ITS 473

SOFTWARE IMPROVEMENT
Lecture 2

QUALITY MANAGEMENT STANDARDS

What do you learn?

Quality

management activities
Scope of Quality Management
Standards
Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
and its roles
Why Software Process should be
managed
Common process problems

Scope of quality
management
Quality

management is particularly
important for large, complex
systems. The quality documentation
is a record of progress and supports
continuity of development as the
development team changes.
For smaller systems, quality
management needs less
documentation and should focus on
establishing a quality culture.

Quality management
activities

Quality assurance
Establish organisational procedures and standards for

quality.

Quality planning
Select applicable procedures and standards for a

particular project and modify these as required.

Quality control

Ensure that procedures and standards are followed by

the software development team.

Quality management should be separate from

project management to ensure independence.

Quality management and software

development

S oftware development
proces s

D1

D2

Quality management
proces s

S tandards and Quality

procedures
plan

Quality review repor

ts

D3

D4

D5

The Scope of Quality

Management Standards
The scope of certification standards is determined by the
aims of the certification, which are to:

Enable a software development organization to

demonstrate consistent ability to assure that its software
products or maintenance services comply with
acceptable quality requirement

Serve as an agreed basis for customer and supplier

evaluation of the suppliers quality management system

Support the software development organizations efforts

How to Manage the Quality??

Practicing some standards or model such
as:
ISO 90001 and
9000-3

Capability
Maturity Model

Bootstrap
methodology

Capability
Maturity Model
Integration

The SPICE project

and the ISO/IEC
15504 software
process
assessment
standard

Software Engineering
Institute (SEI)
Federally funded research and
development center (FFRDC) established
1984
Awarded to Carnegie Mellon University
Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary
of Defense/Acquisition,
Technology, and Logistics (OSD/AT&L)

SEI Mission and Vision

Mission:

to provide leadership in
advancing the state of the practice
of software engineering to improve
the quality of systems that depend
on software.
Vision: to bring engineering
discipline to the development and
maintenance of software.

Definition Of Process

A process is defined as the logical

organization of people, materials,
energy, equipment and procedures
into work activities designed to produce
a specific end result.

Process orientation contributes to a better

understanding of the ultimate goal and
output of the company and the
individuals role in it.

Modeling
and
analyzing
business
processes enables one to develop the

Process

What holds everything together? It is the

process used in organization that align the
way you do business, address scalability and
provide a way to incorporate knowledge of
how to do things better.

Process Framework

What holds everything together? It is the

process used in organization that align the
way you do business, address scalability and
provide a way to incorporate knowledge of
how to do things better.

Process

Why do you need a process?

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will do." Chinese
Proverb
"If you dont know where you are, a map won't help." Watts Humphrey
"If you don't know where you are going, a map won't get you there any
faster." Anonymous
"You can't expect to be a functional employee in a dysfunctional
environment" Watts Humphrey
(Humphrey, S.W Managing the Software Process)

Express the need to appraise the software

process to know where you are and the need for
a vision, or model, for where you want to go
Documented processes are the basis for
consistent performance and improvement

Why Should We Manage the

Software Process?

Individuals, Teams, and

Armies

History of software is one of increasing scale

Initially a few people could craft small programs
Today large projects require the coordinated work of many

teams

The increase in scale requires a more structured

approach to software process management

15

People and the Software

Process

Talented people are the most important element in a

software organization
Successful organizations provide a structured and
disciplined environment to do cooperative work
Alternative
Endless hours of repetitively solving technically trivial

problems
Time is consumed by mountains of uncontrolled detail

If the details are not managed, the best people cannot

be productive
First class people need the support of an orderly
process to do first-class work

16

Myth of the Super

Programmers

Common view: First-class people intuitively know how to do

first-class work
Implication: No orderly process framework is needed
Conclusion: Organizations with the best people should not

suffer from software quality and productivity problems

However, studies show that companies with top graduates

from leading universities are still plagued with the same
problems
New Conclusion: The best people need to be supported with an

effectively managed software process

17

Myth of Tools and

Technology

Common View: Some technically advanced tool or method

will provide a magic answer to the software crisis
Reality: Technology is vital, but unthinking reliance on an
undefined "silver bullet" will divert attention from the need
for better process management

18

Major Concerns of Software

Professionals

Open-ended requirements
Uncontrolled change
Arbitrary schedules
Insufficient test time
Inadequate training
Unmanaged system standards

Very few even mention technology as a key problem

19

Limiting Factors in using

Software Technology

Poorly-defined process
Inconsistent implementation
Poor process management

20

Focusing on Software
Process Management

Software process: the set of actions required to

efficiently transform a user's need into an effective
software solution
Many software organizations have trouble defining and
controlling this process
Even though this is where they have the greatest potential

for improvement

This is the focus of the book "Managing the Software

Process"

21

The Role of Process

Everyone realizes the importance
of having a motivated, quality work force
and the latest technology,
but even the finest people cant
perform at their best
when the process is not understood
or operating at its best

Common Process Problem

Symptoms of Process Failure

Commitments consistently missed

Late delivery
Last minute crunches
Spiraling costs

No management visibility into progress

Youre always being surprised (eg. No project tracking)

Quality problems

Too much rework

Functions do not work correctly
Customer complaints after delivery

Poor morale

People frustrated
Is anyone in charge?

The Process Management

Premise
The

quality of a product is largely

governed by the quality of the
process used to build it

The

quality of a software product is

largely governed by the quality of
the software process used to develop
and maintain it

The Software Process

Improvement Principle

The process to develop and

maintain software can be
defined, managed, measured,
and continuously improved