Leaders

Donald O'Connell

Founder and CIO, Shasta QA

Donald O'Connell founded Shasta QA in autumn of 2002 after leaving Commerce One–the number one IPO of 1999–where he served as Director of Engineering for Quality Assurance. At Commerce One, he managed a team of fifty software quality testing engineers and was part of a management team responsible for two hundred QA engineers who supported over one thousand developers with all development teams releasing concurrent integrated projects.

Prior to Commerce One, Mr. O'Connell managed a staff of forty software quality testing engineers as Director of Engineering for Quality Assurance at Geoworks, an operating system company and contributor to the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). There he was responsible for managing all white-box/API test groups for three operating systems and the Legos SDK, all public API testing (file systems, databases, comm. protocols, connectivity, etc.), and black-box test groups for application and connectivity testing.

Mr. O'Connell's experience managing software projects for large organizations includes collaborations with PeopleSoft, SAP, HP, Toshiba, Seiko-Epson, Mitsubishi, Nokia, Canon, AT&T, APC, Hughes Network Systems, GM, Boeing, Shell, CitiGroup, and many more. His solutions for both co-located and off-site software quality testing efforts (in Europe, Asia, and North Africa) are based on his exposure to the varied requirements and process strategies of client corporations.

During his more than 13 years of industry experience in creating successful strategies for development, project management, and software quality testing teams, Mr. O'Connell created a set of cut-above software quality testing methodologies. These software quality testing methodologies and his belief that quality assurance is a vocation informed his vision for creating Shasta QA as a high-value software testing company.

Wendy Porter

President, Shasta QA

Wendy Porter's background includes 11 years as an information technology professional with Hewlett Packard. Wendy's career started as a web application designer and developer and her attention to detail along with her leadership abilities guided her on a natural path to project and program management.

Wendy has extensive experience putting together programs and processes surrounding the software development lifecycle. Wendy created and implemented Change Management and Release to Production Programs for multiple HP IT departments. Wendy's work as a software development project manager gives her a sharp perspective on the importance of solid software quality testing assurance. Wendy's efforts managing software lifecycle programs enhance Shasta QA's ability to apply proven methodologies to diverse client needs.

Wendy's ethics were challenged with the recent trend of off-shoring software development and software quality testing assurance work and forced her to reconsider her career. She is happy to now be part of Shasta QA and to contribute to a new vision that not only offers excellent and affordable QA services to multiple software companies, but provides technical jobs to California North State residents.

Terry Burrows

VP of Engineering, Shasta QA

Terry Burrows is a software development professional with over 22 years of experience. Prior to joining Shasta QA, Terry worked in QA, development, project management and business development, at such companies as IBM, American Airlines, Sabre Decision Technologies and Corestar Technologies.

At times, budget and time constraints seem to be the norm in the software industry and throughout Terry's career he has continually risen above and delivered in virtually every role in the software development lifecycle. Terry oversees Shasta QA's white box and automation QA engineers as well as managing client relationships and overall QA engagements.

Terry's strong, hands on approach to managing projects enhances Shasta QA's ability to apply a portfolio of proven software quality testing methodologies to diverse client needs. He received his CIS degree from DeVry in Irving, Texas.

Christina Young

Human Resources and Finance Department

Christina joined Shasta QA in June, 2005. Her previous professional experiences include retail management, accounting, and office administration. Christina brings to Shasta QA a variety of skills and experience which has helped her succeed in our fast-paced software quality testing industry.

Christina's current responsibilities reflect her diverse background. She is the hub of Shasta QA in her business administrative role. She provides the financial reporting that helps define Shasta QA Strategies. In addition, she manages Shasta QA's accounting, the human resources department, and Shasta QA business development opportunities.

John Fabris

QA Manager, Shasta QA

John Fabris has over 16 years experience as a Software Quality Testing Assurance Engineer. His career began as a beta site tester for Autodesk in San Rafael, CA. He provided software quality testing feedback as a beta tester and was quickly hired by Autodesk to become one of their highest regarded testers. In addition to software quality testing, John's experience covers CAD Management, defining project standards, customizing software for clients, and project management. The Autodesk projects John was involved with varied from simple web viewers, low end cad programs, client-server applications, high end drafting, mapping and civil programs, to multi-seat licensing software. Many of these projects were handled by diverse teams around the world. His experience with combined teams from the US, Canada, Russia, India, and China have given him a unique understanding and appreciation of remote team collaboration and communication to help ensure quality releases.

John has contributed to many areas of the software development lifecycle including marketing and requirements collection, specification writing and review, QA planning and testing (black and white box), automation (creation, execution, analysis), technical documentation including help documentation, Beta Site/Customer reports, and all test phases for releases. This experience enhances Johns Software Quality Testing Assurance skills and gives him a big picture understanding of software lifecycle team dynamics. Because of this, he helps each team to work cohesively together to ensure efficient release cycles. John is also a strong customer advocate, always putting the user experience first. He tirelessly strives to improve himself and all of the Shasta QA team members that he mentors. John especially enjoys working with our clients to help implement the best, most efficient, and smartest testing practices to ensure software quality testing for our clients and their customers.