Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control: what's the difference?
Introduction
Software testing and quality assurance are no longer mere terminologies. These concepts are now playing a significant role in conducting a successful web development project. Now we all are well aware of the fact that the current market is pretty dynamic and highly competitive, so organizations, irrespective of their size and industry vertical, are constantly under pressure to deliver products and services which are bound to offer unmatched experiences and exceed customers' expectations.
All about Quality Assurance
Why is there a need for quality assurance? Often known as QA, quality assurance is a systematic and proactive approach which is implemented just to make sure that the developed product or service meets or exceeds the pre-established standards and requirements. So now, without any further delay, let us simply delve into what is quality assurance, how it is beneficial in the long run, and how is quality assurance different from quality control.
QA or Quality Assurance incorporates a wide range of procedures, techniques, and activities that are created to successfully prevent, detect and rectify notable errors and defects, as well as inconsistencies just to make sure optimal performance and reliability.
The ultimate objective here is to refine a wide range of procedures and ensure that continuous quality is delivered, and for that one has to establish absolute objectives, measure results properly, and try to implement accountability.
Now there are times when people end up being confused between quality assurance and quality control. Well, both the concepts are pretty different from each other. Quality control can be considered as a process which is more reactive and is all about successfully monitoring as well as evaluating individual agent-customer interactions to enhance future performances. Steps or procedures included in quality control include monitoring calls, reviewing relevant records, conducting proper surveys, and of course, gathering relevant feedback and successfully analyzing relevant KPIs.
By incorporating quality assurance procedures, you can find differences in sales on an immediate basis, and what else is to ask for? You are bound to witness eye-catching impacts on the bottom line and that too for a long run.
Benefits of Quality Assurance
Quality assurance can offer some of the most amazing benefits and advantages to consider, which can definitely shake the company’s bottom line.
Enhanced customer satisfaction
Of course, this is one of the obvious reasons or benefits offered by quality assurance. Ensuring customer satisfaction is more like establishing an organization that offers proper bread and butter, quite basic and crucial for long-term success. In fact, it has been proven that most of your customers believe that what matters the most is the overall experience offered by the company.
When you end up offering strong customer satisfaction, you are bound to attract the loyalty of your valuable customers who vow to stay with your brand and will assist you by spreading the word for you.
Not to mention conducting proper QA can give you relevant insights regarding what exactly your customers are looking for as well as assist you in identifying proper service-related issues as well as pain points within the customer journey, due to which one can offer the best possible customer experience leading to higher CSAT.
Enhanced customer retention
The next benefit offered by quality assurance is enhanced customer retention. Yes, customer retention or high bounce rate is quite an issue that must be dealt with immediately. And for that, you need to establish authentic long-term relationships with customers.
When QA is done properly, you can take a look at relevant highlights, which can give you an upper hand in offering excellent services in both ways internally as well as externally. This does result in positive outcomes and interactions, and of course high customer engagement with the organization.
It has been observed that companies offering more personalized experience can enhance customer retention and reduce bounce rate.
Increased trust and credibility
The next one is increased trust and credibility. We are living in one of the most ultra-connected ages where companies irrespective of their size and business verticals are more visible to customers than ever before, and creating a positive public image is surely a key. After all, customers won’t even bother noticing you if they don’t trust you at all and this is where credibility plays a crucial role.
Several research has revealed that customers tend to choose one business over another depending on service expectations and one of the key business drivers is the brand reputation.
As one of the standard approaches here, QA teams tend to establish proper approaches and procedures to enhance CX and minimize necessary risks, reputation, and credibility.
Streamlined operations
What else do quality assurance offers? Well, since it streamlines all the working, it ultimately emphasizes on the fact that it successfully streamlines operations. High efficiency and productivity are given pretty much importance here.
Not to mention by streamlining operations, one can successfully reduce costs and enhance successful outcomes across numerous departments. So what you need to do is define proper expectations and establish clear guidelines for everyone working around and in case of any issue, there are no more goof ups since everyone is working on the same page.
Increased productivity
Last but certainly not the least is increased productivity. With efficiency, increased productivity is pretty obvious.
So I guess now you know why quality assurance is important and somehow with the time passing by, this importance can never be overstated. Now enough about quality assurance. Time to shift focus on quality control
All about Quality Control
Quality control on the other hand is a series of test procedures mainly considered to verify that your developed product is safe and highly effective right before it is being launched. Quality assurance on the one hand incorporates broad bundles of systems and approaches to ensure in development a high-quality product, quality control is the targeted, nuts-and-bolts 'check-up' of products just to see whether it responds in an easy-going manner.
In other words, it is conducted to make sure all the approaches, techniques, and methods are conducted correctly. Some of the core quality control activities include:
One should be properly focusing on the end product and outcome, which means you don’t have to delve into unnecessary procedures
It is a reactive process
Proper monitoring and verification
Top Characteristics of Quality Control
Reactive process - Finding and fixing the flaws instead of solving
Defect Identification - Conducting proper testing and inspection to find the defect in the earliest manner.
Product-oriented - Quality control seamlessly entails proper examination, evaluation, and verification of different products to ensure they satisfy predetermined standards of quality.
Cost reduction - Conducting proper QC leads to less wastage of resources, lower production costs and increased operational efficiency, which saves an adequate amount of money and increases profits.
Brand reputation - When the end product meets customer expectations, quality control does lead to enhanced brand reputation and increase sales.
Difference between Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)
Factors | Quality Assurance | Quality Control |
Core | QA offers assurance regarding the quality pre-decided will be achieved | This concept is all about fulfilling the quality requested. |
Technique | It’s all about managing quality | This is more about verifying quality |
Phase | QA is more involved in the development phase | QC is included during the development phase |
Tool | Managerial tool | Corrective tool |
Orientation | Process-oriented | Product-oriented |
Technique | Preventive Type | Corrective Technique |
Measures | Proactive Measure | Reactive measure |
QA procedures include:
Proper documentation
Audits
Supplier management
Personnel training
Change control
Investigation procedures
QC Procedures
Batch inspection
Product Sampling
Validation testing
Laboratory testing
Software testing
Above all, quality assurance is a less time-consuming process, whereas quality control is more time-consuming but equally important. In simple words, one can be considered as verification whereas the other one as validation. So you choose.
Conclusion
So this is all for now! Both quality assurance and quality control are important. It is certainly not about which one you choose, since both play a pivotal role in managing the overall quality of the product. The ultimate answer lies in the needs of your organization, your lifecycle management processes, your products and services, and your standards for quality.
So all you need to think is what is the exact role which quality management plays within your organization and then decide. Whatever you choose, be assured of the fact that you will speed up time to market, reduce human errors, enhance compliance and of course improve the bottom line in no time. So I hope you did find the following post worth considering. In case you have any doubts or concerns, feel free to get in touch in the comment section below. We will surely help in the best manner possible.
Also, it is advisable to look around for a reputable software development company that offers accurate consultations to get started on your quality journey right away. Good luck for your upcoming development project.