QA Process

Introducing new software QA processes in any an organization will largely depend on the size of that organization and the risks associated with it.

1. Large/Medium Organizations: For projects which have high risk associated with them, both in terms of revenue, lives or property, serious management Buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary. If required, external stakeholders or new Vendors can be introduced to the organization that has prior expertise and domain knowledge depending on the needs of the Project involved.

2. Small Groups or Projects: Ad-hoc processes may be appropriate, depending on the type of customers and projects. A lot will depend on team leads or managers, feedback to developers, and ensuring adequate communications among customers, managers, developers, and testers.

Most of the focus will be on the following area in both the above scenarios:

(a) Analyzing Requirements in a clear, complete and testable way so that the requirements specified in Project documentation is formalized for further QA process ,
(b) Periodic review and Design inspections by core functional group.
(c) Post-mortems/retrospectives among all members of development and testers to make process enhancements.

For more on this, log on to:- http://www.qainfotech.com/qa_process_management_services.html

QA Process

What makes software testing an integral part of quality assurance?

QA is responsible to check whether the processes and the practices are carried out in the way they were laid out. But, it is actually the testing; the quality control that makes thing move, as that would accomplish a task or not accomplish a task as per the guidelines. Based upon this output the QA team would then determine whether the product development is going in the intended way or not. So, without the existence of software testing, quality assurance is not possible.

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QA PROCESS

Although every testing team follows their own set of processes. Is it possible to create a universal process that every tester must use to achieve best results? When such type of question arises, often we find that people divided themselves in two groups i.e. Favor and Against .Let’s check out the both group’s viewpoint. Favor: Yes It is possible to Create Universal Process to achieve best results. Every tester should know what is the test objective of his/her project, After tester knows the test objective clearly then he/she should know the different test Scenarios, along with different Test Scenarios Tester should know what is the expected result of his/her scenario. Testing process should be tracked by some logs or some different tools so that testing status can be tracked, When Testing is Completed then whole Testing Process should be reviewed by Team Lead so that QA for the featured can be certified. We  heard about a number of certifications like ISO and CMMi which focus towards establishing global processes across the organization and it’s projects through their set of protocols called as ‘process areas’. However, while implantation one can easily realize that all processes cannot suit the needs for all the projects and few deviations have to be made. But, all in all you can have universal processes in an organization which would ensure at least 85% of your projects follow the same processes; while 15% of the processes deviate. Against :It’s quite difficult to have and implement a universal process which every tester can look up to as Software Testing is very vast field and every team/engineer has its own set of processes which might be very effective in the respective team. Though we can have few standard processes but those processes should be flexible in nature so that team can slightly modify them before implementing them in the respective project. There are some common guidelines that all testing teams’ follows like requirement analysis, test case creation, preparation of test plans etc. But it’s not feasible to have a universal process in place for all testing teams for many reasons like sometimes client requests to the respective QA team to follow specific set of process, lifecycle of products may vary. What methodology to follow is totally depends upon the nature of the product and mind set of the team. A testing team follows the set of rules according the need in a specific project. Few set of rules are developed by the team for a particular project according to the business requirements.  But we also can develop few universal processes for an every tester that must guide him in any project.  Below is little universal process which can be torch bearer for every tester. 1: Bug reporting should be perfect, comprehensive, exhaustive and flawless. 2: Testing should be focused on functional requirements and business logic. 3: Bug prevention should also be motive of every tester 4: Test case creation should cover all major and important scenarios. 5: Requirements are not very dynamic so that we can ingest automation in some areas to optimize our testing efforts. 6: Every team member should be in sync with each other and have good knowledge of application so that process can be well followed. For any further query log on to http://www.qainfotech.com/innovation_TestProcessesMethodology.html

I would like to ask a very important question to you all that although every testing team follows their own set of processes. Is it possible to create a universal process that every tester must use to achieve best results?

Give your opinions

No, it is impossible to create a universal process that can be followed by every tester in order to achieve best results. No, one can create a set of processes to be followed in their project based on the type of application; projects needs etc and make it generalize so that if other team working on same line wants to reuse the processes they can do so. There is no way to universalize testing process as it is done to test different features and applications, which cannot be same in its behavior. Unique test plans are required to execute any application. Testing grows with the project so no pre-defined structure can be possible to test the future application. Testing will go with the new requirements documents proposed time to time for enhancing the features of the project.

Our QA processes and methodology are strongly built on:

A well defined test strategy and plan, to provide rigorous and structured testing, Transparent and periodic communication with all the stakeholders, Strong industry domain focus. QA is an indispensible part of SDLC and ensure the quality of the product being produced and even after it is produced. It does not monitor just the products but the process as well. Process assurance includes the approval of plans, procedures, analysis and standards as well while the product assurance makes sure the improved quality of the product on every phase of life cycle right from requirement, design, coding and test planning with the sole objective of identifying and removing every possible defect in the product and hence make it the best quality product.

To know more, visit us at: http://www.qainfotech.com/innovation_TestProcessesMethodology.html

Is a test strategy really becoming an obsolete artifact?

Is a test strategy really becoming an obsolete artifact?

Until a few years ago, I vividly remember a separate phase in the software test life cycle that used to be dedicated to the development of a master test plan or the so called holy test strategy which served as the guiding document outlining the software testing process specific to the product under test. It was usually drafted by the test director or the test manager and was representative of the test team’s intelligence in helping them making the product sign off call. Such was the importance of this document; it also served as a reusable artifact often carried across releases, products and teams. Given the relative stability in the development environment such cross sharing and reusability were feasible.   

To read more, visit our blog: http://www.qainfotech.com/blog/2012/04/is-a-test-strategy-really-becoming-an-obsolete-artifact/

QA process is not fixed; it may vary according to project need.

QA process is not fixed; it may vary according to project need.

We cater to domains such as E-learning, Publishing, Web 2.0, Rich media and Desktop application software. With our innovative QA process and testing approach we help build our partners bug free Products and Applications while providing a new perspective to their product development efforts.

One of our core test process frameworks is Qualitometer^TM, an IP that we built to objectively measure quality and provide our clients valuable insights into the over product health and test progress. Metrics that we leverage here cover Product Requirements Traceability, Test Progress and Defect Management.

To know more about our QA process and approach:                   

 http://www.qainfotech.com/innovation_TestProcessesMethodology.html

QA Process at QA InfoTech

Software Testing is a discipline that holds a critical responsibility of ensuring a product’s quality in truly delivering value and meeting the expectations of the end user. Quality can easily become a very subjective element to deal with. It takes a lot of experience, forethought and customization to build objectivity into every test effort. Our test methodology ranges all the way from Quality Consulting to Quality Sustenance, which gives you the flexibility to pick the entire suite of services or just a specific service to meet your current quality needs.

Our testing and QA processes and methodology are strongly built on:

• A well defined test strategy and plan, to provide rigorous and structured testing
• Transparent and periodic communication with all the stakeholders
• Strong industry domain focus
• Strict use of metrics and in house frameworks to accurately measure and improve quality

One of our core test process frameworks is Qualitometer^TM, an IP that we built to objectively measure quality and provide our clients valuable insights into the over product health and test progress. Metrics that we leverage here cover Product Requirements Traceability, Test Progress and Defect Management. The core metrics from these categories along with a customized set that we decide in discussion with you, based on your product, its stage in the product life cycle, past performance etc. go a long way in establishing Qualitometer^TM as a true value addition and not a process overhead.

We have also been closely looking at providing Service Level Agreements for our clients, built off of our core test of metrics, which help our clients perceive the level of service to expect from us and also the quality of their product, when you entrust us your product’s testing efforts.

Source: http://www.qainfotech.com/innovation_TestProcessesMethodology.html