This post has nothing to do with testing. Just blogging my frustration.
Prospect calls company and asks to be connected to the sales team. The conversation is as follows:
Prospect: Hello, Can i speak to Mr.Xyz, VP sales?
VP Sales: Yes speaking, what can i do for you?
Prospect: We are interested in your IV & V services. Can you share your offerings?
VP Sales: We offer everything. Name it and you will have it.
Prospect: We have a testing requirement which is slightly complex but
(VP Sales interrupts)
VP Sales: There is nothing complex to us. We have 18000 man years of experience in testing.
Prospect: Ok, we need 2 resources at onsite for this requirement. The requirement is, we have 2 african lions suffering from digestion issues. We need a 2 testers(1 for each lion) to come open the lion's mouth some time after every meal and test if the food has digested properly.
VP Sales: Hmm..this is little challenging but i am sure we can do it. Hold on for a second. Let me pull in my Delivery Manager
VP Sales: So ABC, you are there right..ok..ABC is our Global Delivery Manager taking care of local operations. ABC, they have a simple requirement to test. I am sure we can do it. Can we talk about the rates?
ABC: What's the requirement?
VP Sales: Test if digestion is happening correctly..That's all
ABC: But how do we..
VP Sales: (Interrupts) You remember a similar case we did in Europe 2 years back..The customer was so happy with our "Blackbox Digestion Testing"
Prospect: Can you give us the reference?
VP Sales: No Problem. Once the contract gets signed, we'll give the reference.
Prospect: And can you get onsite resources? We also need substantial evidence on your capabilities.
VP Sales: Just a second..(Puts the line on mute). ABC, can we have 2 testers go to the nearby zoo tomorrow?
ABC: Yeah but why?
VP Sales: (Releases mute) To give you confidence what we can do is have a video shoot of the digestion process done by our testers which we can share over Webex or GoToMeeting. ABC has agreed to do it tomorrow evening itself. What would be your convenient time?
Prospect: Sounds like a plan. We can do it at 9 PST.
VP Sales: Allright cool, looks like we are all on the same page. Also, please note that the video shoot PoC is free of cost for you. Can we talk about the rates?
Prospect: Our current tester from the vendor side has lost 1 hand since he joined and now we have started paying them 2500$. We can start from 1500$ in your case.
VP Sales: I suggest that you don't pay us until we lose both the hands which in a way would prove the value of our services
Prospect: Excellent. Look forward to seeing the video shoot tomorrow.
VP Sales: I will in fact try my best to send it tonight. Convey my regards to the lions. I am sure they will enjoy our services. In case you have any questions or need more discounts anything, please let me know. Thanks. Oh sorry..forgot to tell you something. If you add more than 4 lions, we give a Project Manager free of cost as value add. Keep that in mind.
Prospect: Sure Ok. Have a great day.
Test Environment-Few questions..
Since, I couldnt 'comment' the following due to limitation in no.of characters (for blogspot comments) I am posting this as a separate post for Vasu's problem.
I am trying to answer with my experience, there may be huge no of permutations / questions for Vasu's question about Test environment.
IMHO, like any other QA Problems, there is no 'silver bullet' for this kind of questions.
There are (i) Number of questions to be asked to client (ii) Number of factors to be considered for analysis after getting the answers from client
Also, we may need to bang the client with questions repeatedly
Before going to client , QA person need to conside the nature of the project
Factors/Questions to client
(1) How end customer is going to use this application?
(2) What are the following are supported
2.1.Databases
2.2.Servers
2.3.Server Operating Systems
2.4.Client (Desktop operating systems)
2.5.Browsers
2.5.Replica of Databaseses/Webservers for load balancing
2.6.Router,Firewall (and their required combo of installation, something like having DMZ, webserver inside firewall, outside firewall etc...)
2.7.So on...............................
above said factors depends upon the project, what I said is in general, based on my experience.
(3) If the application is a project and dependent on heavy database transactions, then
3.1 Is it possible to cut the production database periodically to QA database?
3.2 If it is any nightly run, then situations dealing with deadlocks, or issues with integrity
There are (i) Number of questions to be asked to client (ii) Number of factors to be considered for analysis after getting the answers from client
Also, we may need to bang the client with questions repeatedly
Before going to client , QA person need to conside the nature of the project
Factors/Questions to client
(1) How end customer is going to use this application?
(2) What are the following are supported
2.1.Databases
2.2.Servers
2.3.Server Operating Systems
2.4.Client (Desktop operating systems)
2.5.Browsers
2.5.Replica of Databaseses/Webservers for load balancing
2.6.Router,Firewall (and their required combo of installation, something like having DMZ, webserver inside firewall, outside firewall etc...)
2.7.So on...............................
above said factors depends upon the project, what I said is in general, based on my experience.
(3) If the application is a project and dependent on heavy database transactions, then
3.1 Is it possible to cut the production database periodically to QA database?
3.2 If it is any nightly run, then situations dealing with deadlocks, or issues with integrity
of data across databases/tables?
3.3 Optimum setup so that loading the QA environment should take minimum time
3.4 Size of Database
(4)Factors to consider for VMWares,
4.1.The VMWare should be used for relatively less performance high functional testing
4.2.High end base systems with large no.of VMWares are needed if and only if the testing team uses all the combinations of OSXBrowsersXServesXDatabase constantly
4.3.Capacity of base machines are very important since, the performance of VMWares are based on the base system's capacity.
(5)Availability of Softwares including support
5.1. Since QA deals with all OS/Servers, having a licensed version of each component is important, in one of my projects, we used solaris like OS without proper license, and all of a sudden it went down, without support, it was a night mare of ITservices (& QA)
5.2. In case of evaluation copy of softwares, need to be informed to client beforehand (i.e it will expire any time and there wont be much support)
5.3. Information about Patches/Service packs should be made clear (especially non-windows OS,Databases, browsers)
(6)Information about customer usage
This is very important, but we may rarely get full information. Again without nature of project no body can get clear requirements on test environment.
(7)Prioritise combo
If I.E 8 X windows XP X Oracle X Weblogic in Linux AS combo is most frequently used combo, then need to have additional space for that combo.
(8)Usage of additional softwares if, any
e.g Share point,XML editor etc.
(9) Relevance of Test environment w.r.t Test data
Test data is the fulcrum for test environment, if the test data doesn't suit any of your environment combo, eliminate the environment and declare before hand.
(10) Calculation of optimum usage of combinations, switching on and off the VMWares etc.
(11) How we are going to deploy new build in test environment, in different combo, how difficult it would be (e.g installing websphere in Solaris Risc environment, deploying new build in HP Unix etc) ,
corresponding expertise in QA team / IT services team.
(12) SPOC for test environment from IT services.
(13) Howmuch the QA environment is in sync with dev and production environment (this is very IMPORTANT,depending upon the nature of the project)
(14) Accesability of QA environment by QA team, developers, IT services team from their desktop, from US (client environment) in case of trouble shooting and network setting accordingly.
(15) Security of the environment (like Anti virus softwares,Authentication,Authorisation, internet access from QA environment etc)
(16) Remote Desktop Access Policy, Domain Policy (Test environment is in separate domain? Child domain?, from QA's Dev's Desktop). In case of data transfer from production to QA database, the connection should be possible w.r.t domain policy. Also, admin permission for QA people over machines to install anything they want including automation tools & FTP tools.
3.3 Optimum setup so that loading the QA environment should take minimum time
3.4 Size of Database
(4)Factors to consider for VMWares,
4.1.The VMWare should be used for relatively less performance high functional testing
4.2.High end base systems with large no.of VMWares are needed if and only if the testing team uses all the combinations of OSXBrowsersXServesXDatabase constantly
4.3.Capacity of base machines are very important since, the performance of VMWares are based on the base system's capacity.
(5)Availability of Softwares including support
5.1. Since QA deals with all OS/Servers, having a licensed version of each component is important, in one of my projects, we used solaris like OS without proper license, and all of a sudden it went down, without support, it was a night mare of ITservices (& QA)
5.2. In case of evaluation copy of softwares, need to be informed to client beforehand (i.e it will expire any time and there wont be much support)
5.3. Information about Patches/Service packs should be made clear (especially non-windows OS,Databases, browsers)
(6)Information about customer usage
This is very important, but we may rarely get full information. Again without nature of project no body can get clear requirements on test environment.
(7)Prioritise combo
If I.E 8 X windows XP X Oracle X Weblogic in Linux AS combo is most frequently used combo, then need to have additional space for that combo.
(8)Usage of additional softwares if, any
e.g Share point,XML editor etc.
(9) Relevance of Test environment w.r.t Test data
Test data is the fulcrum for test environment, if the test data doesn't suit any of your environment combo, eliminate the environment and declare before hand.
(10) Calculation of optimum usage of combinations, switching on and off the VMWares etc.
(11) How we are going to deploy new build in test environment, in different combo, how difficult it would be (e.g installing websphere in Solaris Risc environment, deploying new build in HP Unix etc) ,
corresponding expertise in QA team / IT services team.
(12) SPOC for test environment from IT services.
(13) Howmuch the QA environment is in sync with dev and production environment (this is very IMPORTANT,depending upon the nature of the project)
(14) Accesability of QA environment by QA team, developers, IT services team from their desktop, from US (client environment) in case of trouble shooting and network setting accordingly.
(15) Security of the environment (like Anti virus softwares,Authentication,Authorisation, internet access from QA environment etc)
(16) Remote Desktop Access Policy, Domain Policy (Test environment is in separate domain? Child domain?, from QA's Dev's Desktop). In case of data transfer from production to QA database, the connection should be possible w.r.t domain policy. Also, admin permission for QA people over machines to install anything they want including automation tools & FTP tools.
(17) A good visio diagram , if needed.
(18) Client Sign off for version 1 of test environment doc :-)
Pheww...................... As you see it, this is very very generalised reply.
Forgot to add, in case of large test environments,
Racks,Switches, no.of monitors Vs VMwares plays a huge role and early planning will avoid nasty word wars!
Test Environment
I was recently involved in a project where the client asked me, "What kind of Test Environment do you think would be ideal for our application?". Frankly, i was speechless for a few minutes and then responded saying, "It depends on how your customers access the application". I know i was not correct but apparently i was not confident about what the right answer was. He again said, when i mean environment, i want to know what kind of Test environment you need for testing. How many servers do you need, is there a need for staging, how many VM's do you need, what kind of infrastructure(hardware + software) you need to replicate customer issues etc. I was not able to confidently answer him and hence asked for some time to revert.
Being in this league(QA) for a while now, i never had the opportunity to setup test environments or rather i never tried to gain knowledge in setting up test environments. After this experience, i realized how important it is for a Senior QA person to help clients in such cases since they completely rely on our experience to help serve their customers better. Request readers to share your thoughts.
Being in this league(QA) for a while now, i never had the opportunity to setup test environments or rather i never tried to gain knowledge in setting up test environments. After this experience, i realized how important it is for a Senior QA person to help clients in such cases since they completely rely on our experience to help serve their customers better. Request readers to share your thoughts.
Which Generation am I?
Recently when I was conversing with my friend's cousin (who is around 20 years old), I was telling that I couldn't use Facebook, instead I like orkut for social networking. I am of the opinion that Orkut's UI is better than Facebook's for connecting with friends. His reply was that I belong to previous (web) generation, though not technically (Web 1.0,Web 2.0) but on usage of web.
I was pretty displeased on hearing it.. but on thinking on it, I started listing what are all the sites I do not use or not explored , the list seems to be growing,
Facebook (albeit I am in, not feeling easy)
Digg.com
Delicious.com
Stumbleupon.com
Diigo.com
reddit.com
list is growing.. all the above mentioned are social networking/ news / book mark sharing sites.. Rarely I use ecommerce sites to buy things..
All I use is Orkut, LinkedIn,blogger,youtube,Google maps ...hmm..and obviously gmail.
I read news @ google news, chat via yahoo msnger.
Am I belong to previous gen?? What about you?
I was pretty displeased on hearing it.. but on thinking on it, I started listing what are all the sites I do not use or not explored , the list seems to be growing,
Facebook (albeit I am in, not feeling easy)
Digg.com
Delicious.com
Stumbleupon.com
Diigo.com
reddit.com
list is growing.. all the above mentioned are social networking/ news / book mark sharing sites.. Rarely I use ecommerce sites to buy things..
All I use is Orkut, LinkedIn,blogger,youtube,Google maps ...hmm..and obviously gmail.
I read news @ google news, chat via yahoo msnger.
Am I belong to previous gen?? What about you?
Rajnikanth and Test Coverage
"I know that my product lacks test coverage and thats why i have hired you as consultant. Can you increase test coverage in 2 weeks?"
"Don't tell me that i should change my automation framework to get better returns. Can you suggest improvements to the existing framework so that we get better coverage asap?"
"Your audit report says there is lack of communication between manual and automation teams. I disagree with you. How does test coverage suffer if they don't communicate. Can you explain?"
These are comments from some of our customers recently and all they are looking for is a pill that will solve their test coverage issues. Their products suffer from lack of test coverage for 2/3/5 years but the moment they outsource, they want the outsourced vendor to help them increase test coverage the next day after the SOW is signed.
I am reminded of Rajnikanth movies where he becomes rich in just one song. I wish i can do something similar for test coverage improvement. Any Rajnikanth's out there in our industry to do this? Please revert ASAP.
I wandered thinking how to test the Cloud
Does the title line sound like something that you have heard before? Yes, remember the English lessons you took during high school days. Yes, i have slightly modified the line "I wandered lonely as a cloud" from the poem "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth. So, what is this article about? Is it about introducing readers to English poets? No. This article is about "Cloud Computing", around which there is a huge buzz in the software industry today. Analysts predict cloud computing to form the next big wave in technology infrastructure and are also talking about lot of other terms such as SaaS(Software as a Service), PaaS(Platform as a Service) etc in conjunction with Cloud Computing.
Now, let me refrain from discussing about Cloud computing in detail since i am oblivious of the nitty gritties. However, i have limited exposure to SaaS, which i understand as a model in which software will be centrally located somewhere in the internet(cloud) as opposed to storing them in local machines.The basic idea is cut down the expenditure on hardware/software.
To give a simple example, lets say there are 3 star hotels in Chennai and all have their own software/hardware to manage their services. Now, Software as a Service is a model where a vendor comes and offers to manage the hardware/software for all these 3 hotels from his premises and thereby enables the hotels to use the software on a demand basis through virtualization and relieves from all the issues related to managing their own infrastructure. Certainly makes life easy, isn't it?
Now what are the challenges in the cloud world particularly when it comes to testing?
Configuration and Customization
Each of the hotel's software can have a different workflow and hence the vendor needs to make sure that when the user for "Hotel X" logs in, he is able to view only the screens pertaining to him. Customization should also be looked at from an Integration testing viewpoint
Security
The SaaS provider needs to ensure that the data of all his clients are maintained properly. He cannot afford to mess with the data.
Monetization
Since software will be used on a demand basis, the charges will be made as per the usage(something like electricity). So, testing also needs to take care of this aspect.
Performance Testing
Clear cut goals with respect to Response Time, Throughput, Maximum load supported should be identified and the same needs to be tested carefully.
Paper Submission for ASTA
I am planning to submit a paper in this year's ASTA (Asian Software
Testing Alliance) International Software Conference 2010 which will be held in Vietnam's Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities between the 2nd and 5th of November 2010.
There are 3 categories under which papers can be submitted. People, Process and Technology are the 3 categories under which different headers are available to select for paper submission. Under the "People" category, "Testing Skills" is the title on which i intend to submit my paper. As a prelude to the paper submission, the conference expects the participant to send an abstract summarizing the paper content to them.
Under "Testing Skills" i am planning to write about some interesting areas which i have learnt over the years. I will continue to post more information on the abstract, how my paper is shaping up and the obviously about the areas that i plan to cover in the paper under the title "Testing Skills".
