The Role of Quality Assurance in Software Development Projects: Project Failures and Business Performance

Despite rapid advances in all facets of technology, the software industry still struggles with the formidable task of developing software applications that meet quality standards, and budget constraints. The need for software to be error-free remained a challenge to the IT industry. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to answer why executives reluctant to allocate resources to quality assurance (QA) process during the process of the system development life cycle (SDLC)? This research used a qualitative study design to investigate to what extent the involvement of QA during the SDLC process reduced software project failures. The data were analyzed using inductive methods and was intended to be generalized to the entire IT software development population. Participants were selected from major cities of the 50 United States that fit study criteria. The research indicated a sense that inclusion of QA in all phases of SDLC was an excellent phenomenon.