Discussion on:

Manage quality through both quality control and quality assurance techniques

I have always wondered what the distinction was between these two techniques. You explained them very well. It makes much more sense to me now.

I'm a fan of clearly defined terms. I've heard the terms used as synonyms and have supplied my own operational definitions. Now I can add your clear definitions to my toolkit.

Thanks

I am working towards moving into quality assurance from software development and I wondered what some of the differences were. I am usted to quality assurance in terms of being synononimous (sp?) with testing. Generally I have seen testing groups/departments/etc referred to as QA, but are they really?

Thanks again for the article.

I agree that Tom's Definitions are great but I think there is another aspect to the concept of quality control that IT folks often forget about. Quality Control also applies to the monitoring of a system once it is implemented to proactively prevent problems. This might involve monitoring the number of transactions that the system is handling using a control chart or monitoring the response time to assure that you are continuing to meet customer requirements on a continuous basis. If statistical methods are used to monitor the system or application then potential problems can be identified and addressed before they become a problem to the customer.

This is a very useful explanation. Many thanks

Should the control / assurance be handled by the same management group being measured?