AUSTRALIAN FIRST SOFTWARE TESTING AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

27 October 2010

Winners of the inaugural Australian Software Testing Awards, the first dedicated award for this discipline, were announced last night as part of the iqnite Australia 2010 conference.

The three award categories, Individual Contribution, Best Test Project and Best Test Process Improvement, are all aimed at recognising the vital role testing plays in software development.

The award for Individual Contribution went to Mike Skyllas from the Commonwealth Bank for his role in leading a team of 800 test professionals who undertake testing and assurance work internally for the Commonwealth Bank across all divisions.

A joint nomination from Telstra and IT consultants Infosys won the Best Test Project award for their two year upgrade program on Telstra’s service assurance platform, SIIAM, to ensure fault restoration capability for the entire range of PSTN, ADSL and wholesale products.

The Federal Government’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship won the Best Test Process Improvement award for their massive four-year, 200 projects information systems change program, Systems for People, to support major business process reform.

K. J. Ross & Associates, one of Australia’s most experienced software testing firms—instigated the awards as part of the iqnite conference.

The company’s director, Dr Kelvin Ross, says the annual awards will play an important part in helping to raise the profile of software testing in this country.

“Software testing is an incredibly important part of the development process, yet it is often neglected, rushed, or carried out as an afterthought,” Dr Ross says.

“Computers are such an intrinsic part of everyday life now that software errors can have major impacts on things like business productivity and, in some cases, human safety.

“The winners of each category were chosen from a highly competitive field of nominations, and overall we’re extremely pleased with the result for the award’s first year.”

Results

Best Project
Judged by Dr Kelvin Ross (K. J. Ross & Associates) and Barbara Rolfe Harris (Coles)

Finalists:
  • BUPA Australia, Priority 1 Project
  • Telstra and Infosys, joint nomination for the SIIAM Upgrade Project
Winner: Telstra and Infosys


Best Process Improvement
Judged by Peter Hanlon (Macquarie) and Tony Bailey (Access Testing)

Finalists:
  • Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Performance Testing Improvement Through Application Performance Management
  • NAB, Static Testing
  • NAB Wholesale Banking, Test Process Standards: A Community Approach
  • Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (QLD), Software Development Quality Control
  • QLD Health, Innovation and Assurance
Winner: Department of Immigration and Citizenship


Individual Contribution Award
Judged by Caroline Patton (accuteque) and Jeff Findlay (Micro Focus)

Finalists:
  • Wendy Austen, Centrelink
  • John Brown, Department of Immigration and Citizenship
  • Alister Scott, ThoughtWorks
  • Mike Skyllas, CBA
Winner: Mike Skyllas, CBA