Commercial Quality Assurance Software (ie: SAP) vs. Custom Databases

M

mlthompson

#1
What is everyone's experience regarding enterprise wide software (i.e SAP) vs purchased software vs developing custom (access) databases. Which gives you the best overall results (functionality, capabilities, usefulness, etc)?

Also, how many Quality Assurance professionals have found that database programming has had to become a necessary skillset in the quality field?
 
Elsmar Forum Sponsor
#2
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

enterprise wide software (i.e SAP)
Aaaargh! SAP is an ugly word here. It has been forced down our throats to replace other more suitable local applications, and we have little control over it.
Could be the way to go if you can find something that fits your needs. If it does not, you may want to change your routines rather than going for local adaptations (Those may be a dreadful liability when the inevitable upgrades turn up).
developing custom (access) databases.
May be worth your while if no commercial application fits your needs, but beware: It could gobble up your meagre recources (working hours) at an alarming rate, and thus be more costly than an off the shelf application! My advice is to build something very basic to set you off, and then improve and expand it as the need arises.
Which gives you the best overall results (functionality, capabilities, usefulness, etc)?
That, alas, is impossible to say. Different companies, different needs...
Also, how many Quality Assurance professionals have found that database programming has had to become a necessary skillset in the quality field?
I for one... When we downsized I had to take over several tasks previously performed by others. I pushed everything else out of the way for a couple of weeks, while I created a number of tools I needed to be able to cope with the increased workload. To make a long story wonderfully short, that move saved my bottom. Ulcers were lurking around the corner....

/Claes
 
Q

qualitygal

#3
Re: Quality Software vs custom databases

From what I've seen I stay away from anything that is canned. Develop your own stuff. At least that way you know how it works. The problem I run into all of the time with my clients is that the IT guys that do customized programing don't really know anything except I/O. You can spend endless hours trying to fix what someone else thinks you do. I have some really great CPAR and NCR logs that I developed myself and they are in Excel. Not everyone understands Access and the like. And sadly most Quality people are people who are put in the position because no one else wants it.
 
S

Sleepless

#4
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

I've found that a lot of quality needs focus around traceability. Although most enterprise solutions claim complete traceability between each piece of software, there usually are some issues (sometimes big issues) that make the enterprise solution less valuable than it might first appear.

Off the shelf software and home made stuff both have pros and cons. It really depends on knowing what you need to accomplish and understanding whether the potential software can meet that need or not. Do your homework before making the decision.
 

Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
#5
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

What is everyone's experience regarding enterprise wide software (i.e SAP) vs purchased software vs developing custom (access) databases. Which gives you the best overall results (functionality, capabilities, usefulness, etc)?

Also, how many Quality Assurance professionals have found that database programming has had to become a necessary skillset in the quality field?

Your question is very broad. ERP/MRP databases, like SAP, are far bigger than just quality software. They literally run the whole enterprise, incuding accounting. That kind of decision would invilve your whole management.

Most bigger organizations go to this level of systems, though implementation and customizing is very costly. If done well, they are wonderful. But the cost and time to get there can be great.

If your needs are smaller, just quality software, then you have to define your need, and disuss particular software.
 
M

mlthompson

#6
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

I guess I'm just venting. I'm just trying to get a feel for how other Quality Managers are addressing and/or struggling with the IT needs in their departments. The companies I have worked for, typically 700-1200 corporate wide employees, who have enterprise wide systems haven't been willing to take on the expense of adding the QA modules. Purchased software doesn't always accommodate specific needs. IT departments don't have the programming talent/time to develop what I need. So out of survival, like Claes, I have had to develop custom databases to handle the information/data that flows through my department (all of which saves tons of man-hours and generates CI from the previous archaic methods). Yet I get scruntinized saying the programming isn't a Quality Manager's job. I would be as effective as a screen door in a submarine without the database tools.

Putting the frustation aside, what other job requires such a variety of skills. QA people have to be database programmer, graphic designer (visual factory), housekeeper (5S), design engineer (designing test fixtures), manufacturing engineer, statistician, project manager, politician, cheerleader, cop, business analyst, accountant, public speaker, teacher, infomercial saleperson, lawyer, author, photographer, ...
 

Jim Wynne

Staff member
Admin
#7
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

Putting the frustation aside, what other job requires such a variety of skills. QA people have to be database programmer, graphic designer (visual factory), housekeeper (5S), design engineer (designing test fixtures), manufacturing engineer, statistician, project manager, politician, cheerleader, cop, business analyst, accountant, public speaker, teacher, infomercial saleperson, lawyer, author, photographer, ...
Yes, but other than that we don't really do much.:D

I just wanted to say a word about software documentation. Many moons ago, in the embryonic days of what was then quaintly referred to as "data processing," programmers provided job security for themselves (and did a kind of extortion) by writing programs with syntax and logic streams that were so convoluted and anfractuous that no one else could figure them out. Oftentimes when a programmer moved to another job, there was weeks of trying to figure out how to do maintenance on his creation. This lead to a team-based approach and initially something called structured programming which in turn evolved into object-oriented programming.

The goal was to produce "lean," modular, well-documented code that was optimized for both speed of execution and ease of maintenance. I bring this up here to emphasize the need for good documentation of "home brew" programming solutions. If the programming works well for you but the next person who comes along doesn't understand your strategies, algorithms and logic flow, there's going to be trouble. A narrative description of what the program does and precisely how it does it should always be considered de rigueur.
 
S

Sleepless

#8
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

I agree with Jim. And again, I would point to really understanding the 'need' you're trying to meet with the software (or any tool). If you understand the need, then anyone else who comes along, can make use of the tool you bought or created. If you don't really understand the root-need, you run the chance of finding/creating something less useful than it could have been.
 
M

MisterD

#9
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

I am aware of a nice Quality Management System that is easy to use
and provides conectivity to your Access DB, SQL, or ODBC

require specifics?
 

Marc

Hunkered Down for the Duration with a Mask on...
Staff member
Admin
#10
Re: Quality Assurance Software vs. Custom Databases

I am aware of a nice Quality Management System that is easy to use
and provides conectivity to your Access DB, SQL, or ODBC

require specifics?
This is your first post. Are you in any way associated with the software you are recommending?

I am asking because it is required by the forum TOS that if you have any 'interest' in the product you are 'praising' you must acknowledge your relationship with the company. We frown on 'stealth' advertising here.
 
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