23 November 2009 - 10:48 Bugs: An ounce of prevention or a pound of cure? By Mark Lathrop, Lead QA Analyst

As I get over these last remnants of the alleged “swine flu” of 2009 and get back to work, my analogy radar is pinging loudly. In an industry where a “bug” is evil, I find it funny that our processes are built around finding them and not preventing them. Doesn’t it make more sense to try to prevent the bug from happening in the first place, just as a physician would? For the swine flu and other seasonal flu bugs, we have vaccines that attempt to do just that. We short-circuit the process of getting sick, saving everybody who gets the vaccine pain, time, and, yes, even money. Not getting the vaccine is an invitation for the bug to occur, but even after infection we can do something about it; it just costs more. It could take a doctor’s visit, missed work, maybe even a prescription for Tamiflu while you are at it—not cheap and definitely more expensive than that flu shot.

Now I could go on and on with analogies, like the risk of death to you or your project if it has an underlying condition (e.g., a tight budget or timeline), but I will stop there. The important thing to remember is that there are process improvements available that will work like that vaccine—to prevent bugs from occurring and to mitigate the possibilities of costly rework. At Critical Logic we have shown our clients that the process of effective QA can start earlier in a project, short-circuiting the cycle of testing and rework. Rock-solid and unambiguous requirements are the result of this process, the ingredients of the vaccine that will prevent your project from getting sick. Isn’t it time for you to schedule a free needs assessment to see if your project would benefit from a shot in the arm?

For more information about or to schedule a free needs assessment, please visit us at critical-logic.com.