamed live October 2-3, 2019 from Anaheim, California and is still available to watch on-demand, recorded keynotes and sessions. The full, two-day program included all five event keynotes, select industry technical presentations, and dozens of interviews with hand-picked software industry experts. This no cost, online virtual learning event also offered the ability to chat realtime during sessions with fellow virtual attendees and visit the virtual Expo hall to explore the most recent solution providers demos and offerings. Now that the virtual conference has taken place it will be available to view all the recorded content on-demand for three months, until January 1, 2020. Explore the program below.
Make time to watch the expert interviews hosted by Jennifer Bonine and Owen Gotimer, see speaker bios for more information. Interviews will took place throughout the two-day event in 15-minute intervals. Visit the #starwest_chat channel of the TechWell Hub to keep conversations going and ask any questions you have about the virtual or topics discussed.
| Wed., Oct. 2 | Interview with: | Thur., Oct. 3 | Interview with: |
| 11:00 am | Seretta Gamba | 10:45 am | Adam Auerbach |
| 11:15 am | Stacy Kirk | 11:00 am | Melissa Tondi |
| 12:15 pm | Mike Puntumapanitch | 12:00 pm | Jason Arbon |
| 1:15 pm | Chris Loder | 12:15 pm | Jeff Payne |
| 2:15pm | Arthur Hicken | 1:15 pm | Davar Ardalan |
| 2:30pm | Kevin Pyles | 2:15pm | Vidya Dinamani |
| 3:30 pm | Larissa Rosochansky | 2:30pm | Janna Loeffler |
| 3:45 pm | Melissa Benua | 2:45 pm | Hans Buwalda |
| 4:00 pm | Christine Fisher | 3:45 pm | Aprajita Mathur |
| 4:00 pm | Max Saperstone |
*The times, and expert interview schedules are subject to change
SPONSORED BY:
Be sure to join the TechWell Hub to chat along with event attendees, fellow virtual viewers,
speakers, and other software professionals! You're invited to join!
Wednesday, October 2
Making the Career Transition from Software Testing to Data Science
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 10:00am to 11:00am
How to Make Selenium Smarter
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 11:30am to 12:15pm
Automated testing of the UI is critical to ensure the high-quality customer experience required to maintain competitive advantage and Selenium is the framework of choice adopted by the industry. However, tests created with Selenium still suffer from the common UI testing challenges of maintainability, stability and long execution times due to their complex and brittle nature and inability to automatically adapt to any changes in the application. Join Mark Lambert, VP of Products at Parasoft, and Chris Colosimo, Product Manager at Parasoft, as they address the key challenges of UI test...
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A Pragmatic Approach to QA Transformation – Challenges, Learnings, Outcomes & Best Practices
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 12:30pm to 1:15pm
Quality Assurance & Testing plays a very critical role in achieving the desired business outcomes. This session focuses on the QA transformation journey and results achieved in a fast paced & high growth consumer facing organization. Robust Testing Center of Excellence (TCoE) is established to provide different testing services to multiple business-lines with business value as the goal. Business functional testing, Test automation and Performance testing are in the scope of TCoE. Metrics & Measurement framework played a very key role in delivering the business value to internal...
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How to Guarantee Continuous Value from your Test Automation
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 1:30pm to 2:15pm
Getting value from your test automation is fundamental for fast feedback, risk reduction, and return on investment from your testing activities. Once developing the test scenarios, teams cannot stop monitoring and ensuring that their tests continuously bring value, are not flaky, and can support the latest functionalities in your web and mobile apps. Teams often “forget” about their tests once they have been developed and integrated into the CI pipeline — regardless of the value they bring. In this session, learn how to optimize your Appium and Selenium test suites so you can get more...
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2020 Vision: How Design Thinking Will Change QA Next Decade
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 2:45pm to 3:30pm
During the 2010's, we saw a fundamental change in the role of QA. The #1 objective of Testing and QA organizations worldwide is now to ensure end-user satisfaction, and not mere defect finding.
To that end, Design Thinking is a mindset that many world-class QA organizations are adopting to ensure their focus is on customer empathy in the design of innovative, best-of-breed products and solutions.
Join Michael Faulise of tap|QA and Anne Hungate of Daring Systems, a renowned expert in Quality Strategy and Design Thinking, for this important presentation.
Anne and Mike...
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Lightning Strikes the Keynotes
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 4:15pm to 5:15pm
Throughout the years, Lightning Talks have been a popular part of the STAR conferences. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Lightning Talks consists of a series of five-minute talks by different speakers within one presentation period. Lightning Talks are the opportunity for speakers to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. And now, lightning has struck the STAR keynotes. Some of the best-known experts in testing will step up to the podium and give you their best shot of lightning. Get multiple keynote presentations for the price of one—and...
Learn MoreThursday, October 3
Fun as a Productivity Tool
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 8:30am to 9:30am
We should all just be professionals and do our jobs, right? There's no need for fun at work as long as everyone comes in and does their hours, right? As long as we have our processes to cover the work needed, we're good, right? Wrong! Kristoffer Nordström will show you why we need to have fun at work, why simply following the processes isn't always right, and, yes, why we sometimes need to bend the rules just a little to get things done. New research and insights into humanistic approaches have illuminated concepts such as grit and drive, which attempt to explain what motivates people. We'...
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Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Threat or Opportunity for Testers?
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 10:00am to 10:45am
At its core, "RPA" is ultimately the same as software test automation. Both automatically exercise applications to make repetitive work faster, less burdensome, and more accurate. In many respects, RPA is actually simpler than software test automation. Yet, while software testing is commonly an underappreciated discipline, RPA was recently declared the fastest-growing market in enterprise software, with 63% year over year growth. How are the two disciplines converging? And what does this mean for software testers? Join this session to explore the risks, rewards, and challenges of...
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The Top Ten Common Misconceptions about AI First Testing- an interactive discussion
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 11:15am to 12:00pm
Join Jason Arbon, CEO of test.ai and Jennifer Bonine, CEO of PinkLion.ai for a lively and informative discussion of the misconceptions and realities of AI First testing. Learn how an AI-first testing strategy places technology teams in the driver's seat to recommend impactful changes for both their organizations and customers alike by providing more comprehensive customer feedback/reviews and effectively prioritize their testing efforts accordingly. AI is the future and...
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Will I have a job in AI Driven Testing?
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 12:30pm to 1:15pm
Testing process and tools have evolved over the years, but now, the very aims of testing are changing. During this time, tool vendors have promised efficiencies, but most have failed. In the new wave of promises driven by the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the focus on people is more important than ever. How do the changing goals of testing align with the new wave of promises, and what does it mean for me?
What is Autonomous software testing? Types of testing. How does it work?
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 1:30pm to 2:15pm
Artem is going to talk about what is “autonomous testing”:
1. Yet another type of testing? Why do we need it? 2. Classification of types of autonomous testing: a. Types of functionality recognition i. Discovery/rules-based ii. Pattern-recognition-based iii. Combinatorial-based b. Types of testing: i. Regression ii. Discovery 3. Will walk through use cases for each type and when they are applicable 4. Talk about cases where all of them are not applicable 5. How autonomous testing can be integrated into CI/CD
You’ll see different examples in practice.
What you would...
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Testing the Frontend, Backend, and Everything in Between
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 3:00pm to 3:45pm
It’s important to remember that there are two parts of an application—the front-end and the back-end. And it’s important to test them BOTH. Testers are always looking to gain confidence in their latest releases while also saving resources to do so. Wondering how this is possible when you need to test every component of the application and all of their interactions? Let’s talk! Both the front-end and back-end of applications are often discussed independently with regards to their importance, however in order to guarantee success of an application, you must test both.
Storytelling in the Age of AI
Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 4:15pm to 5:15pm
Around the world, citizens are actively engaging in civic tech, social robots are tweeting, and veteran storytellers are capturing and curating stories in new and dynamic ways using virtual and augmented reality. This explosion of tools, sources, voices, and data is indicative of a new, more collaborative era for storytelling. But is the public getting quality stories? Join award-winning storyteller and entrepreneur Davar Ardalan for a dynamic look at the intersection of emerging technology, transparency, and inclusivity in media. The founder and storyteller-in-chief of IVOW, a cultural...
Learn MoreFriday, October 4
QADevSecOps: Leading a Quality-Driven DevOps Transformation
Friday, October 4, 2019 - 8:30am to 9:45am
Have you wondered where QA professionals fit into a DevSecOps transformation? Stacy Kirk thinks they should champion the transformation. Regardless of where your company is on its journey to DevSecOps, quality must be at the forefront for optimal effectiveness and customer value. This means promoting feedback loops that use monitoring and reporting tools effectively, and most importantly, it means creating a culture of collaborative communication and continuous improvement. The role of the QADevSecOps practitioner must evolve from ensuring the quality of software to assessing the...
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