QWE2000 Session 7T

Mr. William E. Lewis [Canada]
(Technology Builders, Inc.)

"Requirements-Based Testing: An Overview
(Process and Techniques for Successful Development Efforts)"

Key Points

Presentation Abstract

In many organizations, testing is viewed as slowing down the delivery of the system, partly because it is the last step in the development process. Ironically, when testing is properly deployed, with heavy emphasis on Requirements-Based Testing, it can have a major impact on overall project productivity as well as product quality.

Many organizations also have discovered that capture/playback tools require a significant investment in building and maintaining test scripts. They also discover that the scripts cannot keep up with rapidly changing specifications. This presentation will address how a Requirements-Based Testing (RBT) process provides major productivity gains, especially when used in conjunction with a tool to support it. The RBT process stabilizes the completeness of the specifications early in the development process. Caliber-RBT tool then designs an optimized set of test cases that are then automatically fed into all of the major capture/playback tools. The results are fewer tests with greater functional coverage, shortened time to delivery, reduced costs of development, and significantly improved quality.

About the Speaker

Bill Lewis has 34 years experience in the computing industry. Currently as a senior technology engineer he trains and consults in the requirements-based testing area which focuses on leading-edge testing methods and tools.

Before joining TBI, he was an assistant director for Ernst & Young, LLP for almost 6 years as the quality/ testing manager. The majority of BillĘs career was at IBM for 28 years. His jobs included system programmer, analyst, performance analyst and technical instructor. With IBM, Bill has consulted and trained all over Europe and Asia. His first job out of college was with the Apollo Support Department for General Electric at the Kennedy Space Center as a real-time programmer.

Bill is a prolific communicator having lectured at various quality organizations including the Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) Fourth International Quality Conference, the American Society for Quality, and Association of Information Technology Practitioners. His has also authored five books on computer problem solving and has recently authored a book on software testing as a continuous quality improvement process.

Bill holds a BA degree in Mathematics from the University of Miami, Florida and an MS in Operations Research from the University of Central Florida. He is also a Certified Quality Analyst (CQA) and Certified Software Test Engineer (CTSE).