© 2004 SENTEL Improving Software Quality Through Communication Kanchan Bajaj, SENTEL Corporation

© 2004 SENTEL Overview Project Overview Customer Needs How SENTEL improved quality through communications Results Q & A

© 2004 SENTEL Speaker Information About Me? Kanchan Bajaj Software Project Manager, Quality Assurance Analyst 8 years of Engineering experience Numerous projects in Defense and Commercial Companies Software Development and Project Management experience

© 2004 SENTEL Company Information About SENTEL Corporation SENTEL is an engineering services company that develops, tests, implements, and supports innovative technology that improves defense, enables communication, and protects lives. Founded in 1987, SENTEL has garnered numerous awards for its work. SENTEL was assessed as a Level-2 software development organization in accordance with the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM).

© 2004 SENTEL Project Overview RGS – Report Generation Software Automates the examination process from case-building and assignment to assessment and archiving Computes tax, penalties, interest, and adjustments Provides taxpayer an accurate, legible, and easily understood audit report Allows for timely responses to taxpayer correspondence Automates the No-Reply process from case creation through case closure

© 2004 SENTEL Project Overview Customer Base Used by approximately 26,000 users in all Business Operating Divisions, Appeals, and National Research Program (NRP).

© 2004 SENTEL Customer Needs RGS in the Past… Communication problems between client and team Poorly defined requirements = poor product quality Scoop creep – lots of late requirements Multiple build deliveries – squeeze in one more critical change No credibility with their upper management Unwanted stress

© 2004 SENTEL Customer Needs The Customer Wanted to… Control Scope creep – fewer late requirements Control Schedule – be knowledgeable when to test Improve overall Program image Decrease stress

© 2004 SENTEL What SENTEL Did How did SENTEL Improve RGS? Changed the Management Revised Methods Changed the Overall Process

© 2004 SENTEL What SENTEL Did Management Changeover Hired a new Program Director  Had credibility of being successful in Government environment  Knew that customer wanted to improve their status in organization

© 2004 SENTEL What SENTEL Did Methods Revision Implemented portions of XP (Extreme Programming) with the SEI-CMM Level 3  Emphasis on customer involvement and team work  Introduced pairing with XP  Team analysis and estimation process  Building nightly builds

© 2004 SENTEL What SENTEL Did Process Improvement with Customer Communication Made improvements within the team Changed all-in-one build mentality; new changes go in the next build Changed the Testing Process Improved customer relations Implemented Peer Reviews

© 2004 SENTEL Making Full Use of the Tool Implemented a Tool that Helped us Track requirements – # submitted and # delivered Track estimates – helped in creating realistic schedules Track development status – accurate prediction on % completion in real time Control development – traceability Control test plans and test data – all under source control Supply schedules that clearly showed a defined critical path

© 2004 SENTEL We Continued to Communicate Improvements Made within the Team Improved planning process – customer sign-off Baselined requirements Improved estimation process – all in the tool Baselined RGS schedule Integrated schedule with the customer’s end-game schedule Tracked schedules weekly with customer with collected actuals

© 2004 SENTEL Improvements: Planning Source-Controlled Everything Requirements Design documents Source code Test plans and Test cases Test proofs at each level of testing

© 2004 SENTEL Improvements: Testing Process Changed Testing Process Test plans independently written by Test developers Test plans peer reviewed by customer analyst Common-sense approach to regression testing  No full regression testing on all platforms all the time Test proof created for each level of testing Eliminated test level that added no value Implemented threshold for system end-to-end testing Common sense approach to test automation

© 2004 SENTEL Improvements: Peer Review Implemented Peer Reviews Customer analyst peer reviewed design docs Customer analyst peer reviewed test plans Developer-to-Developer peer review during team level testing Developer-to-Tester peer review during system level testing

© 2004 SENTEL Improvements: Customer Relations Held Weekly/Daily Change Control Board meetings for current release cycle  Prioritized new requirements  Prioritized re-work on defects  Analyzed impact on schedule  Negotiated build deliveries  Negotiated build quality Opened lines of communication between the customer analyst and developers Got involved early to plan next release cycle Proposed changes to applications – new technology

© 2004 SENTEL Results What did we Get out of Improved Communications? On time delivery for each scheduled build  Achieved customer trust and credibility Fewer nights and weekends worked Better Quality product using improved testing and peer review process Open communications with the customer management Open communications between customer analyst, developers, and test team Learned – always say YES and then give alternatives

© 2004 SENTEL Results Statistics for Product Released Before 09/15/02 – 01/30/03) Planned 3 Build deliveries – Delivered 16 builds Delivered 285 requirements Held 9 formal CCB meetings with stakeholders Customer found defect 28% Statistics for Product Released Now (09/15/03 – 01/30/04) Planned 4 Build deliveries – Delivered 8 builds Baselined with 102 requirements – Delivered 217 requirements Held 45 formal CCB meetings with stakeholders Customer found defect 7% - all non critical -- We communicated it all!

© 2004 SENTEL Questions me at Portions of this presentation were provided by Tresia Eaves and Brian Blackburne.