SQA – The Right Way!

SQA needs your help. The industry needs dedicated professionals who believe in doing the right things and doing them the right way. SQA needs people that believe in accountability; people who see excellence as something worth achieving. Are you willing to see just how good you can be?

The world of Software Quality Assurance is filled with unnecessary shortcuts, compromises, and capitulation, all rationalized by the “need” to complete a product by a predetermined date. A date that is unrealistic and driven not by the level of product quality or readiness for public consumption, but by a different standard. This standard can most often be summed up as: “The cheapest thing we can get on the shelves as soon as possible.” So admirable…

This standard results in cheap products and misrepresented services. These compromises to product and service quality are most often instigated by a party outside of the software testing department, but once a QA Professional knowingly agrees, they are complicit in the creation of a lower quality product.

This Doesn’t Have to Happen

I wish I had an equally good answer. I don’t. The simple truth is that most companies just don’t get it. They see SQA as a cost center – a place where money goes to die. And often this perception is not that far from reality. The way they staff, set up, and use their testing departments is just a prelude to mediocrity. Again, this is unfortunate…but still unnecessary.

How Can Companies Stretch Their Testing Dollar?

They can start by staffing their QA department with actual Quality Assurance Professionals; not gamers, not QA Monkeys, not frustrated programmers – QA Professionals. With the proper personnel in place, cost savings and quality improvement can begin immediately.

Why? Because real Quality Assurance Professionals do much more than push a button and regurgitate a result. A real SQA Professional becomes a part of the development process. They are not just a necessarily evil step along the way (more on this in a moment); they add value to the product/service by smoothing the entire development process. Instead of being included only after code has been written, they are integral to the ongoing prevention and early-stage alleviation of issues – where they are the least expensive to fix.

This means taking quality seriously and letting the professionals do their job. It means that to truly commit to quality, SQA needs to be involved from the outset.

Many companies seem to think that quality can be achieved by sprinkling in a little testing near the end of the development process – usually before their product or service goes live. But this does not get the job done. It may help some managers feel better – that they have taken the necessary steps for their company and their customers…ah, but alas…only an illusion.

To ensure the level of quality that consumers deserve, Quality Assurance must be “baked in” from the beginning. A commitment to producing a superior product must start at the highest level and the entire team must buy in. The most effective approach is to employ reliable SCM (link opens in a new window) and include QA in the design phase of a project.

How does this work?

As development shifts into the hands of the engineers and the logistics of product creation are established, QA can continue to assist. QA can pose questions about what areas each piece of implementation will affect. They detail the most common errors made during each kind of implementation so that the programmers can avoid them. They alert engineering to potential conflicts and omissions prior to coding so that those bugs are never even created.

It’s All About Prevention.

When, as the customer’s advocate, they offer perspective on the target market that design has overlooked, QA Professionals raise the standard of product the company can offer. By gaining a thorough understanding of the design and implementation in its earliest stages, QA is able to create the most effective, efficient, targeted tests possible.

In these ways, an SQA team can save a company many thousands of otherwise wasted dollars. By facilitating solid, contingency-ready design, QA prevents lengthy reworking and allows for dependable scheduling. By helping programmers avoid writing bugs, QA speeds up the development process and allows the whole team to focus on high priority issues. By having the most effective test possible created well in advance, QA ensures that their testing will be of the highest caliber.

I realize this seems like a lot, but any sufficiently qualified SQA Professional will tell you that this is all second nature. They have a perspective that leads them to ask the questions that have not yet been addressed. They have the experience to advise programmers about which areas will be most problematic. And they have the integrity to commit to the quality of the product. In this way they do their best to give the consumer the best possible product which, in turn, most effectively protects the company’s brand. Simple maybe, but not always easy.

Why Should They Bother?

Does that really seem complicated? Think about it…wouldn’t you be more likely to purchase products that cost the same but provide you with greater benefit? Aren’t you more likely to return to a company whose services actually perform as advertised? Aren’t you happier when a company provides its services cheerfully – especially in this day and age of anonymity and apathy?

Seems simple to me. I have helped companies do this…not all of them, but some. Some companies don’t get it…some don’t believe it…some think it is just too much bother…but they all need the help. They all need professionals with high integrity who want to make a difference.

Are you ready to Succeed?

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