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Welcome to RBCS, Inc.
Dear
Reader,
So,
autumn has arrived here in the north part of the world, and spring in the
south. Both are seasons of higher activity, typically, than summer and
winter, and, here at RBCS, we're already busy, including with getting this
newsletter to you.
In
this newsletter, you'll find a great guest article by one of the leading figures
in software engineering, Capers Jones. We're really pleased he agreed to
provide it, and I'm confident you'll get a lot of value from his thoughts on
current and future software quality.
We
also have been busy getting the final e-book in our series of three done and
ready for sale. Improving the Software Process now joins
Improving the Testing Process and Testing Metrics in the
e-book section of our store. More details below.
Speaking
of testing metrics, we have a local event schedule, a special workshop on
developing and implementing testing metrics. The specifics are found
below. If you can't make that event, you can catch an extended version of
the same workshop at the Software Test Professionals conference in Miami on
October 15. If you're a "manage with facts and data" person like me,
you'll enjoy this workshop, whichever session you decide to
attend.
Our
free series of monthly webinars continues successfully, with almost 19,000
registrations in the last three-plus years. If you make it a habit to
join us each month, I'm confident you'll find that time well-spent, especially
the 30 minute Q&A sessions after each presentation. Sample a recording
of August's webinar below.
These
Q&A sessions are one way to ask me questions and discuss topics with
me. Another is the RBCS blog. Take a look at some of the recent
topics below.
Finally,
we've had some really nice feedback from clients on our services and
courses. We included a couple quotes below. If you do business
with us this autumn or any time in the future, we're committed to ensuring
that your experience is just as good.
Regards,
Rex
Black, President
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Complimentary
Webinars
Did you
miss the complimentary August webinar, "Advanced Software Testing:
Reviews"? Check out what you missed!
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| Advanced Software Testing: Reviews
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Webinar attendees are automatically entered into a drawing
to win their choice of one of our green e-learning courses. Visit our
training
page to see the
complete webinar schedule, or just look on this email, sign up for a webinar,
show up at whichever webinar session is most convenient, and--who knows--you
might be the lucky winner of some valuable free training. Either way,
you're sure to learn something.
Congratulations, Shilpa
Kanakatti, an attendee of the August,
2012 webinar, for being selected as the winner of an
e-learning course!
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Software
Quality Today and Tomorrow
by
Capers Jones, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Namcook
Analytics LLC
[Note: RBCS is pleased to feature a
special guest author for our newsletter article, Capers Jones. Capers
Jones is, of course, a long-standing force for improving the software
engineering industry, and has published a number of books that I consider
essential reading for software professionals who seek to truly understand,
through data and facts, what happens on software projects. Recently, he
published an important book on software quality, The Economics of Software
Quality. So, I asked Capers if he'd be willing to contribute a guest
article, and he graciously agreed. This article, on software quality today
and tomorrow, gives us a sobering view of our current situation, but also
provides clear direction on what we need to do to get better. The good
news is that we already have many of the tools we need to improve software
quality. -Rex Black]
In 2012 large
software projects are hazardous business undertakings. More than half of
software projects larger than 10,000 function points (about 1,000,000 lines of
code) are either cancelled or run late by more than a year.
When examining troubled software projects, it always happens that
the main reason for delay or termination is due to excessive volumes of serious
defects. Conversely, large software projects that are successful are
always characterized by excellence in both defect prevention and defect
removal. It can be concluded that achieving state of the art levels of
software quality control is the most important single objective of software
process improvements.
Quality control is on the critical path for
advancing software engineering from its current status as a skilled craft to
become a true profession.
To
read this complete article, visit our articles page today!
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New E-book Available Today!
Improving
the Software Process: A Value Based Approach to Building High Quality
Software
by
Rex Black and Judy McKay
The
quality and effectiveness of the software development organization often
determine the level of success of the entire organization. We have
designed this handbook to explain the best practices of a development
organization as well as to provide a means to assess those practices as they are
performed within an organization. We have divided the best practices into
the following twelve process areas:
- Overall Development
Process Effectiveness and Efficiency
- Development Alignment with
Project, Process, Product and Organizational Context
- Requirements Elicitation,
Specification and Quality Assurance
- Elaboration,
Specification, and Quality Assurance of Architecture and Design
- Estimation of Development
Time and Resources
- Development
Planning
- Development, Static
Analysis, and Unit Testing of Components
- Integration and
Integration Testing of Components
- Software Configuration
Management, Source Code Control and Release Engineering
- Defect Resolution
- Development Status
Reporting and Management
- Change Management, Project
End-Game and Product Release/Deployment
Visit our store and purchase
your copy today!
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RBCS
Partners with Local IIBA Chapter to Present Rex Black's Popular: "Testing
Metrics: Process, Project and Product"
October
4, 2012
6PM
to 9PM CST
Some of our favorite
engagements involve helping clients implement metrics programs for testing.
Facts and measures are the foundation of true understanding, but misuse of
metrics is the cause of much confusion. How can we use metrics to manage
testing? What metrics can we use to measure the test process? What
metrics can we use to measure our progress in testing a project? What do
metrics tell us about the quality of the product? In this workshop, Rex
will share some things he's learned about metrics that you can put to work right
away, and you'll work on some practical exercises to develop metrics for your
testing.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Understand the relationship
between objectives and metrics
- For a given objective, create
one or more metrics and set goals for those metrics
- Understand the use of metrics
for project and product measurement
- Create metrics to measure
effectiveness, efficiency, and stakeholder satisfaction for a test
process
- Create metrics to measure
effectiveness, efficiency, and stakeholder satisfaction for a test
project
- Create metrics to measure
effectiveness, efficiency, and stakeholder satisfaction for a product being
tested
The cost of the workshop is $75. Register
early. Seats are limited. For more information, visit the San Antonio IIBA
website.
If
you would like a workshop or training session presented at your organization,
contact RBCS at info@rbcs-us.com or call
+1(830)438-4830. |
People
are Talking about RBCS
"Your customer
service is nothing short of outstanding!"
Rebecca
Skarr
CalSTRS
"Aside from the fact that there were a few answers to questions that
I would have debated, I found the material well thought out and presented. I
especially found the mock exams helpful, and the book chapters helped as well. I
would still give this course an A+ rating, mainly because I was able to pass the
assessment and get my certification."
ISTQB
Test Engineering Foundation Level E-Learning Registrant
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Complimentary Webinars
Testing Metrics: Virtual
Workshop
Earn 3 PDUs for this
course
October 30, 2012
Advanced Software
Testing: Test Plans
Earn 1.5 PDUs for this course
November 7, 2012
Test
Estimation
Earn 1.5 PDUs for this course
December 6,
2012 |
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E-Learning Courses
Earn 22.5 PDUs for this course
US$ 899
ISTQB Test Engineering
Foundation en Español
Gana 22.5 PDU al término de este
curso
US$ 899
ISTQB Test
Engineering Foundation Level E-Learning,
ISTQB????????????? 
???????22.5 PDUs
US$
899
ISTQB Advanced Test
Analyst
US$ 999
US$
999
ISTQB Advanced Test
Manager
Earn 32.5 PDUs for this
course
US$ 999
US$ 2,697
Requirements Engineering
Foundation
(an IREB,
IIBA and IBAQB exam preparation course)
Earn 18 CDUs for this course
US$ 799
Managing the Testing
Process
US$
499
Assessing Your Test
Team
US$ 499
Pragmatic Software
Testing
US$
449
US$
449
US$
499
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Certification
Public Courses
Test Engineering
Foundation Level
Earn 22.5 PDUs for this course
October 15-18,
2012 Tampa, FL
November 27-30,
2012
Austin, TX
December 10-13,
2012
Toronto, Canada
Advanced Test
Manager
Earn 32.5
PDUs for this course
October 29 - November 2, 2012
Toronto, Canada
October 22-26, 2012 McLean, VA
Watch for the 2013 schedule
(an
IREB, IIBA and IBAQB exam preparation course)
Earn 18 CDUs for this course
Watch for the 2013 schedule
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Other Public
Courses
Managing the Testing
Process
Watch for the 2013
schedule |
Green
Tip
When in the market to buy new
office equipment such as computers, monitors, printers, and fax machines, opt
for newer energy-efficient versions.
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