A talk at the TestBash San Francisco 2019 conference - November 06-07:
Observability: Unlearn Guessing, Reduce Stressing and Learn to Embrace Reality by
Rob Meaney (author of Team Guide to Software Testability)
For the last 5 years, I’ve been lucky enough to work on bleeding edge software initiatives using things like microservices, containerisation, cloud-based platforms and CICD to deliver more value more quickly to our customers.
So, how can testers keep pace in these incredibly fast-paced environments while trying to test these highly volatile, complex distributed systems?
This scary new world presents an entirely new set of challenges and risks for teams and consequently requires a whole team approach to testing and development.
We as testers need to unlearn our old ideas about testing and learn to accept that we can’t predict system behaviour and that failure is inevitable. The truth is our job is no longer finished when we deploy to production it’s just beginning.
In the face of this reality, we need to focus not just on prevention but also on detection and recovery so that our teams can move quickly and safely with justifiable confidence.
Teams need to build observability into their systems from the start so that can quickly detect important problems, isolate the cause and remediate the issue with minimal impact to the customer.
In this session I’ll talk about my observability journey and the lessons we’ve learned. I’ll discuss how I’ve used mapping exercises, models and workshops to help development teams embrace reality and build observability into both their software systems and the way they work.
Rob Meaney
Rob Meaney is a tester that loves tough testing and software delivery problems. He works with teams to help create products that customers love and know they can rely upon. Although he enjoys learning about software delivery, in general, he’s particularly interested in Quality Engineering, Test Coaching, Testability, and Testing in Production.
Currently, he’s working as Head of Testing & Test Coach for Poppulo in Cork, Ireland. He’s a regular conference speaker, an active member of the online testing community and co-founder of Ministry of Test Cork.
Previously he has held positions as Test Manager, Automation Architect and Test Engineer with companies of varying sizes, from large multinationals like Intel, Ericsson & EMC to early-stage startups like Trustev. He has worked in diverse areas from highly regulated industries like safety automation & fraud detection to dynamic, exciting industries like gaming.
See the upcoming Team Guide to Software Testability book by Ash Winter and Rob Meaney - early version available on Leanpub: https://leanpub.com/softwaretestability