Interview of Andrew Muns

This interview was conducted by uTest (http://blog.utest.com/testing-the-limits-with-andrew-muns-president-of-stp-part-1/2009/08/)

In the latest installment of our “Testing the Limits” series, we sat down with Andrew Muns (@amuns) the President of Software Test & Performance (of STP Magazine and STPCon fame), to discuss how testers are perceived by execs and developers, the future of media companies, and the changes that are underway at STP.

uTest:  STPCon is being held this October in Cambridge, MA… what do you have in store for the attendees this year?

Andrew: This is the first conference that will have been planned start to finish by Redwood Collaborative Media and was designed according to our very simple philosophy: “ask your audience what they want and give it to them.”  The show’s program was designed largely  based on a survey in which we asked two things, what topics are most important to you and who do you want to hear from.

The most requested topics among our readers were Test Automation, Performance Testing, Test Management and Agile.  We’ve built a five track program with specialized training and workshops for each of these four areas, plus a track we call “FutureTest.”  The concept of FutureTest is to take a look ahead to emerging tools, technologies and practices – to help our members stay on the cutting edge of the testing industry.

We’ve got only all-stars here (check out the full roster) plus a keynote by a NASA astronaut, Mike Mullane, who will talk about leadership and the organizational culture that led to one of the most tragic QA mistakes in history: the O-ring of the space shuttle Challenger.  Michael Bolton, will then use this story as a launching point (pardon the pun) to talk about test leadership.  It’s going to be a phenomenal event.

uTest:  You recently launched STPCollaborative.com. Tell us the purpose of this site and what’s so different about it.

A: The media business is undergoing a dramatic shift, and the STPCollaborative site was built as a platform for our member-focused model.  Somewhat dramatically perhaps, I call this a Copernican shift because today’s media companies now realize things don’t revolve around them.  Our focus is on members of the software testing community, in which we’re just one of many participants.

In a way, this isn’t new to us and is based on the very successful model developed by Ron Muns, my father, our Chairman, and founder of HDI (previously the Help Desk Institute). HDI was a membership organization for technical support professionals founded before the current trendiness of social networking and web-based communities emerged.  His company built a vibrant community for a group of professionals that didn’t get much respect, and really helped to create professional standards and be a vocal advocate for the profession.  We are working to build STP Collaborative into a membership organization that provides that same sense of community, that facilitates knowledge sharing and education, and that helps testers reach their professional goals.

STP Collaborative is the information resource platform for our members.  It brings the previously static content from Software Test & Performance into a more interactive web-based format, and informs members of new educational content, whether in the form of online content or live events and conferences.  Of course the best is yet to come, and we’re working diligently behind the scenes to increase the interactivity of our site and to roll out some truly world-class online and offline educational resources for testers.

uTest: By the way, who tested the site before launch?

A: First off, uTest was extremely helpful to us in preparing for launch (thanks!).  We’re a start-up in many ways and as such have an extremely lean team with limited resources, so having the uTest community assist us was invaluable.  In fact, two of the bugs you guys found would have been real show stoppers!

Before this, however, the testing was done largely by Igor Balos at Wildbit (our developer team), our own staff (everyone participated), and a few members of the testing community who volunteered to help.  Our contributing editor Matt Heusser was also particularly helpful.  Best of all, I actually got to test software myself!

uTest: So based on what you’ve seen so far at the helm of STP Collaborative, how close-knit is the software testing community compared to other professions?

A: Well, as a newcomer to the space, my first impression is that the profession is fairly Balkanized.  People talk a lot to me about “schools of software testing” and many of the consultants and thought leaders in the industry feel very passionately about their “school.”  This is partly because software testing is by definition concerned with a very fuzzy and philosophical concept called “quality,” and partly because “software” itself has so many incarnations that people in different fields can have radically different perspectives.

In spite of this, I believe that very tight bonds exist among testers.  There is a strong community here that identifies with common professional and interpersonal issues.  I attended Jerry Weinberg’s session at the recent CAST conference and we did a role-playing exercise where a tester was arguing for equal pay with the developers.  The outpouring of support from the group for the woman playing the role of the tester was incredible.

uTest: What’s been the biggest challenge in creating STP Collaborative?

A: Let’s see, we’re a start-up in a highly-cyclical industry undergoing dramatic change, in one of the most challenging economic situations of our lifetime.  Where should I start?

Joking aside, I’m amazed at what we’ve accomplished in the face of some very strong headwinds. In the last eight months, we’ve reinvented our business from a one-to-many traditional media model to a member-centric, highly interactive listening and learning model. We’ve built a world-class strategic advisory board. We’ve launched a terrific new website focused on building a community; and we’ve redesigned our magazine.  The biggest challenge has been managing the chaos associated with this pace of change!

uTest: Your background has included stints in finance, teaching, as well as the Peace Corps. Ever think you’d end up in the world of software testing?

A: Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m the only person on earth to have worked teaching math in Central Africa, done IT consulting in Venezuela, worked on a distressed debt trading floor in New York, helped Carl Icahn shake up corporate boards, and run a new media company.  Looking back, though, any role I’ve ever been good at was really just teaching.  Sales done properly and honestly is an educational endeavor, and business is really relationship building and sales no matter what field you’re in.

In fairness, no one would hire me to be a software tester.  That said, I have an open mind, I’m very humble, I listen to people, and I love to learn.  I’m told the best software testers bring in diverse perspectives, and learn and adapt constantly.  If that’s the case, my involvement with the testing world should be a great fit!

uTest: Testers and developers: Friends or foes?

A: I’m sure this varies from company to company and team to team, but I’d wager a sum of money that teams where the two are friends dramatically outperform teams where they’re foes.

uTest: Testing is often viewed as a behind-the-scenes profession. What can testers do to bring their craft to light and make sure others understand the value?

A: Upper management at most companies may never truly understand what a test department contributes, especially since a contribution by definition goes unnoticed (i.e., something worked as expected.)  To me this sounds like a cultural issue: how to translate the value of testing into manager-speak.  Managers like things they can measure, so speaking their language means associating a measurable value on something vital but difficult to observe.

Software Test & Performance magazine has written many features on this question, but as a manager more than a tester, here is one argument I like (that applies more to consumer-facing applications): explain QA as a marketing function.  How much does your company spend on marketing?  Why would testing merit less investment?  I bet your company would spend a lot to spread positive word-of-mouth from users.  Shouldn’t management be willing to spend the same amount or more to avoid negative word-of-mouth?  As United Airlines learned after breaking a customer’s guitar, negative word of mouth can be viral.

Critically, neither this argument, nor any other, will be made if testers themselves don’t make it!

uTest: Is James Bach really as smart as we think he is?  Who would win in a fight between him and his brother, Jon?

A: James is a phenomenal, self-taught polymath, and is one of the many testers I’ve met in the last year whose intelligence has impressed me.  It’s a profession that attracts some creative, analytical and multi-disciplinary individuals.

As for the fight, I have two young sons at home, a one-year old and a two-and-a-half-year old. The two-and-a-half-year-old’s twice the size, but his baby brother’s fearless!  In short, I’d never underestimate the tenacity of a younger brother.  I’m going with Jon.

uTest: Much has been made of the “fall” of traditional print media companies.  So what attracted you to enter this space?

A: One of my previous jobs was to conduct research and valuation analysis on companies in financial distress and bankruptcy, so I’m a contrarian by training.  I’m actually not a believer in the traditional print media model in general—newspapers as we know them, for example, are doomed.

That said, I believe that niche B2B media markets have the potential for economies of scale in specialty content and are well positioned to take advantage of new communications community building tools.  B2B markets that perform well will be those that embrace the new role of media which is to provide educational and community building resources.  Software testers have a strong common sense of identity and a high demand for learning, due to the complex, constantly changing and technological skills required by the profession.

uTest: Put your prognosticating hat on… what trends do you think we’ll be talking about in software and testing one year from today?  10 years from today?

A: One impact of working in corporate finance during the credit boom had on me was to erode my faith in prognosticating!  While any attempt (especially by a layman such as myself) to project specifics would be pretty useless, I will make one obvious observation based on thermodynamics: I am a strong believer in entropy.  Complexity increases with time, especially in software.  Wrestling with exponential increases in complexity and interconnectedness will be one the primary challenges of those in the software business or any business going forward.  If STP Collaborative is successful, it will be because we will have found a way to simplify this complexity enough to help testers navigate a landscape of increasing entropy.

uTest: Other than STPCollaborative.com, what other sites do you read to learn more about QA and testing?

A: I read blogs of notable testers primarily, and also follow testers of every ilk on Twitter.  In the blogosphere, two of my favorites are Creative Chaos by Matt Heusser and DevelopSense by Michael Bolton, but there are many more.

Twitter is also a great listening tool that’s been a great way for me to get to know what the test community is saying about their profession, new products and technologies, about each other, about us or about the world in general.  It’s invaluable.

uTest: Any advice for new testers who are just starting out? What should they do/read/know in order to be successful in the world of professional testing?

A: I can only give generic advice here, which is to build a network of peers that includes a mentor.  I doubt there’s any single book that can make you into a great tester (or a great anything), but if you get to know others in your field, treat them with respect and help them whenever you can, you’ll have a network that will be more effective at helping you solve professional problems than any static written resource could ever be.  If that fails, just read Software Test & Performance magazine

uTest: Are you a Mac or a PC?

A: I’m a recovering PC aspiring to be a Mac.  My suits have been hung, my jeans are getting worn, and I spend two days a week working from home and putting my kids to bed.  I’m well on my way!

uTest: Finish this sentence: The software testing industry is on the verge of______________.

A: I’m an optimist, so I’ll say: “gaining the respect that the profession deserves.”  This won’t happen quickly without a strong unified voice from the community, however.

uTest: What’s the worst bug you’ve seen or heard of since you got involved in the world of software testing?

A: We misspelled the word “Testing” in an issue of Software Test & Performance magazine.  That’s certainly the most embarrassing “bug” from my point of view, even if it’s not really a software bug.  The test crowd spotted this one in about 0.2 nanoseconds and promptly turned my face beet red. I guess that shows the skills our audience has learned from the magazine!

Thanks to Andy for taking the time to answer questions from us and our testing community.  If you have a question that we missed about testing, STP or any other subject, drop it in the comments and we’ll try to compel Andy to answer it (as you can tell, he’s quite shy)!