By refining these process engineering foundations, you’ll be better equipped to deliver quality releases quickly and confidently. It’s a practical blueprint for moving from QA to QE — one that embeds quality at every layer of development instead of deferring it to the very end.
Integration Best Practices
In the transition from QA to QE, testing must align with each critical development milestone — not just appear after coding is done. These best practices make quality checks a normal part of coding, building, and deployment.
Quality engineering works best when integrated at key development points:
Code integration
Use a pre-commit hook to run linting and unit tests automatically.
# Example Git hook for pre-commit tests
run_unit_tests && run_linter
Catching errors before they hit the main branch saves time and reduces last-minute firefighting.
Build process
Set quality gates in your CI pipeline.
# CI pipeline stage
quality_gates:
– unit_tests: 80%
– security_scan
– performance_check
Enforcing coverage thresholds and security scans at build time keeps your code clean and stable release after release.
Deployment flow
- Automated smoke tests
- Configuration validation
- Health checks
- Rollback procedures
Early detection of environment issues prevents flaky deployments and costly production rollbacks.
Quality Gates Implementation
Consistent standards across the pipeline are key to ensuring that code is truly “done.” With quality gates, you rely on data, not guesswork, to move from one stage to the next.
Development gates
graph LR
A[Code Commit] –> B[Unit Tests]
B –> C[Code Analysis]
C –> D[Security Scan]
D –> E[Build]
Release gates
- Performance baseline met
- Security vulnerabilities addressed
- Test coverage thresholds
- Documentation updated
- Dependencies verified
Each gate must pass, preventing half-baked features from creeping further into your workflow.
By embedding these gates at both development and release stages, teams unify around clear quality metrics. It’s a foundational piece of moving from QA to QE, ensuring every deliverable meets the standards your organization — and your customers — demand.
Practical Integration Example
Here’s a step-by-step look at how teams of developers can apply continuous testing in a typical fintech project, moving from traditional QA to modern QE practices.
Developer commits code
git commit -m “Add payment validation”
Instead of waiting for a testing phase, each commit triggers automated checks immediately. This approach catches defects before they spread throughout the codebase.
Automated pipeline triggers
- Unit tests run. Verifies core functionality right after new code lands.
- Integration tests execute. Ensures different services work well together.
- Security scan starts. Flags vulnerabilities early in the development cycle.
- Performance check runs. Confirms response times stay within SLAs.
By front-loading these tasks, teams identify and address issues early, saving cost and time compared to late-stage discovery.
Quality dashboard updates
Feature: Payment Validation
Coverage: 87%
Security: Pass
Performance: 150ms (within SLA)
Having a real-time dashboard offers transparency. Key metrics (like code coverage and security pass rates) help the team make quick decisions about whether the code meets high standards.
Release decision based on data, not guesswork
If metrics don’t hit the thresholds — for instance, if performance is too slow or coverage drops — the pipeline stops the release. This gatekeeping ensures quality releases every time.
A fintech company using this QE pipeline caught twice as many issues before production, compared to relying on traditional QA at the end of the cycle. The transition from QA to QE not only boosted defect detection but also reduced hotfixes, prevented last-minute scrambles, and improved overall stability.
Organizational Transformation for Quality Engineering
The move to Quality Engineering reshapes how teams work and collaborate. While tools and processes form the foundation, people drive the transformation’s success.
Evolving team structures
Traditional QA teams often work separately from development, creating handoffs and delays. Quality Engineering introduces new dynamics that fundamentally change how teams operate and interact. Instead of waiting for code to “throw over the wall” to QA, quality becomes everyone’s responsibility from day one.
A financial services company demonstrated this shift when they reorganized their 40-person QA team into embedded quality engineers. Teams reduced defect detection time from days to hours, while developers started writing better test cases during development.
Core structural changes include:
- Quality engineers embed within development teams
- Cross-functional pods replace siloed departments
- Shared accountability for quality across roles
- Direct collaboration between developers and quality specialists
Skills development
Quality Engineering demands broader technical expertise from all team members. This isn’t just about learning new tools – it’s about developing a deeper understanding of quality principles and practices.
Role Evolution | Key Skills Needed | Impact |
QA Specialist → Quality Engineer | Automation, CI/CD, API testing | Faster testing cycles |
Developer | TDD, Quality metrics, Testing frameworks | Better initial code quality |
Team Lead | Quality strategy, Metrics analysis | Improved resource allocat |
Cross-Team Collaboration in Quality Engineering
Quality Engineering succeeds when teams break down traditional barriers. This shift from siloed testing to integrated quality processes requires new collaboration models that span the entire software development lifecycle.
Shared quality ownership
Product owners, developers, and quality engineers now share responsibility for quality outcomes. A major fintech company demonstrated the power of this approach when they restructured their quality processes. Their deployment success rate jumped from 75% to 92% simply by making quality a shared responsibility rather than a separate testing phase.
The key was redefining how different roles contribute to quality. Product owners now define clear quality criteria during planning, developers implement quality checks during coding, and quality engineers design testing systems that support both. This three-way collaboration ensures quality considerations influence decisions at every stage of development.