Ashley Palmer, Quality Manager, Modea
“Adopting RST was the best move I made when establishing a testing practice at my organization just over two years ago. Recently my team needed to collaborate with a client’s test team (who employs factory-style testing). This was a great opportunity to discuss RST with them and establish a solid foothold on why it works for us — and why we’ll continue to use it on our upcoming product build with them. I’m positive they’ll see the value by the end of our endeavour together — and maybe they will take back some changes to consider in their own processes.
For anyone new to the RST space, the ability to speak succinctly and confidently about testing and RST is important. Along with reading and practice, attending the RST Coached and RST Managed courses was critical in my ability to do that with these clients.”
Brian Kenny, IDEXX
“Since Michael’s RST class our testers have been highly motivated and their testing skill has never been better. Our business owners and developers are incredibly happy with the ability of the testers to quickly generate a test strategy that explains clearly where the risks are and how they plan to mitigate those risks as they test. On top of that, our customers are getting predictable and high value product releases. I can’t remember the last time we had a fire drill related to obvious bugs in our code. In fact, our bug list coming back from the field has dwindled to next to nothing! I would highly recommend the RST class for any testing organization looking to up their testing game!”
Jari Laakso (Tester, Manager)
“James is the toughest teacher I have ever seen and the better you do, the more he will push you. This is because he wants you to learn… He has incredible skills to read people and activate their minds. Getting an answer from him is sometimes difficult, but if you are persistent enough, he will make you answer your own question! Like I noted earlier, this training gives you much more than you will ever imagine. You will understand event reporting on a whole new level after the course.”
Bill Matthews (Testing Consultant)
“I’ve attended a number of training courses and learning events over the years but, to date, the Rapid Software Testing course is the only one that utilises Socratic teaching methods and for many attending this course this was the first time they had encountered this teaching method…”
Noel Wurst (Sr. Manager Influencer Relations/Corp. Communications at Tricentis)
“Our initial responses to the confusing and uncomfortable exercises given on Day 1 were to often stare unproductively at our screens, hoping something would come to us. But, on Day 2 and 3, when these exercises had grown even more confusing and complex, this silent uneasiness had vanished. We eagerly embraced that confusion by asking great questions to learn more about the application and its users. We sought out the ideas of others in the room, and we formed groups made up of numerous skillsets and backgrounds.”
Kevin McKay (Senior Software Tester)
“If you participate in this course, don’t expect to sit back and have knowledge poured into you as this is truly an interactive learning experience. You will be challenged by puzzles, questioned on what you think you know and on what you know you know and be surprised at the answer(s). You may even see a little magic happen!”
Blair Burke, B.Sc., (Software Tester, Print Audit, Inc.)
“The Rapid Software Testing course that I attended in June definitely surpassed my expectations. As an experienced tester I was becoming rather disillusioned of the so called ‘Tried and True’ methods of software testing and was really looking for something that resembled, well, reality. So now, instead of spending my time writing test cases, writing reports that no one reads and chasing down Product Specs and Feature Specs I test. What an amazing concept—have the tester do testing!
“It has freed up an enormous amount of time and, therefore, the testing is far more productive. Potential ‘show stoppers’ are being found earlier on in the test schedule and test coverage has also improved greatly. More time is spent on important matters and less time trying to hit a number target (i.e. 90% testing complete, 95% pass rate, etc.) The focus has returned to the task at hand (testing) and there is less focus on reporting (counting). That also allows for the tester to move into a more co-development role to assist with the implementation of new features and functionality. I’m happy, the Devs are happy, the customer is happy and the boss is happy—Thanks Michael!”
Anand Ramdeo, London, UK
“Recently I finished a three day training course on Rapid Software Testing with Michael Bolton in London UK. This course was very effective and had elements related to learning, questioning and thinking all along. It reinforced my belief that testing is not a ‘phase’ performed towards the end or a ‘100% automated suite’ as claimed by many Agile shops. Software testing is much more than that and it is extremely important for the successful delivery of any project… Overall this training and all the discussions we had during the course was an amazing experience. I would highly recommend this training to anyone interested in learning rapid software testing.”
James Swanson, Minneapolis, MN
“I thoroughly enjoyed your class on Rapid Software Testing. The more time I have to think about the class the more I find value in it. It has really changed my approach and ideologies around testing. The only thing left now is to get everyone in my office on the same page… Before I thought testing was just a stepping stone to move into development but now that I have more of an appreciation for testers, I think I’m going to stick with it and try to get others to realize how important testers are to software development.”
Ray Oei, Amsterdam, Netherlands
“I attended the Rapid Software Testing course with Michael Bolton some time ago (July 2010), in Amsterdam, NL. And attending doesn’t mean ‘sit back, shut up and listen’. There are challenges, puzzles and a lot—a lot—of interaction. Those three days passed by in a second; not a single dull moment. But most importantly, to this date it has had a profound impact on how I relate and look at the art and craft of testing! Oh.. and the lifetime support is fantastic.”