Software Quality Assurance Training

Software quality assurance training can come in many forms.  There is variety of formal training offered  by organizations such the Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) and American  Society for Quality (ASQ). 

These organizations,  and others like them, provide complete training courses covering all aspects of  Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC). In addition to using outside  services, there is a great deal of value in conducting customized in-house  training as well. In-house classes can focus on your company’s specific areas of  concern and potentially be more effective than general-purpose training.

Whether you decide to conduct Software quality assurance training in-house or use an outside service, there are some specific topics that should  be covered.  Following is a partial list  of topics to be considered when purchasing or designing quality assurance  training classes:

Overview of quality principles and concepts

This should be the “30,000  foot view” quality providing participants with a basic understanding of the why  and how of quality assurance.

Quality Leadership

Your senior management’s  view of, and participation in, the QA process

Baselines

This subject covers the idea  of creating a baseline as a means of measuring the results of your QA  efforts. A common practice is to use an organization  that has a successful QA system in place as model for comparison. That organization’s QA methods are your  baseline. As you create your QA systems,  you’ll compare your methods to the model company and modify your systems accordingly to approach that ideal system.

Quality Assurance

The QA procedures your  company has established to produce your ideal product or service.

Quality Control

The checks and balances you  have put in place to assure that your QA policies and procedures are being  successfully implemented (ex: software testing proves or disproves that QA  practices are being followed