Whyisitoftenhardfororganizationstogetseriousaboutqualityassurance?Solvingproblemsisahigh-visibilityprocess;preventingproblemsislow-visibility.Thisisillustratedbyanoldparable:InancientChinatherewasafamilyofhealers,oneofwhomwasknownthroughoutthelandandemployedasaphysiciantoagreatlord.Thephysicianwasaskedwhichofhisfamilywasthemostskillfulhealer.Hereplied,"Itendtothesickanddyingwithdrasticanddramatictreatments,andonoccasionsomeoneiscuredandmynamegetsoutamongthelords.""Myelderbrothercuressicknesswhenitjustbeginstotakeroot,andhisskillsareknownamongthelocalpeasantsandneighbors.""Myeldestbrotherisabletosensethespiritofsicknessanderadicateitbeforeittakesform.Hisnameisunknownoutsideourhome."Thisisaprobleminanybusiness,butit'saparticularlydifficultprobleminthesoftwareindustry.Softwarequalityproblemsareoftennotasreadilyapparentastheymightbeinthecaseofanindustrywithmorephysicalproducts,suchasautomanufacturingorhomeconstruction.Additionally,manyorganizationsareabletodeterminewhoisskilledatfixingproblems,andthenrewardsuchpeople.However,determiningwhohasatalentforpreventingproblemsinthefirstplace,andfiguringouthowtoincentivizesuchbehavior,isasignificantchallenge.HYPERLINK"http://www.softwareqatest.com/qat_lfaq1.html"\l"TOP#TOP"Returntotopofthispage'sFAQlistWhoisresponsibleforriskmanagement?Riskmanagementmeanstheactionstakentoavoidthingsgoingwrongonasoftwaredevelopmentproject,thingsthatmightnegativelyimpactthequality,timeliness,orcostofaproject.Thisis,ofcourse,asharedresponsibilityamongeveryoneinvolvedinaproject.However,thereneedstobea'buckstopshere'personwhocanconsidertherelevanttradeoffswhendecisionsarerequired,andwhocanensurethateveryoneishandlingtheirriskmanagementresponsibilities.Itisnotunusualfortheterm'riskmanagement'tonevercomeupatallinasoftwareorganizationorproject.Ifitdoescomeup,it'softenassumedtobetheresponsibilityofQAortestpersonnel.Ortheremaybea'risks'or'issues'sectionofaproject,QA,ortestplan,andit'sassumedthatthismeansthatriskmanagementhastakenplace.Theissuesh