Jeff Langr: Agile Java(TM): Crafting Code with Test-Driven Development (Robert C. Martin Series)
William E. Lewis: Software Testing and Continuous Quality Improvement, Second Edition
Kent Beck: Test Driven Development: By Example (Addison-Wesley Signature Series)
James W. Newkirk: Test-Driven Development in Microsoft .NET (Microsoft Professional)
After a two year beta period the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is now ready for production. Regular EC2 accounts can to run up to 20 simultaneous instances although requests for hundreds and even thousands of additional instances are granted all the time.
In addition E2s:
For me information see the Amazon Web Service Blog.
DeviceAnywhereprovides developers real-time interaction with handsets that are connected to live global networks. Built on the company’s device interaction technology, Direct-To-Device, DeviceAnywhere enables developers to connect to and control mobile devices around the world using the Internet. Through DeviceAnywhere’s non-simulated, real-time platform, developers can remotely press buttons, view LCD displays, listen to ringers and tones, and play videos.
DeviceAnywhere’s platform of features and benefits includes:
Founded in 2003 by Faraz Syed and David Marsyla DeviceAnywhere is a a privately held, venture backed company. Its primary investors are Motorola Ventures and France Telecom’s venture subsidy, Innovacom.
According to ChangeBase, Microsoft's October "Patch Tuesday" Security Update brings us a massive wave of patches with 6 Critical, 4 Important and 1 Moderate update. These are significant updates with one patch (MS08-057) updating more than 50 core files and most of the patches updating key system files, therefore requiring system restarts. The good news is that only one of the patches has wide scale issues for application compatibility. The major concern for this October release is the Internet Explorer Update MS08-058. As in the case with the September updates, updating Internet Explorer components affects a large number of applications in our test portfolio for all Windows desktop/server operating systems including XP and VISTA. Again as in September it is likely that some applications will have performance issues as a result of this update.
For the full story -click here-
St. Louis based SAVVIS, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVS) is a $800 million IT infrastructure services firm. Founded in 1995 and publicly traded since February 2000, SAVVIS. is one of the largest IP network and hosting providers in the world. Recently Gartner positioned SAVVIS in Leaders Quadrant in its North American Web Hosting Magic Quadrant. InformationWeek has also recognized SAVVIS as one of the nation's most innovative IT organizations. The company is considered a leader in virtualized, utility-based IP VPN and hosting services for industries that require high performance, near-perfect reliability and integrated security. SAVVIS offers an expanded portfolio of IP and hosting services.
SAVVIS IT platform spans North America, Europe, and Asia, combinding virtualization technology, a global network and multiple data centers, and automated management and provisioning systems. Recently SAVVIS announced a partnership with Skytap.
A study into the views of top-level executives and CIOs on software quality, announced today by Original Software, reveals corporate apathy and the failings of a multi-billion dollar industry. When asked how the importance of their software quality is perceived within the business, over 40% of CIOs admitted ‘not at all’ or ‘as a nice to have’. Not surprising then that a recent IDC survey revealed that more than 40% of all software applications are released with between one and ten critical defects, the management being fully aware of this at the time of issue.
“Such disregard is surprising given the number of high-profile horror stories the media have recently reported about poor software quality” said Colin Armitage, CEO of Original Software. “The launch of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow was a PR disaster due to a ‘systems fault’, a failed ERP installation into American LaFrance caused the fire-engine company to go into bankruptcy, and medical equipment killing hospital patients when a flaw in the computer code caused systems to administer heavy overdoses – to name just a few.”
The survey uncovered that issues of software quality were making it to the boardroom – not surprising given the consequences when something does go wrong – with more than 80% of CIOs directly involved with forming SQA policies. The greatest SQA challenge facing respondents was balancing cost and resource (53%). This was followed by the quality of the software and its risk to business (30%)
So if they are taking notice, why is there such apathy in the boardroom to software testing? The survey revealed that of companies who had invested in software testing solutions, only 6% were happy that it had met their objectives (the primary ones being to produce higher quality applications – 62% – and improve resource efficiency - 28%).
“Many organizations don’t spend nearly enough effort on improving the quality of the software they produce. More often than not they pay lip service to the concept whilst secretly holding the belief that it is a waste of resources (time, staff and money).” *says Bola Rotbi, Principal Analyst at research firm MWD in her article – the importance of “good enough” in software quality”
Colin Armitage agrees: “Achieving quality takes time, effort and money, and in the current credit crunch constrained times one can understand a temptation to take short cuts. There is an apathy and disregard of test automation, borne perhaps, from the limited success of solutions that came out of the last century, needing months to configure, requiring expensive and scarce specialist skills and simply collapsing in the face of rapidly changing applications. ‘Solutions’ which at best will only address 20% of the problem, only give ‘solutions’ a bad name. It is time for a rethink. CIOs cannot forgo basic IT fundamentals and CEOs and shareholders cannot let them. We need cost effective technology in these cost constrained times.” he concluded.
The survey was conducted by Richmond reports and sponsored by Original Software. The respondents were all delegates of the CIO forum in New York, their companies having average annual revenues of $5.8billion, and IT budgets of $764 million.
Borland Software Corporation (Nasdaq: BORL) will lead an expert panel discussion, "Agile Stand-Up on Agile Testing" at STARWEST 2008 in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 1, 2008. In addition, Borland will showcase how its Lifecycle Quality Management solutions can support enterprise QA teams transitioning to more Agile delivery methods at Booth 22/23 and in its breakout session. STARWEST 2008 runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 3.
As an increasing number of enterprises embrace Agile software delivery approaches, they face a new set of challenges. Integrating QA teams and processes into Agile models is one that has raised much debate. Over the past two years, Borland's own distributed development organization has been transitioning to an Agile delivery model. Through this experience, its teams have seen the critical role that automated testing can play in enabling a successful transformation. At STARWEST 2008, Borland's own QA professionals will demonstrate how Borland SilkCentral(R) Test Manager(TM), Borland SilkTest(R) and Borland SilkPerformer(R) support Agile and traditional testing approaches.
"The realities of the enterprise -- geographic separation of teams, cost reductions, diminishing timelines and limited resources -- require that organizations take a practical approach to Agile software delivery," said Brad Johnson, senior director of product marketing for Borland. "Enterprises must evolve and shift the traditional role of QA. Modern automated testing solutions play a vital role in supporting this evolution by enabling Agile teams to implement test strategies that are flexible, repeatable and accurate."
Skytap , the cloud-based virtual lab solutions company will distribute testing and training software through its Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Alliance program. The initial partners in the program, include Appistry, AutomatedQA, Borland, iTKO LISA, SmarteSoft and SOASTA. All these partners will make available their products to Skytap customers for a fee.
"Too often application testing is crippled by the fact that IT teams don't have access to adequate test tools or appropriate test environments," said Scott Barber, Executive Director of the Association for Software Testing. "Skytap's ISV partnerships will provide a way for IT organizations to access the tools and environments they need on demand."
With the introduction of the Skytap ISV alliance program, customers can now also access software from leading ISVs within the Skytap environment and gain the benefits of a pay-as-you-go model.
"Significant value that can be achieved through the adoption of this new model," said Steve Brodie, chief product and marketing officer of Skytap.
As part of Skytap's ISV alliance program, Skytap customers will receive:
"Software testing is the ideal market for cloud computing," said Drew Wells, CTO of AutomatedQA.
SQS Software Quality Systems, a testing services provider has won contracts with international law firm Allen & Overy and the Swedish Port Authority. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cypress Software Systems has appointed Scott Tomlinson vice president of quality assurance. His primary responsibilities will include developing and managing quality assurance programs for all Cypress loan automation products, including Mark IV, BizMark and AppMark. He brings to the position more than 25 years of management experience in the banking and finance industry.
"Scott's background and knowledge of loan automation systems make him the perfect fit for this position," said Stephen G. Sargent, president and chief executive officer at Cypress. "His extensive banking background and familiarity with our products will be indispensable as we introduce new clients to our software solutions, and as we familiarize existing clients with product updates. Scott's background at companies like Texas State Bank and University State Bank will help us further enhance our position as a leading software developer for loan automation systems."
Prior to Cypress, Tomlinson was chief operations officer for Quality Infusion Care, Inc. in Houston, where he managed accounts payable, reviewed department budgeting and interfaced with bankers on company objectives and borrowing needs.
Tomlinson also was senior vice president for Texas State Bank in Houston, where he supervised and mentored staff in the consumer lending division to maximize loan and deposit portfolio growth for all Texas regions. While at Texas State Bank, he introduced Cypress' Mark IV, and performed initial training and follow-up support for approximately 200 lenders and staff employees covering more than 70 branch locations across Texas.
He also led private and executive loan departments for University State Bank, Bank Texas and Texas Commerce Bank, all in Houston.
SOASTA, a provider of cloud-based testing solutions, has closed $6.4 million in Series B funding. New investor, Formative Ventures, a leading early-stage venture capital firm led the round with continuing participation from previous investors including Canaan Partners and The Entrepreneurs’ Fund. The new funding will be used to support product enhancements, marketing, and business development.
Clint Chao, co-founder and general partner at Formative Ventures, has been elected to the company’s board.
“We’re always on the lookout for promising companies that provide a critical missing link,” said Chao. “SOASTA should further accelerate cloud market adoption.”
The Silicon Valley-based company was launched in early 2008 and has a growing list of customers, and was named a “Cool Vendor in Application Development” by Gartner Group in its 2008 .
