Difference between Quality Auditor and Tester

Difference between Quality Auditor and Tester

When outsourcing, small and medium business (SMBs) are often guilty of focusing just on the development aspect outsourcing, whereas testing remains on the backburner due to several constraints such as cost, time and resources.

Along with development expertise, certain outsourcing models also provide Quality Audit. Clarion’s unique engagement model is one such example. In this model, for every developer that you hire, you get a shared Quality Auditor to check the quality of the product that is being developed.

However, we have often seen that many of our prospects believe that just a Quality Auditor is good enough for their requirement. When in fact, the terms Quality Audit and Testing are two entirely different set of functions that hold equal importance in the software development lifecycle.

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Moreover, both are equally critical and none can replace another.

This blog attempts to clearly distinguish between both these concepts to help you understand and utilize them for numerous business benefits.

Before we proceed to the difference, it is necessary to understand the terminology as it is unique to our engagement model.

  • QA – In the IT industry, the term “QA” generally refers to a test engineer. Where as in Clarion, it refers to Quality Auditor.
  • QC / tester / test engineer / validation engineer – The terms are used interchangeably and synonymously 

Whereas,

  • A Tester is the person who carries out a systematic evaluation of the product on integration of the code.
  • It is recommended to have a tester onboard for each project

 The Difference -

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The difference clearly shows that even though a Quality Auditor samples the features, functionalities and the deliverables for issues, but it is a sweeping check.

If there is any underlying bug inside a particular code or an integrated one, only a tester will be able to spot it and get it rectified. With Testing, you are doubly assured that, the product that you release to the market is of high quality and bug-free.

Moreover, skipping software testing can lead to tragic mishaps – 

For example: In the 1980s, a bug in the code controlling of a radiation therapy machine was

directly responsible for patients’ deaths because it administered excessive quantities of X-ray

radiation. 

In this case, it was the QA’s job to audit whether the machine administered the radiation therapy. Whereas, it was the tester’s job to make sure that every line of code in the software is absolutely bug-free. 

For better understanding, let me run you through one of our recent projects that involved a QA & a Tester. We had assigned a QA for one of our eCommerce website development project.

The QA (Quality Auditor) worked alongside the developer to audit the functionalities such as the shopping cart, checkout, payment gateway, email marketing integration individually.

However, retail sites are highly dynamic in nature. There are new offers, new products, new bestsellers, Sales, etc. Basically, the site doesn’t stay the same for too long

This means that the developer requires time to build these features. Since QA is dependent on the developer, he can only audit the section of the feature that is developed.

Meanwhile, testing being independent of the developer and entirely dependent on the requirements and user stories ensured that the testers to test whether the code is intact and bug-free even after several changes on the eCommerce platform.

By skipping testing, the client would have invited the threat of releasing a faulty product which could have hampered the client’s brand image, let alone the revenue loss incurred in correcting the product.

In conclusion, the success or failure of a project or a product depends on several variables. While some variables are not under the company’s control, one thing your company does have control over is building a quality product. So, make sure you tread the right path and do not shy away from doing what is an absolute essential.

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