Quality assurance (QA) is the administrative and procedural activity in a software development company that ensures the requirements for a product are met. Its aim is defect/bug prevention and this goal is fulfilled through systematic measurements, associated feedback, constant monitoring of processes and stages in the application life cycle, not to mention comparison with specific standards and established plans. The components of quality assurance are software testing responsible with verification and validation, software configuration management and quality control.

1. Uncovering better ways of developing software with QA tools
Quality assurance (QA) is the administrative and procedural activity in a software development
company that ensures the requirements for a product are met. Its aim is defect/bug prevention and this
goal is fulfilled through systematic measurements, associated feedback, constant monitoring of
processes and stages in the application life cycle, not to mention comparison with specific standards and
established plans. The components of quality assurance are software testing responsible with verification
and validation, software configuration management and quality control.
Quality Assurance as a coherent collection of standards and practices
Quality control or testing should not be confused with QA, which encompasses testing and is
responsible with measurement and auditing of the processes involved in creating a product, including
bug tracking. In software development, quality assurance is an umbrella term that includes quality
control as a component and a stage in the life cycle of the product. Quality assurance teams are also
responsible with processes, metrics and tools analysis to ensure that the software management,
development and testing teams are using the correct methods and systems to maximize efficiency and
eliminate waste. The success of a software quality assurance plan depends on the type and coherence of
the methodologies being used and the successful implementation of full application lifecycle
management. All practices, standards and specifications should work together and it is the job of a QA
professional to ensure the implementation a functional program that covers all the stages of the software
life cycle.
Cost-effective lean-agile software development
In the era of information technology, the hallmark of professional software development has become the
use of lean-agile methodologies and full application lifecycle management systems with focus on
preventing errors. With the changing face of quality assurance, software development companies lean
towards eliminating waste at the beginning of the application lifecycle through preventive measures and
comprehensive tools rather than focusing on identifying defects and solving them through rework. An
application lifecycle management software package offers a series of benefits to companies that design,
build and sell software, and it should include a test case management tool with bug tracking integration.
The complete set of tools can boost productivity, cost-efficiency and quality, enabling engineers,
developers and testers collaborate with each other to achieve complex objectives and address customers’
needs more successfully. QA teams are supposed to leverage innovative technologies and tools that
ensure real-time collaboration between disparate groups with different skills and goals, access to
centralized database, cross tool and project visibility, improved project monitoring and reporting. The
use of test case management software integrated with an advanced bug tracking system or tool can be
considered the key to develop quality software, as it helps eliminate defects and waste in the form of
rework.
What tools should a professional tester use?
Testing teams are responsible with identifying bugs and failures by executing detailed tests step-by-step
as an important part of the quality assurance process. To increase productivity automatic testing has
already been introduced and state of the art bug tracking systems already offer this feature. Exercising
code in a way that developers did not anticipate, however, requires manual testing and this is also an
essential part of the QA process, as it limits the number of defects discovered by users after the product
gets released. Bug tracking tools that offer both manual and automatic testing capabilities such as JIRA,

2. one of the most popular bug tracking systems at the moment, are often integrated in more complex test
case management systems. The response to the JIRA test case management integration with TestUp has
been great, considering the fact that a great number of software development companies use JIRA and
they were looking forwards towards a seamless integration rather than changing the bug tracking tool.