A test stub is a simulator for an external system that you are not in charge of. It still happens in 2025 that systems are designed with a too big dependency on externally controlled systems. Building stubs enables a better strategic choice for the system owner.
The feeling when (TFW) you are handed 127 requirements and need to establish a way to implement and verify them.
Gaining a ISC2 CSSLP certificate in Secure Development and what to do about it. The art is in understanding the frameworks so much to be able to tailor them to the culture and risk appetite for the company at hand.
Let's help make the implementations more resilient and functional. As always.
Would I be more effective with an LLM? Probably not, no. Maybe I just haven't seen The Emperor's New Clothes. I have seen the Stochastic parrot - that don't impress me much... Sigh.
How hard is it for you to pull the plug for your IT services and move elsewhere? It's not a matter of when you need this - but how prepared you want to be.
Days Since it was a PEOPLE PROBLEM: 0. Not DNS. Not solvable by technology. But about biases, behaviour and all the other things that make us human.
I can understand why delivery teams would seem overwhelmed by the volume and think that it's a hindrance in delivering software solutions in a modern way. One way to enable the delivery teams with security and compliance know-how is to have them supported by a Compliance Coach.
Understanding the landscape is critical whether you're facing any new situation. One technique that I consistently use is Wardley Mapping. Let me share with you a concrete example to visualize the landscape.
What matters is everything around the output - not the procedure/guidance/assessment itself. The way you wire your interactions with others is key to your team's success.
Risks, Questions and Requirements are surely part of the tester's hierarchy of needs. As I am exploring new fields, I am seeing how these needs are also a key part of other competence areas' daily needs.
Key learnings from directing the testing stage on test leadership and resilience testing in 2024.
Leadership
Contrary to what you might think, hoarding power and being involved in everything is not a powerful move. The real influence is in making room for others and lifting others up. Prepare the new generation in your field and enable them to grow. Cast the stage light on others.
Resilience
Having company procedures for everything is nice. As a testing professional, you have unique skills to bring to the table in trying and testing the procedures - what's the worst that could happen?
Leadership
What is blocking us is the perception that our testing skills cannot be applied outside (software) testing. Of course, they can, and often they are exactly what is required for other parts of the organization to grow.
Resilience
For the next sprint have a disaster recovery test. Of course, you have a plan for that! Having a plan for a disaster is nice but remember the old saying that backups are irrelevant if you can’t restore. So do test your recovery plans as well.
StaffLevel
Individual contributors can convey leadership both in roles and activities without being in the formal organizational management hierarchy. The practical organization for this can take many forms.
ITregulations
We need to be better a confirming the requirements consistently and continuously - also the compliance and non-functional requirements. The best way to do this is to go slow and build instrumentation along the way.
Risks
Recently, I was discussing test leadership with an experienced practitioner in the agile testing space 👋. The topic of aligning with management came up again. I skipped the topic then. But afterward, I kept pondering the question: How can we get better management buy-in for testing?
ITregulations
The Product Risk Analysis is biased toward functional risks. Let's consider a broader picture of the solution under test.
ChangeManagement
There are so many places where testing happens. Everyone plays their part. IT testers don't own the words "test" or "quality" - we are not the only ones who can design and perform a test.
ITregulations
We have long fought between functional and non-functional requirements in IT systems development. A new requirement character—compliance—is entering the stage, requiring you to broaden the scope of the testing activities.
ChangeManagement
There was a standoff in a recent project of mine. It had no gunslingers, hangman’s rope, or a pot of gold. The standoff was about how to work.
TestingIsTheNewBlack
Is this the first time you have a compliance testing challenge? It's not my first time.