Software Quality and Its Most Important Standards

Managing software quality has become one of the key concepts to consider when starting a development project. Alongside terms like QA control, QA assurance, or QA management, it's seen as an essential requirement for successful software construction.

And it’s no wonder: effective management of quality in software leads to reduced time and costs, along with a higher-quality final product.

In this article, we’ll explore the key aspects of quality standards for software and the main guidelines, along with some tools to ensure it.

What is Software Quality Management?

This process includes all operations and protocols aimed at ensuring a software development project is completed successfully.

It’s a broad concept that encompasses the following:

• QA Management: A planning and strategic approach that considers the entire value chain, benefiting fully from software quality management.
• QA Assurance: A proactive and preventive approach to ensure a product meets its required standards.
• QC Control: Unlike QA Assurance, this is a reactive approach focused on identifying potential system errors to meet quality standards.

What Are the Standards for Software Quality?

The following are widely recognized standards used in the software industry:

• ISO 9001: This standard certifies an organization’s ability to meet quality requirements. It provides a set of generic requirements that can be applied across industries.
• ISO 10005:2018: A guide for managing quality throughout the lifecycle.
• ISO IEC 25000 (SQuaRE): This family of standards evaluates the quality of software in areas such as usability, security, and maintainability.
• ISO 33000 (SPICE): Focused on the evaluation of software development processes.
• CMMI: A framework for improving the maturity of development processes.ISO 12207: A standard for observing software lifecycle processes.
• IEEE 730 – 2002: Defines high-quality software and proposes a Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQAP).
• ISO 5055: Focuses on measuring critical weaknesses in a product, specifically related to security and reliability.

Automation in Software Quality Processes

Ensuring proper management nowadays also involves considering the potential of automating software testing processes.

Through automation, routine or repetitive manual tasks can be delegated, bringing clear time savings and productivity improvements to QA assurance processes, where automation plays a crucial role.

As part of QA assurance processes, many areas can be automated. One particularly impactful area is the automation of data collection and management. According to PractiTest’s 2021 QA industry report, 43% of QA teams cite data management in testing environments as a significant challenge.

In this regard, Test Data Management (TDM) software stands out as a crucial solution for optimizing quality processes by securely and automatically collecting and organizing data. TDM tools are also essential for ensuring compliance with legal requirements in development environments. Moreover, they provide QA testers with quality, relevant data for conducting QA control and QA assurance tests, which would be nearly impossible to generate manually. Without automation, many testing teams might leave critical needs unmet due to the impracticality of manual data creation.

icaria TDM takes the Test Data Management methodology to a new level by offering automation, minimizing risks, and improving quality. It is a comprehensive and adaptable tool that perfectly aligns with the demands of today's technological world.

Want to learn more about Icaria TDM’s Data Finder? Talk to our team.