What is Software Quality Assurance?
Software is a part of all of our lives that we can’t extract. Right now, from where I sit, I see a computer with 12 tabs open, a cell phone with half a dozen apps that I use every hour, an iPad, an automatically adjusting air conditioner, an Alexa device, and two engineers wearing smartwatches. I use communication software on an almost minutely basis. And it all depends on software that works.
How do we feel when our software doesn’t work? If a website or web application takes three extra seconds to load, I get annoyed and become distracted. If the communication software doesn’t send messages like it should, then we have communication breakdowns. If I’m using a mobile app that constantly glitches, then I find myself in the market for a new app. Our society doesn’t have the time to be patient with software.
That’s why quality assurance (QA) is so completely integral to any software project. QA is all about making sure that software works the way it is supposed to work every time. It’s an umbrella term that refers to many different methods and processes for testing software and ensuring quality. QA is your best friend when it comes to delivering great software.
#1 QA Saves You Money
How much money does a faulty software project cost you? It costs you users and clients. And it is well known that the longer a bug goes undetected in your software, the more difficult and expensive it is to fix it. By employing QA testing throughout the development process of the software, you will save time and money after deploy.
#2 QA Prevents Catastrophic Corporate Emergencies
With corporate software, the stakes are even higher. Bugs in corporate software can lead to system blackouts, missing data, and communication breakdowns. If you are going to be employing software throughout a company or to handle sensitive information, then you had better be sure that the software is going to work exactly how it needs to work. There is no margin for error.
#3 QA Inspires Client Confidence
By making QA software testing a clear priority for software development, you are sending a message to your clients that you want their software to be as successful as possible. This is incredibly important when you’re in the business of delivering quality and forging long-term relationships.
#4 QA Maintains Great User Experience
It is becoming more and more clear these days that user experience will make or break a product. If software is glitching or slow, then it impedes the experience of the user with the product. Bad user experience results in dissatisfaction and frustration. Good user experience, what you get when you have meticulously tested a software product, results in a satisfied user- one who is much more likely to recommend the product and your business to others.
#5 QA Brings In More Profit
If you are creating software that you will market or sell, then investing in QA will mean that you can sell your product at a higher rate. There is nothing worse than an angry user who paid for a product that doesn’t even work.
#6 QA Boosts Customer Satisfaction
Related to the first point, this sixth benefit is focused on the reputation that customer satisfaction brings your company, not just the profit. By offering quality software that works when and how you want it to work, you will be boosting your reputation by producing happy customers. Don’t tax your customer’s patience with defective software that you have to constantly fix. Give them quality from the beginning and they’ll reward you with loyalty.
#7 QA Promotes Organization, Productivity, and Efficiency
What you don’t want is the chaos of faulty software, frantic communication, and hurried fixes. Being organized with QA testing from the beginning of your development strategy will allow you to work in peace and be more productive with your time. By utilizing agile methodologies, where software developers create and deliver small chunks of a product on a clear timeline, you can begin testing software as it is created, instead of always waiting to the end. When software testing is an integral part of your software strategy, you win, your client wins, and their users win. The benefits are clear.
