From Outsourcing to In-House: The Test Lead ‘s Tale

Welcome to an insightful and candid Q&A session with Amir Ahmed, our in-house Test Lead, who joined DQPro in August. Amir brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of testing experience to our team. In this conversation, we’ll delve into his initial impressions of our company, his observations on our testing practices and the changes he envisions.

1. What initially attracted you to our company, given your background in testing, and what are your early impressions since joining in August?

It’s not uncommon for businesses to promote a sense of unity within their workforce. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. DQPro, though, stands out in its commitment to creating a genuinely close and supportive team environment, which I find to be a delightful change of pace coming from a large organisation. The ambition of the company and how far it has come in a small amount of time attracted me to it! Testing by the team is kind of there and thereabouts; it just needs some fine-tuning, I’ll try my best to contribute to that improvement!

2. Can you share your observations about our current third-party testing arrangements?

Our current testing arrangements could benefit from better documentation and a centralised location. A test management tool which we are in the process of implementing will enhance the efficiency and visibility of our testing.

3. Are there any immediate concerns or areas of focus that you’ve identified for our testing operations?

Test Data and test tools. As the tech world keeps on changing, an update of tools and a refresh of test data is key!

4. What resources and support do you believe you’ll need to successfully transition into a more proactive in-house testing role?

I am already getting a lot of support from the team. Long may this continue! In time having additional testers join the team would be a great asset.

5. Testers often develop an eye for detail. What’s the most peculiar detail you’ve ever noticed in a piece of software code or a user interface?

There’s been a few peculiar things. I once came across a very crude line of code when attempting to download a pdf. It would just take you to a blank webpage with the crude message!

6. Can you share any thoughts on potential changes or innovations you’d like to introduce in our testing processes?

Automation testing! Incorporating automation into our testing processes will improve our overall quality assurance and testing capabilities, keeping us competitive in the dynamic tech industry.

7. How do you stay updated on industry trends and emerging technologies to ensure our testing practices remain cutting-edge?

I’m a bit of a nerd and do a lot of reading on blogs and tech YouTube videos – this helps me to keep in the loop of things. Some of my favourite blogs are Quality Remarks and Thinking Tester. They’re not your typical blogs. I’d recommend them! Evil Tester and The Testing Academy are also great YouTube channels to follow.

8. In the spirit of “testing everything,” if you could run a test on any aspect of everyday life, what would you test and why?

Breakfast! So many people have the same breakfast yet they eat it in multiple different ways. There would certainly be some interesting test scenarios…

9. When you’re not busy testing software, what’s your favourite way to unwind and have a good laugh?

I love playing sport and gaming! I’m not sure sport helps me unwind as I can be called ‘competitive’. It’s great for stress release though! I also love anything related to Anime. Maybe I am a nerd?

10. If you had to create a “Test Lead ‘s Handbook of Witty Wisdom,” what would be your first piece of advice for aspiring testers?

Question everything! Do not just trust an application to do what it’s meant to do, and be nice to the developers, haha!