People, Paper, and Practices: How to Survive the Validation Process and Thrive on the Business Potential of Strategic Systems

The Year 2000 (Y2K) “bug” has crawled into the consciousness of senior management and raised their awareness for the need to assure the quality of computerized systems. Publicity about the business opportunities on the Internet has also raised concerns about electronic crime and database security. Today’s quality assurance (QA) and systems professionals need a practical path to follow for balancing the risks and benefits of computerized systems with the business return for regulated applications. This article gives a 10-step practical path to follow for computer validation and the measurement of system quality for information technology (IT) professionals and corporate management.