To connect our Tribal Qonf Speakers and Audience better, we interviewed our speakers over a few important questions. The conversations we had were just amazing.
In this edition, we are publishing the Interview we did with Anand Bagmar ( Software Quality Evangelist, Essense of Testing ). Anand answered many interesting questions and we are sure you will enjoy the read.
Geosley: Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to become a tester?
Anand: Not really by choice as a first job, but wanted to get started somewhere. My 2nd job, in Customer Service, was an eye-opener for me. I used to be on-call 24×7 via email & phone for enterprise customer complaints about the expensive software they had purchased, but didn’t work well and the guidelines/policy of how our responses needed to be, as well as how the Engineering team used to respond to Customer issues appalled me. That was the turning point for me in my career. It became a mission for me to ensure I, regardless of my role, gave it my best, to build a good quality product for the customers of my product.
Geosley: What or who has been the greatest influence in your professional life?
Anand: As mentioned above, my 2nd job in Customer Service has been the greatest influence in my professional life. Along with that, the countless mentors and colleagues I worked with, who challenged my thought process in the good and the not-as-good way, along with my positive and willing-to-learn attitude has helped me grow as a professional.
Geosley: What are your thoughts on Analytics in Testing & Automation?
Analytics is to a product like blood or oxygen is to a human.
Without analytics, you would not be able to know the usage and impact of your product on the end-users. Given this is so crucial, unfortunately, few professionals in the software industry know about it, or how to test it. My session, my open-source contribution – WAAT, is a way to help people understand this concept and test it effectively & efficiently.
Geosley: You have written about the paths a tester can take. Is there any change in that now?
Each person is unique and has unique skills, capabilities, strengths, and liking.
The Career Path of a Tester article I wrote in 2016 is still valid. Note that this is a guideline. I would hope that the readers instead of “blindly following” or “aspiring to become like another person”, would take inspiration from it, and create their own path based on their individuality.
Geosley: What were the thoughts behind building MAD LAB (Mobile Automation Devices LAB) and what advice would you give testers planning to build one?
Anand: It is not easy to build your own LAB. There is a huge cost involved – in terms of personal cost, infrastructure, maintenance, and extending its functionality as per requirements. However, there are times when an existing off-the-shelf solution (commercial/free/open-source) may not fit your requirements. In that case, you are left with no choice, but to build a LAB yourself.
In such cases, follow these steps:
- first define a clear objective of what you want to achieve, and why?
- identify and prioritize the requirements based on the above
- start implementing and building the lab
Remember, this has to be a stepping stone approach.
Being Agile, getting quick feedback, and knowing the limitations of your lab are crucial for getting value from this investment!
Geosley: How will your talk motivate the attendees and one lesson they will carry at the Tribal Qonf?
Anand: I am hoping to inspire attendees to look beyond their day-to-day work and feel motivated and challenged to find interesting solutions to problems that exist around us at work.
We thank Anand for his time and energy to do this amazing interview. Stay tuned to hear from more Speakers. Register to Tribal Qonf happening 27-28 June 2020 here.
