Vipul Vashisht
Assistant Vice President - Software Quality at Polaris
Vipul Vashisht is a member of:
Areas for the Future
Profitable Growth and Customer Satisfaction are the common Organization goals. These can be achieved through delivering defect free solutions on-time and that too each and every time. These goals are measured, tracked and controlled through the usage of Quantitative Analysis techniques. Statistical Process Control (SPC) techniques like usage of control charts, defect prediction models, issue prediction models, metrics analysis, etc would enable you to be sought after guy in the field of quality assurance.
Parting thoughts
I can be contacted for guidance on attaining certifications on PMP, CSQA, and CSTE. Currently I am pursuing PhD and also acting as a project guide for people pursuing their Masters in Computer Sciences and Management.
Plans for the Future
After finishing my PhD, I would love to join Academics and teach software engineering. I am also planning to take individual consulting assignments in areas of Project Management and Quality Assurance to leverage my knowledge in software industry and process improvement practices. I see this happening within some 5 to 7 years down the lane.
Degrees that Matter
I have always believed in that: being certified does not mean qualified. I have seen many certified people struggling with the very basics in QA or testing or even Project Management. However, an experienced person who is not formally certified can solve the same issue easily. So, certification cannot replace experience or I would say qualification to complete that task. Certifications can help you get to the interview table but cannot guarantee a job meant for an experienced person.
Essential Advice
Analytical frame of mind, knowledge of SDLC and patience is a must to enter this field.
You should be having a knack for analysis, to extract the meaningful information out of tons of raw data.
Know-how SDLC is a must to enable you to communicate in the same language
QA by definition
Required Reading
Quality Assurance being process related is mostly learned on the job only. However I would recommend that you should be aware of complete phases of SDLC, phase entry/exit criteria, etc. A person who has experience in coding/testing has a better chance of acceptance in QA arena. Membership of organizations like ASQ, PMI & IEEE has helped me to remain updated with the recent changes.
Currently working at
I joined my current organization i.e., Polaris as a Project Manager for Java based projects, worked as a Test Manager for a while and then moved to Quality Assurance group.In my current profile.
Most Important Lessons
Along with process orientation, people orientation is equally important. Delivering defect free solutions on time & every time it should be the common goal of development, testing and QA team. As a quality analyst, goal should be to inform the management timely about the risks associated with the pr
Most Important Decisions
After my Engineering in Electronics, I started my career in SDLC.and joining software industry just within a year after completing my engineering was definitely a turning point. after working in almost all phases of SDLC was another career move that has helped me a lot
Changes in the industry
With CMMi models now widely used across organizations, Quality Assurance is now better understood. Organizations have now separate and dedicated Quality Assurance teams to work on process definition, implementation and improvements.
Points of inflection
Five years back, I got an opportunity to work on a challenging Quality Assurance Consulting assignment in US for an insurance client. The objective was to understand customers current Testing/QA process, identify the issues, understand their expectations & design new Testing/QA processes to meet those needs. Through my work, the organization was able to see the tangible gains within a short frame of time and my work was quite appreciated. Though it has been a while now, but still I relish that first consulting assignment. I have never looked back since then.
Tech trends to watch out for
From career stand point some technology trends are Agile development, ERP and ITIL related projects require a different approach to quality assurance. You need to customize and adjust to these projects that does not follow a standard SDLC life cycles.
