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Having a QA Team Is NOT Worth It! Or Is It?

Bisma Latif
4 min readNov 20, 2024

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Let’s get this out of the way: Why even bother with Quality Assurance (QA)? It’s just a cost center, right? Products would work fine without it, deadlines would be met faster, and developers are perfect, so why add another layer of testing?

If that made you nod along, buckle up. You’re in for a ride that flips this notion on its head because, while the value of QA is often overlooked, the world runs smoother thanks to its quiet, uncelebrated work. Let’s dive into why people think QA isn’t worth it and why that’s the biggest misconception in tech.

“QA Just Slows Things Down!”

You might hear: “Why spend weeks testing when we can launch faster? Let the users report the bugs — they’re free testers!” But let’s look at what happens when QA is skipped.

The Knight Capital Group Collapse

In 2012, a trading company skipped rigorous QA for a quick software update. The result? A bug triggered $7 billion in unwanted stock trades, costing them $440 million in 45 minutes and leading to bankruptcy.

If QA had been involved, they would’ve spotted the issue and saved the company. But sure, QA “slows things down.”

“Our Developers Write Perfect Code!”

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Bisma Latif
Bisma Latif

Written by Bisma Latif

A writer, coder, and an avid reader, who puts her soul in everything she does! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibismalatif/

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