Shane Keville has a background in programming and system support. He started work for Allied Irish Banks in 2001 in the Test department in Technical/System support and got involved in the evaluation of automation tools to be purchased for the System Test department. Despite not being in the Test department and coming from a non-testing background he has become the AIB's resident expert in test Automation using (Compuware s QARun Tool) and work alongside the testers to develop suites of regression automation scripts. The first project chosen was the AIB 24hour online banking system. This proposal will discuss lessons learned in the implementation of first time automation on a large-scale project.

Automation outside a test team
My personal experience getting up to speed on automated testing through the application of my experience in manual testing. Marketing the tool internally including canvassing the Test team to encourage usage of the tool and gaining management buy-in.

The First Review
The harsh realities and the lessons learned!  Setting up best practices, processes and standards for usage of the tool, communication with Testers, and management of Automation-only test data. Agreeing an Automation process which compliments a mature test process already in place. Making the tool fit the process and not vice versa

Pilot Project
24 Hour release. Roll out of Scheduling and Management aspect of the tool.

Our Success and savings

Ken Brennock is the Technical Director of Insight Test Services Ltd a sister company of Insight Consulting Ltd. Ken's experience spans over 14 years, and he has worked in many companies in that time, both large multinationals and small indigenous companies, including Motorola, Iona, Accuris and Macalla Software.  He is one of the co-founders of Insight Test Services, providing managed test services. In Motorola Ken developed and tested software in a CMM level 3 environment, while also performing the role of Configuration Manager for the department. Since then he has set-up and managed a number of test teams and developed test processes for a number of companies. He has worked with using ISO and CMM and using many methodologies, Waterfall, RUP, XP and Agile.

You've no budget, you've no resources, you've no say, and you'll sign off on the new release in two months.

This is a statement that most testers in all types of organisations will understand. But, in small companies it is especially true. Where the tester to developer ratio may be 1:10 with no specific budget for quality or testing. With small companies selling that first product or next release may mean the difference between being in or out of business. Therefore, the people who build the system (developers) are considered of prime importance. So, where does this leave the tester?

The aim of this case study is to show how an under resourced tester or test team can add and be seen to add value to a company. It will discuss how to communicate, set expectations, and ensure that the test adds value.