ISTQB® releases Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Test Leadership at Scale - 3rd Increment - v0.6 (CTAL-ATLaS)

ISTQB® has released the 3rd increment of the Advanced Level (CTAL) Agile Test Leadership at Scale (ATLaS) version 0.6. This is the third of the five increments planned in the CTAL-ATLaS certification. CTAL-ATLaS is an “Agile” module within the ISTQB® Certified Tester Scheme and an in-demand next step after the ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) and ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester (CTFL-AT).

The release consists of the first (Quality Assistance), second (Improve Quality and Flow in a Value-Driven Organization) and third (Continuous Improvement of Quality and Testing) chapters of the ISTQB® Advanced Level Agile Test Leadership at Scale syllabus (v0.6), body of knowledge (v0.6) and sample exam questions and answers (v0.6).

Because of the incremental model the “Release Notes” will not be available until the very end of development of the complete ATLaS product.

This is the first time that ISTQB® has developed and released a certification incrementally. According to Agile principles, iterations ensure better quality through early feedback and continuous improvement.

When will the complete CTAL-ATLaS certification be ready?

We are planning to have it available by Q4 2022 (current estimation).

More information can be found in the CTAL-ATLaS FAQ section.

Product Owner of the CTAL-ATLaS Mette Bruhn-Pedersen said:

“With the modern demand for business agility there is an even greater need for accelerated quality. This is not achievable if all responsibility for quality remains in individual teams or specific roles such as testers. Therefore, test management becomes quality management and organizations need to adopt lean principles across the organization as well as within delivery teams. This changes the role of quality assurance and test professionals to be closer to agile test leadership and to fostering a quality culture and mindset.

The ISTQB® is offering a new certification at Advanced level to complement the existing Test Manager certification and help people build the competencies needed to effectively contribute to such demanding business environments. The certification is called Agile Test Leadership at Scale (ATLaS) and the third increment is now available for download on ISTQB®’s website

As in the previous two increments the focus in ATLaS is on the organizational level. In this third increment you will learn the why and how for the Continuous Improvement of Quality and Testing.

The certification introduces Structured Problem-Solving and certain associated techniques as an approach for supporting Testing and Quality activities across a value stream. It explores System Thinking and the analysis of Root Causes from a quality and testing perspective that improves the value stream as a whole and not just testing. It proposes using Causal Loop Diagrams as a key technique for identifying root causes in a complex environment, leading to the optimization of processes and procedures. This increment further covers conventional stages in causal loop diagramming and how to map the cause and effect of different variables in a system or process flow using basic visualization techniques.

Implementing these techniques in your organization brings value by:

• Efficiently addressing quality problems
• Implanting the mindset of continuous improvement within an enterprise
• Methodically tackling the root causes of system bottlenecks

By releasing the third increment the ISTQB® continues the agile approach to certification adopted in the first increment. We will continue to release each increment as it is developed so that member boards can disseminate this to their customers to gain interest; for training providers to start building courseware and so that exam providers can build exams. We also want to gain early feedback direct from our customers to help us tailor this certification to market demands.

This is a new way of releasing for the ISTQB®, using an iterative method building assets up until the final full launch when all materials, including exams will be ready. You will also see a new look syllabus format which focuses on the learnings you will gain, supported by a Body of Knowledge giving you rich examples and walking you through each learning objective in detail.

The Agile Test Leadership at Scale qualification is aimed at people who work in an organization which is pursuing agility at scale or business agility and already have a basic understanding of agile and agile testing. The ISTQB® Foundation Level certificate and Foundation Level Agile Tester certificate are prerequisites for taking the Advanced Level Agile Test Leadership at Scale certification exam.”

Thank you to all who have supported the update including Michael Pilaeten (Working Group Chair); Mette Bruhn-Pedersen (Product Owner); Jean-Luc Cossi, Richard Green, Michael Heller, Leanne Howard, Ebbe Munk, Francisca Cano Ortiz, Samuel Ouko, Tal Pe’er, Murian Song, Marcelo Chanez, Ilia Kulakov, Peter Jetter and Salinda Wickramasinghe (Authors) and Loyde Mitchell and many other from long reviewer list (incl. into syllabus), Exam & Marketing Work Groups.