Re: QA Questions

Subject: Re: QA Questions
From: "Bergen, Jane" <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 10:29:32 -0600

On Monday, January 12, 1998 9:55 AM, Gina Hertel
[SMTP:Ghertel -at- ALPHA88 -dot- COM] wrote:
> What exactly is Q & A testing?

QA stands for Quality Assurance. I've never seen the "&" or "and" used
between QA.

> What goes into it?

Differs by organization, but generally it is a separate department in
most software development organizations. The QA group does all the
testing to make sure the software does what it's supposed to do.
Ideally, they would test using your documentation to make sure that you
have not ommitted anything or made any errors.

I would imagine hardware manufacturers and other types of industries
have similar processes.

> Whose responsibility is it?

Testing the software and online help is for the QA department. They also
should test your written documentation. You should try to check your own
documents before sending them to QA, however.

> What is it for?
> What types of questions are asked?

A QA department can make or break an organization. Obviously, if they
allow a lot of errors to slip by, it shows up at the customer's side. As
for types of questions, that's up to the organization. Most QA depts.
have a standard test plan that they may modify for a particular
application. There are lots of books out on your standard booksellers'
shelves. Look for key words like "Quality Management" or "Process
Management."

> My company is not very software-oriented, and I have never personally
> been responsible for this.
> Please provide as detailed a response as possible; I want to find out
> all I can about it.

It's hard to be more detailed without knowing why you need to know, for
what context, for what industry, etc. You said your company is "not very
software-oriented" so what prompted the question? Are you planning to
switch jobs? Set up a QA department for your company? Apply a QA process
to your own department? Lots more detail from you is necessary in order
for anyone to be more specific. This is just a bare bones response.

Hope this is at least somewhat helpful.

Jane Bergen
Jane Bergen, Technical Writer,
AnswerSoft, Inc. Richardson, TX
(972) 997-8355
janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com




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