Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control - Major Differences Explained

In my workplace, I have used Quality assurance and control to uphold project quality management. This ensures that the team has created a viable product ready for release in the market. However, in my opinion, QA vs QC differ in their goals and strategies. 

In software development, quality assurance focuses on preventing defects via process improvement. On the other hand, quality control distinguishes defects in the final product. Knowing the difference helps software companies maintain consumer satisfaction and loyalty by delivering quality products consistently.

In this post, I will take you through what quality assurance vs quality control are and how they differ.

What is Quality Assurance?

Quality Assurance is a systematic process. With this check, you can enable software development as per expected quality guidelines. In the process, you would implement precise and reliable practices right from the beginning of the project.

QA is proactive and overseen by management. With this, the team makes certain that all steps in the development process adhere to guidelines. It includes-

• Checks on processes
• Audits of project
• Development strategies

This prevents issues and maintains a quality climate for the product under development.

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Why Quality Assurance is required? 

When the team abides by the Quality Assurance mandates, it stays on track to develop tech products that meet client expectations. It helps prevent defects and errors in the production process. This also drives excellent outcomes to uplift client trust and satisfaction. It eventually leads to better customer retention and a positive brand reputation.

What is Quality Control?

Quality Control includes activities that guarantee product quality by identifying issues or bugs.

The QC process is a part of quality assurance and helps rectify issues. It includes testing to recognize and eliminate bugs in the product. This is then reported to developers for resolution.

Once fixes are made, the product goes through a check to ensure that all functionalities and elements work as intended. With stringent QC, the team makes certain that the product meets the expectation on various aspects like appearance and functionalities.

Instances of QC activities include

• Software testing processes
• Inspection
• Peer Reviews of deliverables

Also Read: Quality Management Tools

Why Quality Control is required?

This activity is needed to make sure that products meet set standards of quality and reliability. It helps the development team find and fix problems early in production. This stops such issues from reaching the final customers. 

Keeping quality consistent improves customer satisfaction. It also cuts down the time spent on redoing work. In short, Quality Control emerges as a critical component for ensuring products work as expected and meet consumers’ expectations.

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Quality Assurance and Quality Control Compared 

Here are 5 main differences between quality assurance vs quality control. Let us take a look.

Difference Between Quality Assurance And Quality Control

Here, I will elaborate on each point from the above table about quality assurance vs quality control. 

A. Objective

1. Quality Assurance: QA focuses on processes. Its goal is to set up and maintain strategies to ensure the techniques used to develop products meet quality guidelines. QA works to keep improving processes to prevent issues before they occur.

2. Quality Control: QC is product-oriented. Its goal is to check the end product or service against specific quality guidelines. This step aligns the product with the client’s needs and meets regulatory standards. QC intends to verify that the product meets the ideal quality norms.

B. Focus

1. Quality Assurance: QA primarily aims to stop issues before they occur. It sets up strong processes and guidelines during the entire software development process. It focuses on preventing mistakes as well as assuring that everything follows quality rules. This reduces errors and keeps things on track right from the start.

2. Quality Control: QC is about finding issues after they occur. It includes automation testing and checking for final product or service issues. With QC, the team ends up delivering a highly viable product that fulfills the set quality guidelines before reaching clients. It focuses on verification and validation.

C. Timing

1. Quality Assurance: QA activities are executed throughout the production process. From initial planning to final delivery, QA ensures that quality norms are reliably maintained.

2. Quality Control: QC activities are usually implemented during or after the production Process. Testing occurs to identify defects at specific checkpoints or after product completion. This also assures proper compliance with quality principles. 

D. Responsibility

1. Quality Assurance: Responsibility for QA lies with the entire firm. It includes everybody from top management to operational staff. In my opinion, this is because QA requires planning and adherence to quality processes across all departments.

2. Quality Control: QC responsibilities typically lie with specific teams. They include quality inspectors or testing teams. These teams examine and verify products to be sure that they meet quality and specifications. 

E. Goal

1. Quality Assurance: QA aims to make procedures and strategies that keep quality principles steady. Rather than fixing issues after they occur, QA tries to prevent them upfront. This approach lowers risks and keeps products reliable.

2. Quality Control: QC aims to verify and validate that products or services meet specified quality standards and requirements. Its goal is to detect and correct defects in the final product. This ensures that only products meeting quality criteria are delivered to customers.

QA Vs QC - Which one chose as a career 

Picking quality assurance vs quality control in the IT industry depends on your interests and career goals. Here are a few differences to consider.

A. Quality Assurance 

1. Focus

Preventing defects in the software development process.

2. Responsibilities

• Setting quality standards
• Designing test strategies
• Creating test plans and cases
• Conducting testing

3. Skills

• Strong analytical skills
• Attention to detail
• Testing methodologies and tools knowledge
• Collaboration with development teams

4. Career Path

You can land jobs such as 

• QA Analyst 
• QA Engineer
• Test Manager
• Quality Assurance Lead

B. Quality Control

1. Focus

Detecting defects in the final product through inspections and testing.

2. Responsibilities

• Executing test cases
• Conducting inspections 
• Identifying and documenting defects

This ensures total compliance with quality standards.

3. Skills

• Requires meticulous attention to detail
• Knowledge of testing tools like selenium and techniques 
• Ability to work closely with QA teams

4. Career Path

 You can typically take up roles such as

• QC Analyst
• Quality Inspector
• QC Engineer
• Quality Control Manager

C. Considerations

1. Interest: If you like making processes and ensuring everything meets quality standards, QA might be the right choice for you.

2. Skillset: QC could be a better fit for you if you are good at 

• Performing tests
• Finding issues
• Making sure standards are met

3. Career Growth: I feel that both quality assurance vs quality control offers chances for career advancement. QA can lead to management or strategic roles. On the other hand, QC tends to focus more on developing technical skills and expertise.

Ultimately, the career choice between quality assurance vs quality control depends on the job opportunities and your preferences. Numerous experts in the IT industry may find jobs that combine components of both QA and QC. This depends on the structure and needs.

Also Read: What is Automation Testing?

Conclusion

Quality assurance vs quality control, both, are critical for delivering quality software products. QA focuses on preventing defects by improving processes. QC focuses on identifying and fixing defects in the final products. You should understand the distinctions between these two practices. This information can help you pick the right career path. It will also contribute to your career success.

If you want to get a career in quality assurance vs quality control, we provide flexible QA Automation Testing Course online. Software testing strategies are a vital part of the quality control process. A few common techniques include -

• Functional testing
• Black box testing
• Usability testing
• Exploratory testing
• Compatibility testing
• Regression testing

You might be keen on reading more about Software techniques:

• Guide to the software testing process
• Advanced software testing techniques
• Recovery Testing
• Compatibility Testing
• Exploratory Testing

Also Read: When to Use Automation Testing?

FAQs

1. Which comes first, QA or QC?

QA is the first step phase in software products since it focuses on setting up processes and frameworks to avoid defects. It is about planning and putting measures in place to guarantee everything is done accurately.

When those processes are in place and the software products are developed, QC becomes an integral factor. QC is the step that includes checking the final products to find and fix any defects that could have fallen through despite all the preventive measures taken by QA.

Thus, while QA aims to prevent issues, QC is all about recognizing and correcting any issues.

2. What is the main difference between quality control and management?

Quality control focuses on detecting and fixing issues in the final products, while quality management encompasses quality assurance vs quality control. It oversees the overall quality of processes and products.

3. Which is more important, QA or QC?

A business can’t simply deliver a product and hope it will work well. QA helps plan how to maintain quality throughout development. QC makes sure that the end result fulfills expectations. Both quality assurance vs quality control are needed for delivering an excellent quality product to clients.