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How to Set Up a Proper QA Process in a Company?

Quality Assurance

Dariya Malakhova, Automation and Manual Quality Assurance Engineer

Apr 09, 2023 11 min read

How to Set Up a Proper QA Process in a Company?

Do you plan to produce software products or services and may have already launched your project? And, of course, your company wants them to meet the expectations and requirements of customers. There is also an intention to increase consumer loyalty and confidence. One of the key quality assurance processes (QA) will come to your aid.

This article will show the importance of the QA process in software testing for business success. We will also provide practical steps to organize the effective quality control process.

What is the QA process, and why is it essential for software development?

Quality assurance is a multi-functional and multi-level process that uses different methods, methods, and tools based on established quality standards. It involves managers, developers, testers, clients end users. At any stage of project design, the Quality Assurance Process is important because it can help:

Prevent defects
Improve customer satisfaction
Cost reduction
Increase productivity
Improve reputation

What is the difference between QA, QC, and testing?

QA: Quality Assurance is a process aimed at preventing defects before a product or service is created. QA involves planning, developing and improving processes that ensure quality requirements are met.

QC: Quality Control is a process aimed at finding and eliminating defects in the final product or service after it has been produced, but before it is released. QC involves measuring, inspecting and testing a product or service against quality requirements.

Testing: Testing is a part of QC that consists of performing different kinds of tests on a product or service. This is to check its functionality, performance, security and other aspects. Testing can be manual or automated.

This helps you understand the difference between QA, QC, and testing.

Firstly: Recognize the importance of QA processes

To understand the importance and obligation of having a proper quality assurance process in the company, you should assess the risks of neglecting or underestimating quality assurance processes. You also need to understand how they affect software development and business results. You must therefore recognize the importance of quality assurance processes and allocate sufficient time, budget, and resources to them. Also, you must involve and assure all pertinent stakeholders in the quality assurance process.

1. How can process QA help?

The quality assurance process aligns products and services with commercial or industry standards. It allows you to provide high-quality products that offer customers a pleasant user experience, avoiding mistakes and increasing customer satisfaction. Quality control techniques reduce costs associated with unforeseen changes and malfunctions. In addition, they increase productivity by developing testing plans, meeting standards, and using automated scenarios to test products effectively.

2. What are the potential consequences of poor-quality software QA process?

Poor software quality can harm businesses and customers. Some of the possible consequences:

Customer complaints
Security breaches
Legal matters
Reputation damage

Low-quality software can tarnish the company’s image and reputation on the market, leave a user with an unpleasant impression, and lead to loss of personal information. Such losses can permanently knock the product out of competition and lead to monetary damages. Read more about the importance of software testing to understand its crucial role in ensuring the quality, reliability, and security of your applications.

Secondly: How to determine the budget for the QA testing process?

QA testing is not about creating a product but examining the end product's quality and the results it can achieve. This process requires a budget covering resources, time, human skills, and tools. Budgeting for testing can be tricky, especially for large and complex projects. Read more about how to create a test strategy to ensure the success of your testing efforts.

1. How much can a company allocate for testing?

The first step in determining the budget for the QA testing process is to understand how much money the company can allocate for this purpose. It depends on various factors, such as:

Size and scale of the project
Goals and scope of testing
Tasks and activities related to testing
Quality standards and customer and stakeholder expectations
Aspects of testing required
Risks and problems associated with the project
Each task requires effort and time
The cost of resources and tools for testing
QA team skills

But if you are still determining your needs and budget, you can request a consultation or quote from a professional quality assurance provider. After a thorough analysis of the requirements of your project, our specialists will be able to offer the most effective testing strategy and tools. They will then provide an accurate and realistic estimate of the required budget for quality control.

2. How can we optimize the QA budget?

Optimizing the budget for quality control is vital to maximizing the return on your investment. Consider several ways to optimize the QA budget:

Testing early can help you identify and fix bug issues as early as possible in the release cycle. This way, you can avoid rework and repeated constant checks.
Avoid costly developer tests where they check their code before passing it to testers. This does not make sense and is efficient because developers can miss problems that are easily detected by testers.
Use automated software testing to give employees more time to perform other tasks. However, it is imperative to balance costs and time when choosing between manual and automatic strategies since - everything cannot be automated.
Focus on explosive testing: Explosive testing is when you use part-time or outsourced teams that can scale up or down to suit your project's needs. This can help you save money on hiring and managing in-house QA teams that may not be fully utilized throughout a project. You can also access a wider talent pool and experience through explosive testing.

Thirdly: Build up for software QA process team

To ensure the quality of a software product or service, the core of the QA team is predominantly professionals. They should be organized in such a way as to promote effective communication and collaboration between team members and other stakeholders. Experts of this level deal with all aspects of testing, from planning and development to execution and reporting.

1. How do you choose the right people for the QA role?

The selection of a team plays a vital role in the quality assurance process's success. The right people for this role need analytical, technical, and interpersonal skills and relevant experience. Here are some of the skills and qualities that every quality assurance professional should have:

Technical Skills: The QA professional should have a good understanding of the software development lifecycle, software architecture and design, programming languages and tools used for development and testing, test QA processes and methodologies, and quality standards in best practices.
Analytical Skills: A QA professional must have a keen eye for detail, the ability to think logically and critically, problem-solving and troubleshooting skills, and a data and evidence-based approach to testing.
Interpersonal Skills: The QA professional must have the skills to communicate effectively and collaborate, have a customer and user-centric perspective, seek feedback and provide behavior, and be a team player and leader.
Experience: The QA professional should have relevant experience in testing similar software products or services, using similar tools and technologies, following similar processes and procedures, and working in similar areas and industries.
Attitude: A QA professional must have a positive and proactive attitude, passion and curiosity to learn new things, willingness and flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and situations, and a commitment and responsibility to deliver quality results.

2. How to organize the QA team?

The QA team should organize to optimize resources and maximize testing value. However, managing a QA team can be challenging, especially in a flexible environment where requirements and priorities change frequently. The QA team structure may vary depending on the size and complexity of the project, but there are key posts:

Quality Assurance Engineer
QA Test Analyst
QC Team Leader
Quality Assurance Manage
Test Architect

Here are some of the QA team positions. Depending on the size and nature of your project, you may need more or fewer positions or different levels of expertise or specialization. It is essential to be clear about your quality goals and expectations and hire qualified people to help you achieve them.

Fourthly: Follow the steps to implement the QA process in testing successfully

To successfully implement the QA process in testing, you must follow some steps and best practices for each phase of the software development lifecycle. Here are some guidelines and tips on how to execute the process QA in each stage:

Analysis of the product's purpose: determination of users' goals and expectations, development of primary documentation describing the functionality and requirements of the product. QA should join the project at the beginning to conduct research with analysts and marketers about the user and the primary purpose of using the product.
Analysis of requirements: verification of existing documentation for adequacy and clarity, formation of acceptance criteria, and product quality. QA analyzes the original documentation, especially user histories. To do this, they must communicate with the people responsible for the product (managers, developers, designers) and participate in the project discussion. Often, QA is not involved in this process, which leads to the need to redesign the product or leave an irrational option. A waste of time for frontends and developers is a waste of money.
Process analysis: selection of sprints, development model, team composition, communication channels, terms, and management system.
Analysis of IT infrastructure: assessment of availability and configuration of development environments (dev, staging, prod), CI/CD, and necessary hardware.
Creation or analysis of the existing test strategy: determination of the purpose, scope, resources, and testing methodology (линк на статью по тестовой стратегии)
Creation of a high-level test plan: description of what is tested, how, and by whom.
Determination of testing levels.
Setting up the testing process: coordination with the developers of the release schedule, time for testing, prioritization, selection of someone for constant regression, environment interaction process, testing environments - several sprints.
Adjustment of the process according to the results.
9.1 Analysis of found bugs, identification of causes, and localization.
9.2 Determination of ways to eliminate and prevent bugs and application of corrective actions to the source of problems.
Retrospective - evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of the QA processes, identification of strengths and weaknesses, recommendations for improvement, and optimization of the process.
Continuous execution of tests - ensuring regular and timely testing of the product at all stages of development and after release, monitoring the quality and functionality of the product, and identifying and eliminating new bugs.

Best Practices and Tips for Each Step Question-Answer

When should the quality assurance process start?

Ideally, quality assurance should start as early as possible in the lifecycle, namely with software development.

How do you establish a quality assurance process in an organization?

Assess the current state of quality in your organization: quality culture, maturity, challenges, gaps, and opportunities.

What is the first step in quality assurance?

The first step in quality assurance is planning.

What is the quality assurance process QA life cycle?

The life cycle of the quality assurance process is a sequence of phases or stages through which a software product passes from creation to release to users.

What are the key quality assurance processes?

Key quality assurance processes are the core activities and tasks performed at each stage of the program life cycle to improve and meet requirements.

What are the stages of the quality process?

Quality Assurance process steps are the activities to implement quality assurance in a project.

What are the steps of a quality process?

The steps of a quality process are the actions taken to implement QA processes in a project or an organization. Quality processes include:

Define
Plan
Execute
Monitor
Control
Improve

How can I improve my quality assurance process?

You can make your QA process better by following some tips, such as:

Involve your customers and stakeholders in your QA process from start to finish.
Align your QA process with your business goals and vision.
Adopt a continuous QA process improvement mindset and culture.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to support your process.
Automate repetitive or tedious tasks in your QA testing process.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how to organize the QA process in a software company, explained and proved its importance and necessity for your product quality and company image. We’re hoping you’ve learned something valuable. To learn more about software testing and quality assurance, visit our website. We have many articles, resources, and experience to help you improve your skills and knowledge in this field. Talk to us today to learn more about how we can elevate your testing efforts and ensure the success of your software projects.

Happy testing!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a QA process?

A QA (Quality Assurance) process is a systematic approach used by companies to ensure that their products or services meet specified requirements and are of the highest quality.

Why is it essential to have a proper QA process in place?

Implementing a robust QA process helps identify defects early, reduces costs of fixing issues at later stages, enhances customer satisfaction, and maintains the company's reputation.

What roles are crucial for a successful QA process?

Essential roles include QA managers, QA engineers or testers, and automation engineers. The specific roles can vary based on the company's size and product nature.

How often should QA processes be reviewed and updated?

Regularly reviewing and updating your QA process is vital. As a best practice, review the process at least once a year or whenever significant changes are made to products, tools, or team structures.

Is automating the QA process worth the investment?

Automation can significantly speed up repetitive tasks and ensure consistent results. However, it requires an upfront investment in tools and training. It's most beneficial for repetitive and large-scale testing scenarios.