Quality Assurance

QA is a complex issue. Most companies try to achieve QA without really understand what it is they are doing. Some companies employ QA teams to ensure that projects follow QA principles but for smaller companies who cannot afford to do this it is still possible to ensure that what they do follows engineering principles.

Quality Assured means just that. You, the client, are assured of the quality of what you are supplied. In short, the developer adopts reasonable steps to ensure the following:

Testing

A release of software must come fully tested with a test bed for the client to check against. The software must bare the mark of the tester in the form of a signature. Under no circumstance should software be released, even for appraisal, without being tested by the correct person or department.

Untested software looks unprofessional and can even cause death or injury in the event of machine control systems.

Grammar and Spelling

All software should be checked for spelling mistakes and grammar. This is one of the first things that the client will notice and makes the release look amateurish.

QA should insist on proof reading all system documentation to avoid the need for any costly revisions.

Minutes

QA should ensure that each review is documented. Each person attending a review or walk through should receive a copy of the minutes. The minutes should detail:

	every decision that is made
	every question that is raised and state if a resolution is accomplished or what cause of action is required
	results of questions raised in the previous meeting

Minutes should not leave the company and should not be presented to the client. Minutes are for internal use only unless the client is involved.

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Authority

QA must have management backing. Management must insist that everyone follows the processes laid down by the QA team or person. Without this support from management QA has no future.

Signatory

QA should be part of every document that is signed off. The QA engineer needs to sign each document to show that the author of the document has followed the correct QA process.

Release and Storage

QA must ensure that each document and software release is stored and archived accordingly. This means that each document and application (including all source code) needs to be stored securely on a server and off site on a CD. This is to ensure that if a catastrophe occurred such as a fire, all software would still be available subject to the rebuilding of a new server. A fire should not destroy a project or a company.

Version Control

Every time a document or source code is revised, it should be properly described and versioned to ensure that a history is kept on what has occurred since the last release. More importantly is that a previous version can be retrieved should any serious problems arise in latest versions, e.g. 'bugs' or deleted code.

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