Simon Kent
About Simon Kent
Simon Kent serves as the Quality Assurance Manager at Gresham Computing, where he has worked since 2010. He has extensive experience in quality assurance, release management, and software development, having previously held a leadership role at SmartStream Technologies.
Work at Gresham Computing
Simon Kent has served as the Quality Assurance Manager at Gresham Computing since 2010. In this role, he oversees the Quality Assurance department, which he established for a greenfield development project. He plays a key role in release management, handling frequent releases that can occur weekly. His responsibilities include collaborating with the Development Manager to enhance and manage processes, as well as monitoring kanban groups on a daily basis. Kent is also responsible for setting testing standards and procedures, and reviewing test stories and exploratory test plans.
Previous Experience at SmartStream Technologies
Prior to his tenure at Gresham Computing, Simon Kent worked at SmartStream Technologies as a Development Team Leader from 2002 to 2010. During his eight years in this role, he contributed to various development initiatives and gained significant experience in team leadership and project management. His background in development has informed his current practices in quality assurance and release management.
Education and Expertise
Simon Kent studied Computer Science at the University of Manchester from 1981 to 1983. His academic background provided a solid foundation for his career in software development and quality assurance. Additionally, he attended Bishop Vesey's Grammar School from 1971 to 1978, where he laid the groundwork for his future studies in technology and software engineering.
Quality Assurance Initiatives
At Gresham Computing, Simon Kent has championed the use of Behavior Driven Development (BDD) utilizing JBehave, which facilitates the frequent deployment of new releases. He has developed original Java frameworks through client APIs and end-to-end testing, employing tools such as SWTBot for RCP client control and Selenium for web client control. His initiatives have contributed to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the quality assurance processes within the organization.