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Amitabh Khare
Amitabh Khare

Amitabh Khare

Proprietor Quality Quotient

Avaya India

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Amitabh Khare is a member of:

- Expert
Could you tell us briefly about your family background?
My father owned a construction business, while my mother taught English lit. My wife is a pediatric endocrinologist, and I have two daughters - 10 and 6.5 years old.
Tech trends to watch out for
I have always fretted at the gap between theory of testing and practice. Currently I have been following Jerry Weinberg, James Bach, Michael Bolton, Cem Kaner and Elizabeth Hendricksons blogs and trainings that talk about Context driven school of testing. It is an exciting space and very practical.
Plans for the Future
I see myself influencing more and more minds of junior and senior test engineers into excelling in the field of software product quality. I also would like to develop training programs for building software test architects.
Parting thoughts
I am very passionate about Quality - and would like this area to be looked at as an area of science. Today everyone things they can 'test', unfortunately this has created a glut of mediocre testers in the market, that requires good management and process controls. This is detrimental to the area.
Current and Previous Responsibilities
I have moved from a QA Director role into the role of a Software Product Quality Evangelist. This role requires me to spread the word of software quality and influence smart young minds to take this up as a viable career option. My previous role was more execution oriented.
Essential Advice
Do not think of this as a stepping stone to an IT career. It is a challenging, interesting and innovative space - so break the shackles of stringent processes and certifications to let your creativity flow in building high quality software.
A Fine Balance:
Current role allows me to spend time with my family while working on training and consulting assignments. Even when I was working I ensured that I spend the weekends with my family and also was involved in my children's schoolwork. I am also involved with youth acting as Changemakers in the society.
Points of inflection
I was responsible for setting up an office in a Tier-2 city (Nagpur) for a large corporate which taught me a lot about managing people and businesses. I then worked as a Director-Quality for a large Telecom MNC that allowed me a foray into the software product quality space from an ISV perspective.
Role Model
At the moment I am inspired by James Bach - he is a maverick, and has a crazily practical view of testing that I find so realistic!
Currently working at
I have recently started a firm to provide training and consulting in software product quality. I am engaged in some training courses and am busy building up the content for a wide range of audience and topics in software testing.
Changes in the industry
When I started in the QA/Testing industry in 1998 it had several people interested in doing well in it, they were interested to learn and innovate. Now I see a lot of wasted talent because of the glut in the industry. We have to infuse innovation and attitude in the individuals.
Degrees that Matter
I do not think certifications help one become a capable test engineer. It may teach you theory of testing, but in practice it is your attitude and intelligence that matters.
Most Important Lessons
I wish I had spent more time doing hands-on-testing, and not moved to a managerial role.
Most Important Decisions
I took a risk going blindly to a Tier-2 city of Nagpur - but that has been the most important career decision that I took in my career. It gave me the exposure and impetus to hone my skills and career.
Required Reading
Lessons Learned in Software Testing, Software Testing in the Real World are a couple of books I refer to often. Blogs by James Bach, Michael Bolton, Elizabeth Hendrickson are highly recommended. http://lawst.com/ involves a group of highly innovative people.
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