Euruko2009 / The Risks We Take. Ruby in System Testing / by Stephan Kämper

In larger companies - and Ruby is in fact entering these now - there seems to be a misconception of how to deal with risk. In my experience a risk has to be predicted, mitigated if at all possible and avoided like "The Plague". This makes departments, teams and even individuals more and more cautious, thinking more than twice about actually taking the next step, before changing anything.
But that's not necessary: Given a decent set of automated tests for a system (as in many single sub-systems included, like billing, CRM, logistics etc.) you can move forward safely, knowing that there's a safety net that actually works.
A short introduction into such a system test framework shows how tests can be executed, logged and summarised nicely and colourful (read: red & green) - even in an area which is not (yet) automated.
In other words: If you're prepared to fail, then you can afford to fail, gain from it and outperform others.
The risk in this is of course, to become even more aware of how painful failing can be and thus to be even more afraid of doing so.
Lesson to take home: Learn to fail, learn how to fail - and you less likely will.
Resources
/paper_files/7/resources/the_risks_we_take.pdf