When developing software, it can be easy to think that your main focus should be on the actual development process itself. After all, if you build it well, everything will turn out smooth in the end, right? To some, Quality Assurance may seem like a slowdown of the process, adding in unnecessary workflows and rebuilds. QA, however, is an essential part of the development cycle and if done right can save your organization valuable time and money, and can help deliver a better product to keep your customers coming back for more.
What is QA?
In technology, Quality Assurance, or QA, is oversight into the software engineering process to ensure that the final product is of high performance and market-ready quality. Many people relate QA with QC, or Quality Control, which is the series of tests used as part of the overall QA process to confirm that a product works well before being released for general availability. Let’s take a closer look at some of the advantages of a solid QA strategy in your software development lifecycle.
5 Advantages of a QA Strategy
QA Protects Project ROI (return on investment): Bugs, flaws, and inconsistencies all cause delays in the delivery of products. That time lost can quickly drive up costs for the company by means of additional resource hours spent troubleshooting and repairing. Without an overall QA process in place, software development can go way past schedule and, consequently, way over budget. QA, on the other hand, allows project managers and developers to catch bugs and flaws before they escalate into the customer base by applying automated testing procedures of common use case scenarios and load tests for scalability- QA Ensures Product Quality: As noted above, an important part of the QA process is Quality Control. These tests ensure that a product works well, is secure, and, more importantly perhaps, tests for improper or unexpected use. What does that mean? Much of QC testing involves testing from the user perspective; users are only human after all, so there may be scenarios in which a user performs a task that is unusual or not of the application’s intended purpose. A strategic QA process involves a thorough consideration of these situations and will look at these test case scenarios ahead of time to protect against costly mistakes post-release. A good example that can help you understand misuse errors is the following: Think of the double-entry password fields you use when creating a new online account. Why do you have to enter your password twice? To ensure that you don’t mistype it the first time and end up with a password you don’t know. Or think about sending an email; if you type the words “see attached” and your email program notices that you forgot to actually attach something to the email, it then reminds you to attach it, which results from quality QC and QA. Fixing user-driven errors like this are much more costly after release. A good QA process fixes them during development, saving big on time and money and leaving you with a much more efficient end product.
- QA Promotes Security: Software end users are security-minded, especially given the cloud-based nature of many modern solutions. A solid QA process ensures that a software solution is as secure as possible. This can only be achieved through detailed QA during development and testing and, again, involves identifying and neutralizing both known and unknown (i.e., user-driven) threats.
QA Protects Your Brand: Nothing dings a brand like a dud release. Even the largest, most reputable companies have had their brand name damaged by low-quality releases. Adhering to a detailed QA process helps protect against a bad product release, which means protecting your company’s good name in the long run.- QA Keeps Customers Happy: QA means fewer bugs and fewer flaws – and that translates to happier customers. Every time a customer has to call your service line for help, they lose a bit more faith in your product and your business. A reliable Quality Assurance process helps ensure customer satisfaction, which, in turn, keeps customers loyal and interested well into the future.
A good QA strategy doesn’t mean weighing down the process. It means creating a secure, high-performing product and preparing for worst-case scenarios. By keeping QA in the support and development process, you can protect against user-driven flaws, security incursions, and much more. Your product and your business will be far better off as a result. To learn more about Systemware, visit us at Systemware.com, or call to speak directly with a content services expert at 866.533.1514.
