Root Cause Analysis is a systematic approach to identifying the underlying causes of an incident. It helps in taking appropriate steps, so the problem is addressed. In an ideal world, the software should have Zero defects, and it should not show any failure. Practically, it’s never possible. By effective QA processes, we can ensure that software has minimum defects. We can also ensure that there are the right techniques that can be followed to find the underlying cause of any defect. This process of identifying WHY the problem has occurred in the software is called Root Cause Analysis (RCA).
The easiest way to understand root cause analysis is to think about everyday problems. If we are sick, we will go to a doctor and ask them to look for the cause of our illness. If our car stops working, we will ask a mechanic to find the root cause of the problem. To solve or analyze a problem, we will need to perform a root cause analysis and find out precisely what the reason is and how to solve it.
The root cause analysis is like a chain of events that go backwards. It starts from the last possible action to the previous one, so on and so forth. It continues until it reaches the beginning of the problem. Hence, it’s called reverse engineering.
There are a few essential questions to ask: WHAT, WHY, WHEN, HOW. With the help of these questions, we can delve into each phase of the software life cycle. We do it to accurately track the origin of the defect and the point of time when it was injected into the system.