You'll learn a lot at STAREAST but do you know how you are going to systematically incorporate your new ideas into actions that will work back at the shop? Can you identify and evaluate the current state of your test process today? Do you really know if testing will be finished on time and within budget or is it just a best guess? Jan Fish shares the four year trek she and her team took through a maze of process improvement efforts that eventually elevated their testing organization to a controlled model with continuous improvement and feedback loops built-in to the process. Now, they can implement a change in test practices and easily measure its effects-good, bad, or indifferent. Although their focus was not on process improvement for its own sake, their efforts led to robust testing practices that are appraised to satisfy CMMI® Level 5.

When Keith Klain took over Barclays Capital Global Test Center, he found an organization focused entirely on managing projects, managing processes, and managing stakeholders—the last most unsuccessfully.

Lightning Talks are a very popular part of many STAR conferences. Lightning Talk sessions consist of a series of five-minute talks by different speakers within one presentation period and are the opportunity to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation.

Managers play a critical role in the success or failure of test automation. Although most testers and some test managers have a realistic view of what automation can and cannot do, many senior managers have firm ideas about automation that are misguided—or downright wrong.