Federal Tech Talk

The value of high performance testing

Tim Odom, director of Business Technology Solutions Development at Vidoori, joins host John Gilroy on this week's Federal Tech Talk, to explain how high-perform...

February 14, 2022 8:31 am

2 min read

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Testing has always been looked at as the red-headed stepchild of software development. Traditionally, the newest person on staff would be charged with the tedious and unrewarding task of testing code. In today’s conversation, we will examine the concept that testing can save money and increase speed in the software development life cycle.

Tim Odom, director, Business Technology Solutions Development, Vidoori

Tim Odom is the director of Business Technology Solutions Development at Vidoori. He joined host John Gilroy on this week’s Federal Tech Talk to discuss the value of high-performance testing. During the interview, Odom gives many examples where incorporating a centralized approach will benefit enterprise organizations. He talks about “synthetic” data. This can be considered as an alternative to real-world data. This is ideally used in a testing environment to assess whether code works, is compliant, and is structured for future changes.

Odom’s company, Vidoori, has launched a center for excellence that has a focus on how to apply testing to reduce costs for software development.

One essential concept that Tim underscores is, when applied correctly, testing can make leaders take the initiative in addressing issues that concern dependencies and integration. One example he uses is if a federal agency moves to the cloud and wants to move back on-premises. The informal term for this is “Data Repatriation.” More common than many think, cloud service providers may not be a perfect fit for every federal situation.

Moving back on-site does not entail a lift and shift. It will entail a careful look at where the cloud-based system will fit into the original system.

Testing is not very stylish, not trendy, but can give a federal leader assurance in completing a major task on time and under budget.