What is Software Quality Assurance?

Software quality assurance (SQA) is a process which assures that all software
engineering processes, methods, activities and work items are monitored and
comply against the defined standards. These defined standards could be one or a
combination of any like ISO 9000, CMMI model, ISO15504, etc.SQA incorporates all
software development processes starting from defining requirements to coding until
release. Its prime goal is to ensure quality.

Software Quality Assurance Plan

Abbreviated as SQAP, the software quality assurance plan comprises of the procedures, techniques, and tools
that are employed to make sure that a product or service aligns with the requirements defined in the
SRS(software requirement specification).

The plan identifies the SQA responsibilities of a team, lists the areas that need to be reviewed and audited. It also
identifies the SQA work products.

The SQA plan document consists of the below sections:

1. Purpose section
2. Reference section
3. Software configuration management section
4. Problem reporting and corrective action section
 5. Tools, technologies and methodologies section
6. Code control section
7. Records: Collection, maintenance and retention section
8. Testing methodology
SQA Activities
Given below is the list of SQA activities:

#1) Creating an SQA Management Plan:

The foremost activity includes laying down a proper plan regarding how the SQA will be carried out in your
project.

Along with what SQA approach you are going to follow, what engineering activities will be carried out, and it also
includes ensuring that you have a right talent mix in your team.

#2) Setting the Checkpoints:

The SQA team sets up different checkpoints according to which it evaluates the quality of the project activities at
each checkpoint/project stage. This ensures regular quality inspection and working as per the schedule.

#3) Apply software Engineering Techniques:

Applying some software engineering techniques aids a software designer in achieving high-quality specification.
For gathering information, a designer may use techniques such as interviews and FAST (Functional Analysis
System Technique).

Later, based on the information gathered, the software designer can prepare the project estimation using
techniques like WBS (work breakdown structure), SLOC (source line of codes), and FP(functional point)
estimation.

#4) Executing Formal Technical Reviews:

An FTR is done to evaluate the quality and design of the prototype.

In this process, a meeting is conducted with the technical staff to discuss regarding the actual quality
requirements of the software and the design quality of the prototype. This activity helps in detecting errors in the
early phase of SDLC and reduces rework effort in the later phases.

#5) Having a Multi- Testing Strategy:

By multi-testing strategy, we mean that one should not rely on any single testing approach, instead, multiple
types of testing should be performed so that the software product can be tested well from all angles to ensure
better quality.

#6) Enforcing Process Adherence:

This activity insists the need for process adherence during the software development process. The development
process should also stick to the defined procedures.

This activity is a blend of two sub-activities which are explained below in detail:

(i) Product Evaluation:

This activity confirms that the software product is meeting the requirements that were discovered in the project
management plan. It ensures that the set standards for the project are followed correctly.

(ii) Process Monitoring:

This activity verifies if the correct steps were taken during software development. This is done by matching the
actually taken steps against the documented steps.

#7) Controlling Change:

In this activity, we use a mix of manual procedures and automated tools to have a mechanism for change control.

By validating the change requests, evaluating the nature of change and controlling the change effect, it is ensured
that the software quality is maintained during the development and maintenance phases.

#8) Measure Change Impact:

If any defect is reported by the QA team, then the concerned team fixes the defect.

After this, the QA team should determine the impact of the change which is brought by this defect fix. They need
to test not only if the change has fixed the defect, but also if the change is compatible with the whole project.

For this purpose, we use software quality metrics which allows managers and developers to observe the activities
and proposed changes from the beginning till the end of SDLC and initiate corrective action wherever required.

#9) Performing SQA Audits:

The SQA audit inspects the entire actual SDLC process followed by comparing it against the established process.

It also checks whatever reported by the team in the status reports were actually performed or not. This activity
also exposes any non-compliance issues.

#10) Maintaining Records and Reports:

It is crucial to keep the necessary documentation related to SQA and share the required SQA information with
the stakeholders. The test results, audit results, review reports, change requests documentation, etc. should be
kept for future reference.

#11) Manage Good Relations:

In fact, it is very important to maintain harmony between the QA and the development team.

We often hear that testers and developers often feel superior to each other. This should be avoided as it can
affect the overall project quality.

Software Quality Assurance Standards

In general, SQA may demand conformance to one or more standards.

Some of the most popular standards are discussed below:

ISO 9000: This standard is based on seven quality management principles which help the organizations to ensure
that their products or services are aligned with the customer needs’.

7 principles of ISO 9000 are depicted in the below image:

CMMI level: CMMI stands for Capability maturity model Integration. This model was originated in software
engineering. It can be employed to direct process improvement throughout a project, department, or an entire
organization.

5 CMMI levels and their characteristics are described in the below image:
An organization is appraised and awarded a maturity level rating (1-5) based on the type of appraisal.

Test Maturity Model integration (TMMi): Based on CMMi, this model focuses on maturity levels in software
quality management and testing.

5 TMMi levels are depicted in the below image:

As an organization moves on a higher maturity level, it achieves a higher capability for producing high-quality
products with fewer defects and closely meets the business requirements.

Elements of Software Quality Assurance

There are 10 essential elements of SQA which are enlisted below for your reference:

1. Software engineering Standards

2. Technical reviews and audits
3. Software Testing for quality control
4. Error collection and analysis
5. Change management
6. Educational programs
7. Vendor management
8. Security management
9. Safety
10. Risk management
SQA Techniques
There are several techniques for SQA. Auditing is the chief technique that is widely adopted. However, we have a
few other significant techniques as well.
Various SQA Techniques include:

 Auditing: Auditing involves inspection of the work products and its related information to determine if
the set of standard processes were followed or not.
 Reviewing: A meeting in which the software product is examined by both the internal and external
stakeholders to seek their comments and approval.
 Code Inspection: It is the most formal kind of review that does static testing to find bugs and avoid
defect growth in the later stages. It is done by a trained mediator/peer and is based on rules, checklist,
entry and exit criteria. The reviewer should not be the author of the code.
 Design Inspection: Design inspection is done using a checklist that inspects the below areas of software
design:
 General requirements and design
 Functional and Interface specifications
 Conventions
 Requirement traceability
 Structures and interfaces
 Logic
 Performance
 Error handling and recovery
 Testability, extensibility
 Coupling and cohesion
 Simulation: Simulation is a tool that models the real-life situation in order to virtually examine the
behavior of the system under study.
 Functional Testing: It is a QA technique which verifies what the system does without considering how it
does. This type of black box testing mainly focuses on testing the system specifications or features.
 Standardization: Standardization plays a crucial role in quality assurance. It decreases the ambiguity
and guesswork, thus ensuring quality.
 Static Analysis: It is a software analysis that is done by an automated tool without actually executing
the program. This technique is highly used for quality assurance in medical, nuclear and aviation
software. Software metrics and reverse engineering are some popular forms of static analysis.
 Walkthroughs: Software walkthrough or code walkthrough is a kind of peer review where the
developer guides the members of the development team to go through the product and raise queries,
suggest alternatives, make comments regarding possible errors, standard violations or any other issues.
 Path Testing: It is a white box testing technique where the complete branch coverage is ensured by
executing each independent path at least once.
 Stress Testing: This type of testing is done to check how robust a system is by testing it under heavy
load i.e. beyond normal conditions.
 Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a quality assurance approach that aims at nearly perfect products or services. It
is widely applied in many fields including software. The main objective of six sigma is process
improvement so that the produced software is 99.76 % defect free.
Conclusion
SQA is an umbrella activity which is employed throughout the software life cycle.Software quality assurance is
very important for your software product or service to succeed in the market and survive up to the customer’s
expectations.There are various activities, standards, and techniques that you need to follow to assure that the
deliverable software is of high quality and aligns closely with the business needs.

Hope you would have got a clear idea on the concept of Software Quality Assurance through this informative
article!!

As an organization moves on a higher maturity level, it achieves a higher capability for producing high-quality
products with fewer defects and closely meets the business requirements.