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This article was published in the Employment Section
of the August, 2004 issue of the Technology First Magazine.
Dayton, OH
August 9, 2004 -
By Jena Roytman, Director of Business
Development, Roytman Information Services, Inc.
 Let’s
play a round of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
The question is, “What is Quality Assurance in Information
Technology?”
(A) One of the fastest growing IT sectors
(B) One of the most hard-to-fill IT employment needs
(C) One of a few professions in IT which enjoyed a salary
growth over the last few depressed years
(D) All of the above
I am sure you have correctly guessed by now that (D) is the
right response. The Final Answer! Why else would I bother
to mention all of this in my limited column space?
While the quality of software and hardware products and services
have always been relatively low, the field of IT Testing and
Validation was never a high priority for most computer and
non-computer companies. One sad statistic always comes up
in regards to quality of IT initiatives: According to various
studies, only 10% to 25% of software projects are completed
on time and on budget. Yet many companies have predominantly
ignored the importance of Quality Assurance in IT for many
years. Large software and electronics companies used to typically
hire testers as the least experienced and the least compensated
members of their Information Technology teams. Few (if any)
non-computer companies went through the expense of hiring
personnel dedicated to IT Quality Assurance. But this trend
has changed, and the old ways have proven to be ineffective
and non-compliant.
“Non-compliant?“ you’ll ask. Yes, indeed.
In the last 10 years, the federal and state agencies in cahoots
with trade and professional organizations have started to
truly enforce existing regulations and create new ones, pushing
IT to finally approach the quality control compliance standards,
which for many years have been a benchmark in other industries.
Of course, with IT becoming such a huge part of all businesses,
agencies from FAA to FDA have put into effect specialized
IT regulations.
Quality Assurance… The New Frontier on the
Old Landmark
Large or small, global or domestic, each
business must comply with regulatory requirements for records
management, information security, etc. On a national level,
companies are not only subject to industry specific regulations
(like Basel II risk management regulations in Banking and
HIPAA in Healthcare), but also cross-industry mandates like
Sarbanes-Oxley law. Data and record retention and management
are quickly becoming an IT problem with new levels of potential
liability for both IT Management and Personnel. All these
developments have an obvious affect on the job market. New
job titles such as “Validation Engineer,” “IT
Audit Manager” or “QA Solutions Analyst,”
which have rarely been seen in the past, have taken prominent
role in most IT Classifieds. While Software or Hardware Testers
are still pretty low in the departmental hierarchy, both in
terms of respect and salary, a lot of companies have created
specialized, highly-compensated positions to deal with regulations
in their respective fields.
Has IT been regulated yet?
Today, there are more than 120 current compliance laws and
policies, with Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, SEC, and HIPAA representing
just the tip of the iceberg,. All of them require significant
understanding and competence by IT staff of the impact of
risk management and validation of any organization.
With an increased emphasis on improving and managing business
processes, including proper and effective information, data
archiving, and retention, it really comes as no surprise that
companies must be able to build a technology and talent foundation
that would include and sustain an effective risk and compliance
strategy.
So, who is making all the money? Most professionals possessing
required certifications are in high demand. A salary survey
conducted by Quality Digest reported that holding an ASQ (The
American Society for Quality) certificate means anywhere from
a 3-to-10 percent higher salary. Locally, we have seen a steady
demand for specialists with particular regulatory qualifications,
such as HIPAA, cGMP, Sarbanes-Oxley, IDMA, CFR 21 Part 11
compliance. The need for Information Technology talents with
experience in time-proven quality programs such as Six Sigma,
ISO, and TQM as well as professionals with information security
and privacy expertise are still sought after. And, of course,
analysts with generic IT certifications are highly respected
in this field. These certifications include Software Quality
Engineer Certification (CSQE), Certified Software Quality
Analyst (CSQA), Certified Software Test Engineer (CSTE), Quality
Improvement Associate Certification (CQIA), etc.
Think Quality!
Of course, Quality Assurance is not all about certifications
and bureaucracy. Without a proper infrastructure, meeting
numerous requirements and regulations from government and
what is equally important, business partners, can be a challenge
for any organization and can be a source of confusion about
the proper approach to compliance management. Skilled and
knowledgeable Compliance and Quality Assurance professionals
in IT are a constant in the equation of successful Risk Management
and Compliance strategy and infrastructure in any company.
Jena Roytman is a Director, Buisiness Development of
Roytman Information Services, Inc., a Dayton, Ohio-based provider
of Career Placement and Consulting Solutions in Information
Technology, Management and Engineering. Established in 1995
by Mikhail and Jena Roytman, the company has been growing
consistently in a highly competitive industry. For additional
information please visit http://www.roytmanIS.com
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