Quality Assurance Available to University Community

Northwestern University Information Technology's Management Systems (ITMS) recently created a formal Quality Assurance team for University-level hardware and software implementation. Quality assurance (QA) at the University refers to the testing phase of a system that verifies that the system meets functional and performance requirements before it is launched to the NU community.

Needs for QA testing at Northwestern include:

•  New vendor-supplied software implementation
•  New internally-developed software implementation
•  Upgrades to existing software
•  Upgrades to existing hardware

The QA process includes several different types of testing including functional, regression, performance, and load testing. These tests are performed to ensure that the new product meets end users' requirements, responds to user input in a timely fashion, and has efficient, logically-constructed workflow.

University organizations purchasing, developing, or planning to launch new software or hardware can work in conjunction with Quality Assurance and the consulting and project office, subgroups of Management Systems, for testing and consultation assistance.

Schools and departments interested in learning more about Quality Assurance can contact QA specialists Swetha Balaraju or Paul Mack for additional information.

Paul Mack
Senior Quality Assurance Specialist
paulmack@northwestern.edu
847-467-064