Testing Challenges in an Agile Environment Biraj Nakarja Sogeti UK 28 th October 2009

2 Agenda  Introduction  Traditional / Agile Testers –Scenario 1 – Waterfall to Agile –Discussion  Offshore Testing –Scenario 2 – Testers to Eastern Europe –Discussion  Waterfall / Agile methodologies –Scenario 3 – Merging Methodologies –Discussion  Questions

Introduction  About me –7 years Testing Experience in Government, Online Travel, Online Gaming and Telecoms Industries –5 years Test Management using Agile, Waterfall, V Model methodologies –Certified Scrum Master  About today’s presentation –Testing Challenges in an Agile Environment, with particular focus on:  The Characteristics of an Agile Tester – does the role of the traditional tester become less influential in an Agile Environment?  Agile Testing Using Off Shore Capabilities – Does Off Shoring in Agile actually save you money in the long run?  Merging Agile with other Methodologies on the same project – Can this work or is it a train crash waiting to happen? 3

The ‘Traditional’ Tester  One dimensional – Functional or Automation or Performance  Used to working with defined specifications/documentation  Expects that the given documentation satisfies system requirements  Expects to test on software that is ‘Dev Complete’  Focuses on checking that software is fit for purpose as per specification  Has little interaction with the ‘Business’  Most commonly involved towards the end of the SDLC 4

The Agile Tester  Could be argued as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)  Understands Functional, Automation and Performance Testing  Expected to be involved throughout the lifecycle  Able to estimate and forecast, and deliver against these estimates, advising on risks and trends  Able to react to rapidly changing requirements and priorities  Collaborative working with developers and end users  Facilitating communication between technical and business stakeholders providing continuous feedback and decision support  Helps to define acceptance criteria  Ensures best practice  Flexible in their roles and responsibilities  Support early validation of requirements 5

Scenario 1 – Waterfall to Agile  An organisation using Waterfall decides to move to an Agile way of working. It employs 2 ‘Functional’ Testers with 3 years experience each, and 1 automation tester who is building an automated regression pack from detailed test scripts. Questions: Does this team have the right skills to become Agile testers? Do they become less influential (or even redundant) in an Agile Team? Does an ‘Agile Tester’ actually exist? – Why is it so hard to recruit such testers? 6

Offshore Testing  Reduces Cost  Reduces Time to Market  Allows for Flexible Resource Models  Usually means Less Onshore Management Overhead  Defined Scope, Fixed Tasks  Variation of Skills  Allows for extended periods of execution due to time differences 7

But Agile Requires…..  A collaborative team on site, in the same location  Participation throughout the SDLC  Team spirit with ‘unified’ ownership of deliverables  Multi-skilled members  Flexible roles and responsibilities  Experience  Communication  Tools/Artefacts/Progress Metrics 8

Scenario 2 – Testers to Eastern Europe  As part of a company wide drive to reduce costs, the CTO makes a decision to outsource all testing to Eastern Europe – including the Testers in their Agile Scrum team. Questions: How does an Agile team manage with it’s testers in a different location? Can they still foster the team spirit that Agile advocates? How do they effectively plan, distribute and track progress as a team? Are they really saving money in the long run? 9

Waterfall Methodologies  Longer Term Projects with define scope and structured change control  Able to estimate and forecast dates for fixed scope at the onset  Promotes detailed planning and scheduling, with defined documentation to compliment  Produces defined outputs and reporting metrics  Less likely to advocate a sense of team ownership – ‘relay’ mentality passing the baton from one team to another… 10

Agile Methodologies  Less Planning, More Doing  Chooses to do things in small increments meaning faster deliver of smaller functions  Shorter timeframes focusing on immediate goals only  Working software is primary measure of success  Involves the user throughout the lifecycle  Estimates collectively with team ownership of goals and deadlines 11

Scenario 3 – Merging Methodologies  An organisation embarks on a new project in which two teams are involved in providing different components of the solution. One team uses Waterfall as their method of delivery, the other only knows the Agile way of working and shows reluctance in switching to a different approach. Questions: At some point the two components needs to be integrated. How do you align short term and long term deadlines? How does one manage the project effectively with differing levels of end user participation, documentation, inputs, outputs and reporting? 12

Questions? 13