Software Quality Matters Ronan Fitzpatrick School of Computing Dublin Institute of Technology

Outline Definitions, models and standards The Software Quality Star Perspectives of software quality Strategic drivers of software quality

Objective To provide an introduction to the issues that impact software quality as seen through the eyes of a software quality assurance manager.

Definitions Fitness for purpose Compliance with specification A measure of excellence measure Low quality, high quality excellencethe presence of product attributes

Definitions of software quality - 1 German Industry Standard DIN Part 11 Quality comprises all characteristics and significant features of a product or an activity which relate to the satisfying of given requirements. ANSI Standard (ANSI/ASQC A3/1978) Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or a service that bears on its ability to satisfy the given needs. ISO/IEC 9126 (1991) The totality of features and characteristics of a software product that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.

Definitions of software quality - 2 IEEE Standard (IEEE Std ) The totality of features and characteristics of a software product that bear on its ability to satisfy given needs: for example, conform to specifications. The degree to which software possesses a desired combination of attributes. The degree to which a customer or user perceives that software meets his or her composite expectations. The composite characteristics of software that determine the degree to which the software in use will meet the expectations of the customer.

Shortcommings of these definitions Focus only on product attributes or characteristics and to a lesser degree on use Do not consider the potential to achieve quality through best practice Management, development, staffing, operations

Models The House of Quality

Standards ISO/IEC (1995)

Software Quality Star Copyright 2000 © Ronan Fitzpatrick

Perspectives of software quality The Product perspective Quality attributes The Contract perspective Quality assurance review and planning The Supplier (producer) perspective Producer, project and process The Acquirer (procurer) perspective Procurer, IS professional and user

The product perspective

The contract perspective Quality assurance planning per ISO/IEC (1995) Quality standards, methodologies, procedures, and tools for performing the quality assurance activities (or their references in organisation’s official documentation) Procedures for contract review and coordination thereof Procedures for identification, collection, filing, maintenance and disposition of quality records Resources, schedule, and responsibilities for conducting the quality assurance activities Selected activities and tasks from supporting processes, such as Verification (6.4), Validation (6.5), Joint Review (6.6), Audit (6.7), and problem Resolution (6.8).

The supplier perspective Producer Project Process

The supplier perspective Producer Enlightened philosophy and leadership Employing first-rate staff Who engage in first-rate processes Using first-rate tools and techniques To create quality software products

The supplier perspective Project ISO (1995) onus on supplier to develop and document project management plans implement and execute the project management plans Project management planning issues are 1. Organisation and environment 2. Acquirer involvement 3. Acquirer requirements and quality characteristic 4. WBS, resources and contractors 5. Quality assurance/validation and verification 6. Risk management 7. Licensing, usage and ownership 8. Tracking, documenting and reporting 9. Personnel training

Planning quality detail Acquirer requirements and quality characteristics define their quality requirements and quantify the quality characteristics of the software product Quality assurance/validation and verification item testing, integration testing, system testing and acceptance testing

Capability Maturity Model People P-CMM Other issues Schedule Budget

The supplier perspective Process Life cycle processes per ISO/IEC Capability Maturity Model SPICE ISO 9001 certification

Life cycle processes

6.3 Quality Assurance 1. Process implementation – requires that a quality assurance process tailored to the project should be established 2. Product assurance – requires that plans and procedures be established to ensure that the software product meets the requirements specification 3. Process assurance – requires that the life cycle processes used by the supplier organisation comply with the contract 4. Assurance of quality systems – requires that the ISO 9001 quality management activities are assured.

Capability Maturity Model SW-CMM

The acquirer perspective Procurer IS professional User

The acquirer perspective Procurer Can be supported by the IS professionals Will be acceptable to the user community Also, but not addressed by ISO/IEC Provides some form of competitive advantage Value for money Complies with any legal obligations Matched current business processes

The acquirer perspective IS professional Advise to management regarding the specification Technical excellence, user empowerment, corporate alignment, investment efficiency, supplier organisation profile. Perspective is influenced by role viz, development professional or support professional

The acquirer perspective User - usability Product-centred view of usability: that the usability of a product is the attributes of the product which contribute towards the quality-of-use. Context-of-use view of usability: that usability depends on the nature of the user, product, task and environment. The quality-of-use view of usability: that usability is the outcome of interaction and can be measured by the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals in particular environments.

Strategic drivers of software quality Perspectives of the Software Quality Star are derived from the contracting arrangement of ISO/IEC Does not consider all the strategic business issues of either the acquirer or the supplier. Solution is a new Software Quality Strategic Driver Model.

Strategic Driver Model Can it be developed further This research developed SQ-SDM Is there potential to adapt the model for Network Management NM-SDM e-Commerce eCom-SDM Customer Relationship Management CRM-SDM and similar

Conclusion Definitions, models and standards Definitions are not fully accurate The Software Quality Star Based on ISO/IEC (1995) Perspectives of software quality Contract, supplier, product and acquirer Strategic drivers of software quality Procurer perspective Producer perspective