Better Software magazine April Feature Article
by Alan S. Koch
Years ago, I gave a presentation that I called "A is for Assurance: A Broad View of SQA." It explored the variety of activities that are necessary to actually assure quality. During the question-and- answer period, I had this conversation:
Audience Member (AM): I would love to do those sorts of things, but I can't see how I can get them to happen in my QA department.
Me: What is your role?
AM: QA analyst
Me: And what do you do?
AM: I develop test plans and test cases, and I test our product.
Me: And what are the other quality roles in your company?
AM: The QA manager manages the testing.
Me: Sigh! (the heavy variety)
I didn't have the heart to tell that audience member what I would say today: "You don't work in a QA department, your manager isn't in charge of QA, and what you do has nothing to do with quality assurance."
My talk resulted in frustration for people like that audience member because the software industry has made achieving quality a frustrating job. The QA people I have met and worked with are excited about quality, but they are usually in positions where they have little opportunity to assure quality.
Read more: http://www.stickymi nds.com/BetterSo ftware/magazine.asp?fn=cifea
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