Quality Assurance (QA), Essay Example

Quality Assurance (QA) in the context of software development considers both verification and validation concepts.  In the Project Management method PRINCE2 in the UK, this considers QA from three different perspectives in the development of software. Essentially these are what is known as Stage Gate Reviews at the end of a specific software build cycle e.g. Analysis, Design, Construction etc.  (Bogue, R. 2011)

The QA review looks at the work being accomplished in that stage from three different perspectives i.e. User Assurance, Technical Assurance and Business Assurance. The User assurance is primarily geared around ensuring the software satisfies the user specifications of requirements and is most dominant in the User Acceptance Testing stage.  Technical Assurance focuses on the technical integrity and specifications of the system, whereas as the Business Assurance is more heavily focused on the Design stage and ensuring the key business and strategic requirements are met. (Prince2.com, 2011).

There are numerous examples of where inadequate QA procedures have caused system failures. One recent example being in 2008  where an automated baggage handling system malfunctioned and stopped a large number of passengers from checking in baggage for their flights. It was stated that this failure was attributed to a time  when a major a software upgrade was in progress, despite pre-testing of the software.  This malfunction carried on for several months. (softwareQAtest.com, 2011).  Another lack of QA was attributed to a  suburban school district in  2009. In this case a new computer system  was found to contain numerous software errors and resulted in many students commencing the school year with inaccurate schedules or none at all. This resulted in a massive upset with grades and the students / parents completing blogs on social network sites.  (softwareQAtest.com, 2011).

References

Bogue, R. (2011, 11 25). Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Development Manager. Retrieved from developer.com: http://www.developer.com/java/ent/article.php/3529081/Anatomy-of-a-Software-Development-Role-Development-Manager.htm

Prince2.com. (2011, 11 25). PRINCE2 Methodology Overview. Retrieved from Prince2.com: http://www.prince2.com/prince2-structure.asp softwareQAtest.com. (2011, 11 25). Software QA and Testing . Retrieved from softwareQAtest.com: http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatfaq1.html