As a client, what would be your reaction if the software that you have got created from a developer were full of loopholes and glitches? Obviously disappointment.
The ever-increasing complexity of the enterprise solutions of the contemporary, in combination with the ever-increasing pressure and overhead costing, has led to the necessity of a systematic analysis of the quality of the software. This requirement of a systematic analysis of every development step has led to the birth of Software Quality Assurance or Software QA services. While the pressure to deliver high-quality projects continues to strive, it becomes more of a rule of thumb than a choice to adopt the Software QA procedures during the development and testing phase of software.
What is Software Quality Assurance?
Before software is launched for the users, it is imperative to ensure that it complies with the standardized quality specifications. This is where Software Quality Assurance or SQA comes into the scenario. It is a part of the software development life cycle, which ensures that the software meets the desired quality measures.
The external, as well as internal features, define the quality of software. While the internal quality is measured by the intrinsic aspects of the software, that are directly dependent on the code written, the external quality is based on its performance in real time in the operational mode. When it comes to the users, they mostly focus on the external working on the software, which is directly proportional to the quality of the code in which it is written.
However, at the same time let’s not forget the multiple challenges associated with software QA service that make it a whole-new challenging task at times.
Approaches Involved in Software Quality Assurance
So, how exactly do QA software testing service work? Without much ado, let’s put forth some light on the 2 procedures or approaches that are undertaken during Software QA.
- Defect Management Approach
There are times when the Software development team fails to understand the actual requirements of the client and ends up in creating software that has an error in it.In addition to this, factors like wrong coding, incorrect functional logic, or improper data handling can also lead to an error in the software. Therefore, in order to keep a tab on the defects in the software, a defect management approach can be used. In this, the defects are categorized on the basis of their severity and the process is then followed by the implementation of necessary actions.
- Quality Attributes Approach
The Quality attributes approach in the Software testing services includes 6 quality characteristics that are discussed below-
It is defined by a complete set of functions that software provides to the users. It includes factors such as suitability, accuracy, compliance, as well as the security of software.
It is defined as the ability of software to adapt to the changes that are made to its specifications or how easily it can be installed in a machine.
This defines the ease with which each function of the software works. It also includes the amount of efforts that a person would require in order to understand the features and working of software.
The reliability of software is defined by its ability to resume its operations after a failure. In addition to this, it also checks whether the software will able to perform in a certain environment or not.
The efficiency of software depends on the coding practices as well as the architecture followed by the developers while developing it.
This factor greatly depends on the readability as well as the complexity of the code and refers to the ability of a developer to identify and fix the error as soon as possible.
Advantages of Software QA
There are a number of advantages associated with the Software Quality Assurance. Let’s have a look at some of them-
- Quality Enhancement
The overall improvement in the software testing services and productivity directly impacts the overall quality of the software. The systematic approach of Software QA allows the developers to focus on areas like installation, documentation, hardware compatibility, etc. as a result, all these factors add more customer value to the project that is delivered in the end.
- Productivity Improvement
The proficient and well-documented software lead to a decrease in the learning curve and allow the testers to speed up the entire project. This leads to an overall improvement in the productivity of the personnel.
- Cost Reduction
The overall project cost is directly impacted by the productivity as well as the quality of the project. In extreme cases, the cost of the overall automation process can be greater than the complete manual testing cycle. However, over multiple deliveries, this cost can be easily recouped.
Thus, it would not be wrong to conclude that Software Quality Assurance ensures that the quality of the project that is delivered to the clients is not compromised at any cost. However, at the same time let’s not forget the multiple challenges associated with software QA service that make it a whole-new challenging task at times.