Better Software Magazine Archive:

Winter 2015

IN THIS ISSUE

How to Prepare for ISTQB Exam
By Michael Sowers

In this FAQ column, Michael Sowers provides advice on preparing for the ISTQB Advanced Level Test Manager Certification Exam.

Painful Lessons I Learned from Bootstrapping a Startup
By Mike Botsko

If you are considering leaving the nest to self-fund your own endeavor, you may want to read about Mike Botsko's experience creating a cloud-based, bug-tracking app called Snowy Evening. What started out as a lot of fun quickly turned into a tough journey. Don't worry—it has a happy ending!

The Lean Test Canvas
By Matthew Heusser

Taking lessons from the lean business model, Matt Heusser explains how a tester can present different values and properly set expectations with the team using the lean test canvas. His approach starts with defining who  the customer is and ends with key qualitative measures that will be used to ensure success.

Is Agile Breaking Product Management?
By Steve Johnson

It can be a challenge for a product manager to know how to lead an agile software team. As product managers take on many different roles throughout a project lifecycle, there can be confusion, resulting in the product manager doing what nobody else wants to do. Steve Johnson offers a perspective of the agile product manager that every software developer should know.

Motivating Teams In a Self-Organizing Environment
By Maria Matarelli

A key characteristic of agile is that a team self-organizes to best fit the workload. This, according to Maria Matarelli, can be more difficult than the more traditional approach of a project manager simply telling the team what to do.

Quality Assurance Is a Process, Not a Department
By Susan Bradley

QA is often considered that lonely department of testers whose job is to find defects before the customer does. It's not always glamorous, but QA deserves to be recognized as a key cog in the testing  machine. To achieve business goals, it is Susan Bradley's view that the QA process needs to be embraced throughout the entire software development lifecycle.

Being Agile, Even if My Organization Isn't
By Brian M. Rabon

Many of us work for organizations that claim adherence to agility, yet in practice aren't even close. Agile is definitely here to stay, and if you haven't caught the wave, it is only a matter of time before you do. Brian Rabon  presents insightful techniques that can help you become more agile now.

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