We discuss software quality systems of quality engineering in the area of software project management.
Organisations and technologies such as iso , cmmi and six sigma are discussed.
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Software quality system - Quality Engineering
1. Software Quality
Systems
Topics Covered-
1. International Standard for
Organization(ISO)
2. Six Sigma
3. TickIT
4. Capability Matrix Model
Integration (CMMI)
5. Case Study
-By Yash Trivedi
2. What are standards?
● Standards are documented agreements, protocols, or rules that outline the technical
specifications or criteria to be used to ensure that products, services, processes, and materials
meet their intended purpose.
● Standards also provide a basis for measurement because they provide a criterion, or basis, for
comparison.
3. International organization for
Standardization (ISO)
1. They are known as generic management system standards (ie can be applied to any type of
organization)
2. Derived from Greek word “isos,” meaning equal.
3. Formed in 1947 formerly known as ISA ( International Federation of National Standardizing
Associations)
4. Standards make up the ISO 9000 (organizations/quality management) and ISO 14000
(environmental) families.
5. Not owned or managed by any government.Is a tool that validates standards of quality for
transfer of goods across different countries.
6. Today has over 130 members “to facilitate the international coordination and unification of
industrial standards.”
5. Six Sigma Standard
● Six Sigma is a set of techniques for process improvement introduced by Bill Smith and Michael
J Harry working in motorola.
● They acknowledged other foreign entities having a better quality product at a lower price and
tried to find a solution to it.
● Six Sigma Doctrine asserts -
1. Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable results.
2. Manufacturing and business process have characteristics that can be measured and
analyzed.
3. Achieving sustained quality improvement requires commitment from top management.
7. Six Sigma : D-M-I-A-C cycle
1. Define—The first step is to define customer satisfaction goals and subgoals— for example,
reduce cycle time, costs, or defects.
2. Measure—The Six Sigma team is responsible for identifying a set of relevant metrics.
3. Analyze—With data in hand, the team can analyze the data for trends, patterns, or relationships.
Statistical analysis allows for testing hypotheses, modeling, or conducting experiments.
4. Improve—Based on solid evidence, improvements can be proposed and implemented.
5. Control—Once target levels of performance are achieved, control methods and tools are put into
place in order to maintain performance.
8. Six Sigma Programs
1. Master Black Belts - Have the highest level of technical and organizational experience
and expertise who train Six Sigma Black Belts.
2. Black Belts - Come from various disciplines, have a high degree of experience and
expertise and are held in high esteem.
1. Green Belts - Six Sigma leaders or project managers
2. Champions - An added role in many organizations. They are leaders who are committed
to the success of the Six Sigma project, provide funding, and can ensure organizational
barriers and obstacles are removed.
9. TickIT
● ISO 9000 standards were too general and difficult to adopt in information technology
and many companies did not follow it.
● Initiated by the British Computer Society ,TickIT guides a company through ISO
certification by an independent certification body.
● Provides a quality assurance for clients to trust in the field of software development.
10. Capability matrix model integration (CMMI)
● Created by Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon it laid the basis on expanding and
laying down quality standards which provided organizations a new path to improve their
software processes.
● The CMMI provides a set of recommended practices that define key process areas specific to
software development.
● It provides guidance for implementing excellent software engineering and management.
11. How does CMMI work?
Basic Terminologies -
1. Software Process - A set of activities, methods used by people to develop and maintain
software of a software project.
2. Software Process Capability - The expected results that are predicted by following a
particular software process.
3. Software Process Performance - The actual results that are achieved by following a
particular software process.
4. Software Process Maturity - The extent to which a particular software process is
explicitly and consistently defined,managed,measured,controlled and effectively used.
12. Characteristics of Immature Software
Organization
● Project Manager is plagued by Fire fighting various crises all the time.
● Quality compromised.
● Cost Exceeded.
● Schedule Delayed.
● No way to judge quality.
13. Characteristics of Mature Software
Organization
● Roles of individuals are clearly defined.
● Quality is not compromised.
● Budgets and schedules are based on past projects.
● Software process quality are individually monitored and improved.
● Are proactive in nature.
15. CMMI Maturity Levels
1. Level 1: Initial - Starting point of many software organizations. Has an immature software
organization and no process is defined.No stable environment.
○ No key process areas in place
2. Level 2 : Repeatable - Project success can be achieved more often as software processes,policies
are well defined and in place.
○ Key process areas are - Software Configuration Management
○ Software Quality Assurance
○ Software Subcontract Management
○ Software Project Tracking and Oversight
○ Software Project Planning
○ Requirements Management
16. CMMI Levels
1. Level 3 : Defined - Process are documented and robust to become the organization standard process.
○ Peer Review
○ Intergroup Coordination
○ Software Product Engineering
○ Training Programs
○ Integrated Software Management
○ Organization Process Definition and Focus
17. CMMI Levels
1. Level 4 : Managed - Quantitative metrics for measuring quality and productivity are
established.
○ Key areas are - Software Quality Management, Quantitative Process Management
2. Level 5 : Optimization - Whole organization focuses on improving process.
○ Key areas are - Process Change Management and Defect Prevention.
18. Case Study
Speed vs Quality Case Study -
1. Does there have to be a trade-off between the speed of delivery of an IT solution and quality?
1. If you were a project manager and senior management asked you to consider strongly taking a
shortcut that could compromise quality, what argument could you make to convince them to not
sacrifice quality over schedule?
Refrence Book - Jack T Marchewka software project management