What are Quality Management Systems?

Quality management software or quality management systems (QMS) automates and streamlines quality control throughout the product development life cycle according to standard operating procedures. QMS gives users the ability to define the policies, procedures, and protocols to ensure that their products align with regulatory specifications and industry expectations. QMS can also generate compliance reports, automate or schedule inspections, and track and control defects.

QMS can contribute to quality control by enforcing compliance, detecting and addressing defects, and analyzing product performance and specifications at all development stages. Because of this, QMS reduces the amount of labor needed for dedicated quality assurance, bug hunting, testing, and design tasks. In addition to improving quality, QMS reduces service and product delivery times, which in turn increases customer satisfaction.

In many ways, QMS software is similar to governance, risk & compliance (GRC) platforms. Both categories are designed to align products with quality control and regulation compliance. However, QMS is more proactive, aimed primarily at preventing or detecting quality issues before they occur. GRC platforms are designed to more broadly help organizations manage overall risk and conform to compliance requirements.

Quality Management Software Features

The most common features of quality management systems are:

Customizable rulesets and testing criteria
Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) support
Data analytics, reporting, and visualization features
Fault tolerance
Root cause analysis
Concern reporting and complaint management
Audit preparation and scheduling
Digital conversion
Mobile app access
Document control
ISO requirement management
Training and onboarding materials
E-signature management
On-demand access to industry experts
Supplier management
Risk management
Customizable dashboards
Compliance form generation and templates
Design and service assistance
Third-party certification management

Quality Management Software Comparison

When choosing the best QMS for you, consider the following:

Integrated communication systems: If you’ll be using QMS to monitor products that require collaboration between multiple employees, look for a product with built-in communication platforms. These products can include instant messaging, asynchronous planning, image and video sharing, and other tools that facilitate collaborative work.

Industry: A QMS product could be reasonably used by any business, but some vendors offer products and service packages oriented for specific industries. These industries include (but are not limited to) healthcare, construction, food and beverage, and software development. This is an important consideration because QMS vendors often employ industry specialists as part of their support teams. Their expertise can be an invaluable tool in making the QMS work efficiently for your needs.

Access: Beyond deployment options, you may want to consider access features that give you quality control visibility at any time or across different locations. Some vendors offer mobile apps to access the QMS and its assets remotely. For software developers, an offline-accessible QMS can be excellent for testing during periods of server failure or internet downtime.

User experience: Depending on your team’s familiarity with coding, some products may be better suited for them compared to others. Many QMS offer no-code and low-code options, increasing user accessibility at the expense of greater control over the product itself. Products that require significant amounts of coding do offer training modules, knowledge bases, and access to specialists. The onboarding time and associated training might make the QMS more expensive, but organizations with a specific or niche focus often find the cost worthwhile.

Pricing Information

There are multiple free and open-source QMS products, but you’ll be responsible for implementation, updating, and troubleshooting. Managed QMS pricing varies based on features offered and number of tests performed. Contact a vendor for specific quotes and pricing plans. Free trials and demos of paid services are available.

Deployment Types	Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating Systems	Unspecified
Mobile Application	No
Supported Languages	English

Greenlight Guru

Sauce Labs

Donesafe

Qualio

Arena PLM and QMS

Jama Connect

TrackWise

MasterControl Quality Excellence

Helix ALM

Polarion ALM

Propel

GitLab

Oracle Fusion Cloud PLM