Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control

Quality assurance and quality control are often used interchangeably, but they are completely different. The quality assurance of software involves implementing all activities that the company must do to provide confidence in its quality requirements. In comparison, quality control means inspecting the techniques and activities for quality management.Both quality assurance and quality control have an important role to play in the quality management of an organization. The delivery team inside the organization needs to know the difference between these two for an effective quality system. The same goes for all the stakeholders and management.Now, let’s take a look at the major difference between quality assurance and quality control.

What is Quality Assurance?

The procedure or act that ensures the quality requirements of a company are being met is called the quality assurance of software. Quality assurance detects and corrects problems or variances that are not within the company’s established standards. This detection is done through audits and other forms of assessment.The main purpose of QA testing is to make the software up to the quality standards by focusing on its improvement. It is a broad process that is involved in all the stages of product development, from production to packaging to delivery.

What is Quality Control?

Quality control is a set of systemic processes that ensure the actual requirement of the software product is met. Testing and reviewing the functional and non-functional requirements of the software is involved in the quality control process. QC, unlike QA, is the actual inspection of the specific requirements that are required to be met. Quality control allows the evaluation, maintenance, and product quality improvement of a business through its process.

Quality Assurance Process Vs Quality Control Process

The process which is followed for quality control is as follows:

Setting Testing Standards

Since quality control requires the meeting of the software product to a predetermined standard, a standard that the company wants to meet has to be set first. The extent of the actions that the QC team has to take is also determined because of the setting of the testing standards.

Testing at every step

From the inception of the product to its final release quality, control is done at every stage. In the beginning, the raw materials for the product are tested then the testing takes place at various stages of the development process.

Correction

Correcting problems is a major part of the Quality testing process. To prevent any mistakes from happening again, the problems are corrected during QC. This step can look different for different industries and products.

Collecting Data For Decisions

A report has to be delivered to the management after problems have been identified and real-world data has been collected. The action for correction is taken after the company makes a decision. This is an ongoing process through the quality control process.

The process for Quality Assurance of software is as follows-

Plan - Clear objectives for the implementation of high-quality end products and the processes to implement these objectives have to be set by the QA technician in the first step.Do - In the do step, the planned procedures are implemented. The adjustments are tested, and changes are made if required for the effective working of the software.Check - The modifications are compared to the desired outcomes in this stage. If they are ok according to the company, we move on to the final goal; otherwise, the steps are repeated.Adjust - The explored and applied changes to the project are acted on by the technicians in this step.

Functions Of Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control

The Quality Assurance performs the management and planning of product quality compliance according to the set standards. It consistently meets the standards by conducting technical audits. The manufacturing department and the QA department coordinate together to carry out QA through all the stages of software development. The QA specifications and procedures are also reviewed with quality control QA.The QC function is to ensure the customer's requirements are met with the product or service. Ensuring that the safety conditions are met is also the role of QC. QC also reduces the losses caused by scrap, waste, or spoilage. It creates a sense of responsibility and discipline among employees by identifying their faults.

Other Differences Between Quality Assurance & Quality Control

• Quality assurance is preventive, while quality control is corrective.
• Quality assurance is process-focused, while quality control is product-focused.
• Quality control serves to find defects, while quality assurance is made to prevent defects in the first place itself.
• Quality assurance's activities are quality audit, tool identification and selection, defining processes, and training of quality stands and processes. Quality control's activities are testing, inspection, walkthrough, and checkpoint review.
• Quality assurance is done earlier than quality control.
• The involvement of all team members is required for quality assurance, but quality control only needs the testing team.
• During the software development lifecycle, quality assurance is done, while quality control is done during the software's quality testing process.

Focaloid And Quality Assurance

Focaloid can make the task of testing your software product with Quality assurance very easy for you. Our expertise in industry-standard testing tools, in combination with the wide range of services offered, is the ultimate power combo of QA. While being cost-effective, your business can launch products with high levels of quality, security, and scalability in a faster way. With Focaloid, you get test automation, performance and load testing, functional testing, compliance security testing, penetration testing, and application security testing expertise. So why go anywhere else?

Conclusion

QA and QC are both aspects of quality management and are closely related but they differ in their functions, nature, and process. Both QA and QC are required in a project for greater quality. Focusing on one will either not meet the customer expectations or will not satisfy the business needs of the project.