The Forgotten Value of Quality Assurance: Lessons from Three Decades
After 30 years in the world of Quality Assurance and Testing (and yes, they are not the same thing), I’m still amazed at how quickly organizations sideline QA when budgets get tight. It’s as if the value of QA is invisible—until something goes wrong.
Continuous Improvement: The First Thing to Go
One of the most significant casualties in cost-cutting is the upkeep of QA processes and continuous improvement workflows. Organizations establish processes to scale work and drive efficiency, but maintaining those processes requires time, energy, and, above all, commitment. In a business landscape where everyone talks about “value,” it’s strange how often leaders overlook the actual value that robust QA brings to the table.
A Tale of Two Eras: When QA Thrived—and When It Didn’t
I recently caught up with a former colleague who returned to an organization she’d left 20 years ago. Back then, QA was a powerhouse. The team delivered genuine improvements, and the products reflected that top-tier quality. They had detailed templates, solid documentation, and a culture of training and knowledge sharing. Root Cause Analysis wasn’t just a buzzword—it was a daily practice, and teams worked together to solve problems at their source.
Fast forward to today: product quality is still “good,” but it’s not what it used to be. Internally, QA has lost its edge. Test cases are vague, coverage is spotty, and the collaboration between Testers, Developers, and Business Analysts has broken down into isolated silos. Communication has devolved to a “tin can and string” setup, with work tossed over the wall instead of tackled as a team.
The Irony of Today’s “Agile” Age
What’s most ironic? We live in an era overflowing with resources—blogs, books, podcasts, and conferences about agile, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Yet, in many organizations, there’s a clear regression. The language of “customer-first” and “innovation” fills websites and marketing campaigns, but behind the scenes, the bottom line still rules. When quality suffers, leadership scrambles to assign blame—usually to the QA team, which by then is under-resourced, unsupported, and left to fend for itself.
You Can’t Save Money With a Broken Net
It’s like trying to catch fish with a tattered old net because you’re saving money—until you realize you’re losing more fish than you see. When the inevitable happens and the bottom line takes a hit due to poor quality, the rush to fix things often exposes just how much has been neglected.
The “Agile” Fix—But With What Foundation?
Then comes the decision to “go agile,” with dreams of faster delivery and higher quality. But if the underlying QA environment is a shell of its former self, the transformation will struggle. Agile can’t work its magic without a scalable, well-supported QA foundation.
Rebuilding for the Future
My colleague isn’t giving up. She’s putting together a plan to rebuild QA, restore collaboration, and bring back the culture of continuous improvement. She ran her plan by me, and I can see she’s on the right track. With her drive and experience, I have no doubt she’ll succeed.
The lesson? Organizations must recognize that the actual value of QA isn’t just in catching bugs—it’s in building the processes, relationships, and culture that make quality sustainable. Invest in QA before you need a rescue mission. Your bottom line—and your customers—will thank you.
Ready to revive your QA culture or avoid these pitfalls? Let’s talk about how to restore the value of quality in your organization.