With recent software (patch) failures making headlines, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experience as a former release manager. What went wrong? Was there a conflict with existing version? Was this new version and or a patch insufficiently tested before release? Or was it simply a case of human misjudgment-assuming that update was ready when it wasn’t? – These questions led me to take a deeper dive in (Probable) root causes of such failures. Determined to uncover all possible key factors at play, I began researching these patterns and pitfalls of software patching. I also discovered that for many senior executives, Quality Assurance (QA) is often viewed as a costly, time-consuming ‘hurdle’ that slows down releases and complicates product delivery. The fact is that, while minimizing QA may offer ‘short-term speed’, however, long-term consequences ranging from costly failures to reputational damage far outweigh those ‘initial gains’. A well-executed QA strategy isn’t about ‘delaying progress’; it’s about safeguarding business from preventable downtime and failures. Investing in QA isn’t just an IT decision, it’s a strategic business imperative. With that in mind, here’s a synopsis of my findings so far. I will start with explaining the True Cost of Downplaying QA
Note: Stay tuned for a separate article on how using AI-powered testing can cut QA effort by 30-50%
Production Failures Erode Revenue & Reputation – A single critical defect in production can result in customer churn, legal liabilities, and PR disasters. The study shows that, infamous healthcare.gov rollout, major airline booking failures, and fintech security breaches all stemmed from insufficient or limited QA coverage
Post-Failure Bug Fixes Are 6 Times More Expensive– Industry data consistently shows that fixing defects in production, after a failure, costs 6X more than catching them early in development cycle. Delayed defect resolution increases (Dev) effort, slows innovation, and erodes margins
Regulatory & Compliance Risks – In sectors such as finance, healthcare, and SaaS, defects can lead to compliance violations, lawsuits, and fines. Neglecting QA isn’t just an IT risk, it’s a whole business risk
Neglecting QA Leads to More Tech Debt and Slower Delivery – A product riddled with defects leads to endless patching cycles, customer complaints, and ‘firefighting’; which results in slowing down development teams. What looks like ‘speed’ today becomes a bottleneck tomorrow
My Final Thoughts: Quality is “Profit Protection” – Senior executives who scale back QA efforts to accelerate delivery may see short-term gains however, the statistics & history show that long-term consequences are costly and damaging. A smart QA strategy is not about ‘slowing things down’, it’s about making sure that business doesn’t suffer from preventable failures. Investing in QA isn’t just an IT decision; rather it’s a bottom-line business decision
