By Abdul MondalWhen talked about quality assurance, the obvious comes to the mind of most people that quality assurance (QA) is the process of testing products, before it is delivered to the customer. As it comes to software, QA comprises code inspection, regression testing, test cases, and a lot more. In terms of manufacturing, it consists of acceptance sampling, error proofing, statistical process control, and stress testing amongst various other things.
However, the goal stays the same in both cases, which is to produce a product that is able to meet as well as exceed the customer demands, whereas minimizes variation as much as possible.
Definition of Quality Assurance:
Speaking literally, the definition of Quality Assurance is, “maintaining a desired level of quality in a service or product, mainly by means of giving attention to every stage of the procedure of delivery or production.”
Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control:
Quality control simply refers to product functionality. Out there a lot of software development firms make claims that they assured quality control and develop a mobile app that functions well, however without an increased and deepened QA program; it is not easy to find how many maintenance products will be required in the future.
In the case of Quality Assurance, it covers both the quality of a product as well as processes. It mainly consists of more measurements while the development process. All in all, a QA program is to control product quality, process quality, programmer knowledge, and infrastructure suitability.
Importance of Quality Assurance for the business:
Quality is a must and it can be your competitive advantage, so here let’s find out the benefits of the Quality Assurance team:
Compliance:
Complying with renowned quality standards is crucial to do business with certain customer groups. Like if you are a part of the supply chain, for instance, a leading manufacturer may impose consistent quality standards on all the members of that chain. Now some customers aim towards reducing or eliminating the cost of inspecting incoming components or materials insisting their suppliers also implement the same quality system. When operating in a regulated sector, like chemicals or food, one needs to comply with industry quality standards.
Reputation:
Quality plays an integral role in your company’s reputation, especially with the emergence and growth of social media. It is common for the customers to share their views about products and services on product review sites and as well as on social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Now when you gather positive reviews and comments, it reinforces your marketing efforts, however, in case of quality issues, it is certain to have a damaging effect on your reputation in case the word spreads. Additionally, in case of major quality issues, like a product recall, it is certain to attract media attention, which will cause further damage.
Customer Loyalty :
When the market provides quality products, it helps in increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Now in case of satisfied customers, they will have confidence that your products are going to offer reliable performance in the future, and this enhances the possibility that your product will be bought by them again. These customers may even recommend your products & services to other companies as well, be it directly or by providing testimonials that prove further useful in marketing communications.
Competitiveness:
You can gain a strong competitive advantage by offering quality products to the customers. This ability to deliver quality enables you to win business from competitors who fail to match your standards and also offers the opportunity to charge premium prices for a premium product. Not just this, but it also opens new business prospects in a market scenario where quality control plays an essential role.
Costs:
When you succeed in establishing results in quality control, it will directly help in reducing your production as well as product support costs. With a proper quality control system, there will be a lower level of waste and rework, it is great for cutting costs and also enhances productivity as well as production efficiency. By offering quality products, there will be lesser the number of returns you have to handle and also the cost of repairing or servicing products in the field will be below.
Significant for Healthy Market Competition:
Migrating to quality-driven product development and fostering a culture of quality, gives a competitive advantage to the organization in the marketplace. The higher quality of products ultimately leads to more satisfied customers.
Effective Quality Assurance consists of a lot of things:
As already mentioned above, quality assurance is more than testing, and it also consists of looking for bugs as well as software enhancements. When dealing with QA professionals, it helps you know the difference between parallel and integration testing and the results will be more than evident. Still, you need to be sure that the software development company chosen by you is well-versed with web, mobile, desktop, automation, manual, security, and various kinds of testing approaches.
The quality lies in detail. Hence, one must begin by verification of every single line of code, as it further turns into productivity, efficiency, and reliability of your software, its success among users, as well as positive market response.
Hence, step ahead and let qualified professionals do wonders for your software product which ultimately means a better future for your business.
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