Quality assurance eliminates defects at critical points throughout the product development lifecycle. Quality Assurance is a distinct process from quality control in which of the following way(s): Quality assurance can only be determined by the client Quality assurance is performed prior to project close-out Quality assurance focuses on validation of the processes used to create the product or service while quality control focuses on verification that the product or service delivers the planned quality Quality control is part of the Manage Quality process and Quality Assurance is part of the Control Quality process O Both b) and c)