The purpose of Software Quality Assurance, or SQA, is to make sure your software meets the required quality standards, including functioning, performance and security. Although the term may sound very technical, it can directly affect your business. Bad quality software lowers the efficiency of the users and rises the maintenance costs.
Find out below why SQA should be a part of your strategy and how to implement it.
What is Software Quality Assurance?
SQA is a set of tools applied with a purpose of monitoring and evaluating the software in order to ensure its quality. It is a very vast process spreading through all of the the development phases.
Examples of Software Quality Assurance processes can be reviewing the source code, evaluating the design, testing the performance and managing the software releases. SQA can be conducted on all kinds of software – desktop, website and mobile applications.
There are 3 main types of Quality Assurance Testing:
1. Functional testing, where the main goal is to make sure that the software is fulfilling its main purpose. The design, interface and overall usability of the software should allow the final user to achieve the expected results in an efficient way.
2. Performance testing, where the software capabilities are measured, including speed, computing capacity and stability. Thanks to this kind of assessment, software developers can be sure that the application will be able to handle everyday workload.
3. Security testing, where the efficiency of data handling and the resistance to breaches are evaluated. The goal of this process is to assure the full protection of end user’s personal information.
Summing up, SQA gives the developer guarantee that the application will meet the expectations of the users, provide them with a positive user experience and make their interaction with the software secure.
What are the possible software failures?
There are many definitions of software failures – errors, bugs, inconsistencies, incidents, etc. The consequences may spread from an imperfect layout to a complete breakdown of software.
Although software failures may be a result of programming errors, they are not necessarily resulting from the incompetency of the programmer. The reasons may be as trivial as miscommunication within the project team, poor documentation or changes in the final requirements.
Consequently, hiring a team of professional software developers does not guarantee high quality of the application. Only thorough testing of the program can assure its flawlessness.
Why is Software Quality Assurance important for your business?
Releasing a bad quality software is a risk for your business because of many reasons. Firstly, the cost of fixing a coding bug increases with every step of software development – the later it is discovered, the more expensive it is to fix. What is more, application downtime can be a reason for many users to switch to the competitors.
Secondly, investing in SQA can significantly reduce the time to market. This allows your business to stay a step ahead of others and to be up-to-date with the newest technologies.
Finally, having professionals keep their finger on the pulse is a guarantee that the application you use in your company, or offer to your clients, meets everyone’s expectation and makes them satisfied.
How to implement Software Quality Assurance processes?
Years of experience and professional approach make us experts in quality testing, both in case of websites, desktop applications and mobile apps. If you have decided to make Quality Assurance part of your strategy, Areus is the solution for you. Contact us here and say goodbye to software failures forever!
