Quality Assurance Audit – Proactivity that Brings Extra Value

You can’t know if anything is wrong until a problem pops up. That’s what someone who is fine with an alright product might say. This article, however, is all about proactivity that guarantees a gem of a project. Today, we talk about software quality assurance audit.

Quality Assurance Audit Process

Most likely, you already know what is a quality assurance audit. But if you need a refresher, let’s briefly review the QA audit’s meaning.

Software quality assurance audit is the assessment of QA activities and processes within a software development environment. It’s carried out to check their efficiency, productivity, compliance, etc. To answer the question “What is a QA audit?” very concisely – it’s evaluating how good your quality-related activities are.

If you feel like you need more info on this subject, feel free to check our page on software QA consulting and audit. But for now, we move to the things you’ll need to know to implement it successfully. We’ll begin by outlining how you can prepare and carry out your QA audit.

Identify Your Objectives

Start by clearly defining your goals. What do you want to achieve? Are you assessing compliance with specific standards, ensuring best practices, or evaluating software quality risks?

Determine the Scope

Define the boundaries of the QA audit. Will it cover a specific software module, an entire application, or multiple systems? Decide which aspects of quality you are auditing, such as functionality, performance, security, or usability.

Review Documentation & Data

Collect and review relevant documentation, including requirements, design documents, test plans, user manuals, etc. Understand the system’s architecture, process flows, and expected behaviors.

Design Format & Questions

Create the QA audit checklist format. This includes determining the structure (e.g., checklist format, yes/no questions, rating scales) and the specific questions to ask in each audit area. Tailor the questions according to your objectives and scope.

Test & Refine the Checklist

Test the checklist in a pilot audit or sample scenario to ensure it captures all necessary information, is clear, and works effectively. Modify or refine questions that are ambiguous, redundant, or not adding value.

Plan the Audit

Organize the QA audit process by deciding who will be responsible for each task. Set clear timelines for completing the audit. Identify the audit team, and choose any tools or techniques you’ll need to gather and analyze data.

Conduct the Audit

Execute the audit by using the prepared checklist. This involves interviews with stakeholders, reviewing documentation, inspecting code, and testing the system in real time for various quality attributes.

Analyze Findings

Analyze gathered data to identify non-compliance, risks, or quality issues. Compare the findings with the established objectives and quality benchmarks. Use tools (like checklists or matrices) to structure the analysis.

Report the Findings

Document the audit results, including identified issues, observations, and any positive aspects. Provide detailed explanations of areas that don’t meet standards alongside evidence such as screenshots, logs, or metrics.

Outline Corrective Action

Based on the software quality assurance audit checklist’s findings, create a plan for addressing the identified troubles. This may involve fixing bugs, enhancing functionality, or improving testing processes.

Communicate to the Stakeholders

Present the audit findings and proposed corrective actions to all relevant stakeholders. This can be done through formal reports, presentations, or meetings.

Take Actions

Implement the corrective actions outlined in the audit report.

Monitor & Follow Up

After corrective actions have been implemented, monitor their effectiveness. Schedule follow-up audits or reviews to ensure that changes are working as expected and that no new issues have arisen.

Now that you’re familiar with the overall QA audit process, we’d like to return to the very first step – establishing your objectives. This is, with no exaggeration, an insanely important aspect. It’ll guide your entire evaluation.

Types of Audits in Quality Assurance

First of all, depending on what you want to achieve with your QA audit, you’ll need to select the type of QA services. You have to know exactly what to expect from specialists holding the investigation.

• Process audit evaluates the processes used in software development and testing, for instance, the quality of your manual testing services.
• Product audit (also called QA QC audit) examines the final software product or its components.
• System audit assesses the entire system, including hardware, software, and infrastructure.
• Compliance audit reviews the software development process for compliance.
• Internal audit for quality assurance focuses on evaluating QA processes and practices.
• Supplier audit checks suppliers or third-party vendors who provide software or services.
• Configuration audit examines the configuration management process and records.
• Risk-based audit targets areas of the software or process that are considered high-risk.

Second, you’ll also need to determine the best way to proceed with the QA audit in terms of expertise.

First-Party QA Audit

Also called QA internal audit, this type of evaluation is run by your own team. Since it’s conducted by people familiar with your processes, it’s more flexible and can be done frequently.

At the same time, internal audits for quality assurance may have certain biases and need to rely solely on present expertise, which may be limited. Plus, it needs quite a bit of time and joint work from everyone involved.

Second-Party QA Audit

This type of QA audit is run by a customer on a supplier or vendor. For example, if you outsource automated software testing services, you may check if your partner is up to industry (and your) standards. You can also hire someone else to do this for you.

Such a model can certainly advance the value of your project. But it may as well create conflicts of interest between you and the vendor. Also, you can only check the area which directly connects to your organization and nothing else.

Third-Party QA Audit

An external audit is held by an independent party, such as a QA company. Your auditor isn’t connected to you in any way. It may be viewed as a disadvantage. But it’s actually a huge perk.
Third-party audits are objective. They’re unbiased and offer greater credibility. Plus, they’re commonly required for certifications like ISO 9001 or industry-specific regulations. This means they possess greater expertise and diverse skills.

Choosing Your Option

Each of the above options has distinct benefits and drawbacks. So, when choosing to hire a dedicated QA team or letting your own crew run the investigation, consider three things:

• Available expertise (can you perform the QA audit effectively?).
• Cost and resources (what will the QA audit require?).
• Scope (how extensive is your QA audit?).

And if you settle on working with external QA resources, be sure to review their certification and confidentiality clauses.

ISO/IEC 25010 Quality Assurance Audit Checklist

ISO/IEC 25010 is an international standard that defines a framework for software quality evaluation. Why are we bringing it up? It can serve as a superb benchmark and guide for your QA audits. Specifically, this standard offers aspects that you should assess to get a holistic view of your quality processes.

Here, we’ll outline the core ISO/IEC categories you’ll need to investigate. We’ve also added fundamentals to should include in your internal audit quality assurance checklist.

Functional Suitability

• Does the software provide the correct outputs for given inputs?
• Are all functional requirements defined and the specifications met?
• Are all intended functions included in the software?
• Are there any missing features that are essential to users?
• Does the software provide appropriate functions for its intended users?
• Are user needs and expectations reflected in the functionality offered?

Performance Efficiency

• Does the software respond within acceptable time limits under normal and peak loads?
• Are there performance benchmarks established, and does the software meet them?
• Does the software utilize system resources (CPU, memory, disk) efficiently?
• Is resource consumption monitored, and are there limits established?
• Can the software handle the expected load, including user numbers and data volume?
• Are stress tests conducted to ensure the software can handle increased demand?

Compatibility

• Can the software work with other systems or applications as required?
• Are APIs or interfaces well-defined and documented?
• Does the software function alongside other apps in the same environment without issues?
• Are there known conflicts with other software, and have they been documented?

Interaction Capability

• Is the software user-friendly, with an intuitive interface?
• Are user guides and documentation available and helpful?
• Can new users quickly learn to use the software effectively?
• Are there training materials or resources available to assist users?
• Can users operate the software easily and without confusion?
• Are the controls and functionalities easy to access and understand?

Reliability

• How frequently do defects occur in the software during use?
• Are there records of defect trends over time?
• Can the software continue to operate in the presence of faults?
• Are there mechanisms for error detection and recovery?
• Is there a clear process for data recovery after a failure?
• Are backups performed regularly, and can the system restore to a previous state?

Security

• Are there measures in place to protect sensitive data?
• Is access to sensitive information controlled and monitored?
• Are there safeguards against unauthorized changes to data?
• Are checksums or other verification methods implemented?
• Is the software consistently available and operational during critical situations?
• Are there processes for maintaining availability during peak usage times?

Maintainability

• Is it easy to identify and diagnose issues within the software?
• Are logs and error messages clear and useful for debugging?
• How easy is it to implement changes or updates to the software?
• Are there established processes for managing changes?
• Do changes to the software result in unexpected issues?
• Is regression testing performed after changes are made?

Portability

• Can the software be easily adapted to different environments or platforms?
• Is the software tested on various platforms and configurations?
• Is the installation process straightforward and well-documented?
• Are there scripts or tools available to simplify installation?
• Can the software be easily replaced by another product without significant impact?
• Is there documentation to facilitate the transition to a new system?

Safety

• Has a risk assessment been conducted to identify potential safety issues?
• Are there safeguards in place to mitigate identified risks?
• Does the software handle errors gracefully without compromising safety?
• Are there protocols for informing users of safety-related issues?
• Does the software comply with relevant safety standards and regulations?
• Are safety audits or reviews conducted regularly?

By asking the above questions about your product, you can easily pinpoint the areas where your QA processes might be lacking.

QA Internal Audit Checklist Must-Haves

Now, we need to talk about a few things without which any QA audit would be pointless. Specifically, there are five aspects that can make or break your quality assurance evaluation.

#1 Effective Planning

Quality assurance audits aren’t like taking a yes/no test. You can’t just ask, “Is something good enough?” You’ll have to think about:

• Why do you think there is an issue or certain things need to be improved?
• How are you doing things right now, and how you’d want them to be?
• What changes would be genuinely valuable?

To answer all that, get to the root cause of troubles, and meaningfully enhance your project, you’ll need to do quite a lot (as is evident from the first section). So, to make sure your hard work doesn’t go to waste, you’ll need effective planning.

The whats, whys, and hows of the QA audit aren’t technicalities. They’re the backbone of the procedure. And how much effort you put into this will determine the result.

#2 Insightful Analytics

Gathering data is one thing. Extracting useful insights from it is something else entirely. So, instead of going off of arbitrary metrics, determine the following:

• What data will you need to collect according to your goals?
• How will the data be processed so it can be converted into useful info?
• By whom and in what ways the data should be analyzed to transform into actionable tips?

Insightful analytics will be a treasure cove of opportunities for your business. They’ll also help you make better, data-driven decisions. To simplify your work with data, it’s handy to use QA audit software.

It’s not a specific type of app that will take care of everything. Quality assurance audit software can include test management, automated testing, reporting tools, etc. All of them carry some information about your project, such as test cases or error rates.

#3 Transparent Communication

There’s a reason companies pay more and more attention to soft skills. Whether it’s a QA audit, everyday work, or a team meeting, productive communication carries countless benefits. In our case, it’ll help you:

• Ensure alignment with objectives.
• Add transparency to all processes.
• Encourage detailed and digestible reporting.
• Secure stakeholder engagement.
• Facilitate feedback loops and more.

Overall, make sure your team is aware of everything going on during the evaluation. Encourage them to share their perspectives and insights. And foster a culture where discussions are viewed as an asset.

#4 Fitting Skills

Specialists holding a quality assurance audit must have precise expertise. They need to be able to evaluate both the technical aspects of the software and the processes behind them.

This means your team should have a blend of tech and management skills. Thus, before running a QA audit, you should review your crew’s ability to do so effectively. Otherwise, you’ll just be spending time mimicking something useful instead of actually doing so.

#5 Readiness for Change

QA audits often reveal areas that require improvement. And if you’re not ready for the work that comes after, well, you don’t need the “before” either. Something you should remember is that audits don’t exactly end after you conduct the evaluation itself.

You’ll also have to work with what you’ve found, devise a plan on how to resolve a particular issue, implement it, and monitor what happens after. It’s a lot of effort and resources. Although it’s definitely worth it, you’ll have to be ready for the aftermath, so to speak.

To sum it up, make sure you have what you need for a valuable QA audit and keep your future steps in mind.

Software Quality Assurance Audit Checklist Example

Lastly, here’s a more general example of a QA audit checklist. It looks very simple, as checklists do. But keep in mind that a lot is going on behind every yes/no mark. It’s like a brief contents section that overviews a 500-page novel.

The “Comments” section is reserved for observations, whether good or bad. You can add brief notes, like specific details or action items needed to address issues. Alternatively, you can link entire documents with exhaustive explanations. Just don’t prioritize them over prompt action.

QA Audit Checklist for Documentation Review

QA Audit Checklist for Process Evaluation

QA Audit Checklist for Test Coverage & Effectiveness

QA Audit Checklist for Performance Metrics

QA Audit Checklist for Compliance & Standards

QA Audit Checklist for Team & Resource Evaluation

QA Audit Checklist for Communication & Collaboration

QA Audit Checklist for Risk Management

QA Audit Checklist for Continuous Improvement

QA Audit Checklist for Tools & Automation

To Sum Up

To finalize this article, take our team’s piece of advice. Don’t focus on the box-checking part of the QA audit. Use it as an opportunity to push for improvements. Ask tough questions and set higher standards. And if you need help with transforming your quality assessments into value drivers – our experts are here to help.