Taking A Look At The Different QA Certifications To Choose From

What is Quality Assurance?

Quality is incredibly difficult to describe and is stated as ‘fit for use or purpose’. It is all about satisfying the desires and needs of consumers concerning the performance, design, efficiency, longevity and price of the product. Assurance is nothing but an optimistic statement on a good or service that brings trust. That is the certainty of a good or service would perform well. It gives an assurance that the product will run without any complications as per standards or specifications. 

Quality Assurance in Software Testing 

Quality Assurance in Software Testing is characterised as a process for ensuring the quality of software products or services offered by an entity to customers. Quality Assurance focuses on optimizing the software production process by making it reliable and effective in compliance with the quality requirements set for software products. Quality Assurance is generally known as QA Testing.

What is Quality Control?

Quality Control is commonly abbreviated to QC. It is a digital engineering technique used to guarantee the accuracy of a product or service. It does not deal with the methods used to manufacture a product; rather it discusses the nature of the “end product” and the final result. The key goal of quality control is to verify if the goods conform to the customer’s standards and requirements. If an issue or mistake is found, it must be resolved before it is shipped to the customer. 

Quality Control also tests individuals on their quality level skills set and provides preparation and evaluation. This appraisal is required for a service-based company and helps to deliver “perfect” customer service. 

Difference between Quality Control and Quality Assurance?

Quality Control is often confused with Quality Assurance. Quality Control is the analysis of the product or service and the checking of the outcome. Quality assurance is meant to analyse the procedures and suggest changes to the processes that contributed to the finished product. 

Quality Assurance Certification Training:

There are many QA certification available in the sector to ensure that organisations meet requirements of quality procedures. Customers make this a qualifying condition when choosing a tech provider. 

→ISO 9000;

This standard was first established in 1987 and relates to quality management systems. This helps the organisation ensure quality for its customers and other stakeholders. Organizations wishing to be ISO 9000 certified shall be audited based on their functions, products, services and processes. The key goal is to evaluate and validate whether the organisation is following the procedure as planned and to confirm whether current procedures require change. This certification helps; increase the profits of the company, boost domestic and foreign exchange, reduces the excess and increases the productivity of workers and provides outstanding customer loyalty. 

→CMMI level 

The Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) is a process management approach developed primarily for software process improvement. It is based on the process sophistication paradigm which is used as a general aid in the business processes of the tech industry. The model is highly respected and commonly adopted by software development organisations. 

The CMMI has five levels. The company is accredited at CMMI level 1 to 5 based on of the sophistication of its Quality Assurance Mechanisms.  

Level 1 – Initial: the quality environment is unpredictable at this point. Simply, no protocols were followed or recorded.

Level 2 – Repeatable: any procedures are followed that are repeatable. This stage means that protocols are implemented at the level of the project. 

Level 3 – Defined: the collection of processes is described and reported at the organisation level. These specified procedures are subject to some degree of change 

Level 4 – Managed: this stage uses process metrics that efficiently regulates the protocols to be followed.

Level 5 – Optimizing: this stage focuses on the continual development of systems through learning and creativity. 

→ Test Maturity Model (TMM)

This model tests the maturity of the test environment processes. Even this model has five levels, described below- 

Level 1 – Initial: no consistency criterion is followed for research procedures and only ad-hoc approaches are used at this stage.

Level 2 – Definition: the method is established. Preparation of research policy, schedules, and test cases was carried out. 

Level 3 – Integration: testing is carried out during the software development lifecycle (SDLC) – which is nothing but integration of development operations, 

Level 4 – Management and Measurement: requirements and specification evaluations are carried out at this stage and standards have been set for each level of research. 

Level 5 – Optimization: many prevention approaches are used for monitoring procedures and tool support (Automation) is used to enhance test standards and processes. 

Do I need a QA certification?

A lot of times when it comes to these certifications they always have a lot of very good and strong fundamentals, the glossaries, foundations and industry terminology and it is good to set a good foundation, we are not saying its everything but it is very to set a good foundation and to keep sharpening your skills. As said by Stephen Covey, as American educator, sharpening the saw, means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have – you.   

As far as QA testing certification is concerned they have different levels, Quality Assurance has its entry-level and the ISTQB also has its entry-level. Concerning entry-level, if you are new to Quality Assurance and you do not have any industry experience, it is recommended to get a certification at least the entry-level certification, which would usually be available of the respective website. The reason for this cause, it gives you a little bit more credibility for what you are trying to pursue as a professional because you don’t have that professional or industry experience, that going the certification route would give you more creditability and also give you more ability. The resume is primarily there to get you an interview, a lot of times when recruiters are doing job searches; they are looking for certifications, which will bring your resume to the top, which will get you that interview which is the whole goal in the first place.  Another thing is that a lot of companies sometimes, especially big cooperation’s, they may be looking for a candidate that has a particular QA certification as a requirement.