Summary

1.4 Summary

A total software quality system is more than reviews, testing, or standards. It is the comprehensive application of a 10-element discipline. The role of the software quality function is to review the state of the software development process and its products and report that state to decision-making, action-capable management. It is not the role of the software quality function to manage, direct, or control the software development process.

The ultimate objective of the software quality system is to provide, based on the results of the 10 elements, information that will permit decision-making, action-capable management to beneficially affect the software development process.

While it is not an absolute necessity that the SQS functions be under the cognizance of a software quality organization, the accountability for the SQS functions becomes more visible and addressable if a software quality group does, in fact, exist. This group is not necessarily responsible for the actual performance of the SQS functions, but rather is responsible to alert management to the need for, and the efficacy of, those functions. The functions themselves are to be performed by the organizational entities most qualified to perform them (e.g., training by the training department, CM by the CM department, and so forth).

The software quality practitioner must be administratively and financially independent of the parts of the organization that it will monitor. This means at least on the same organizational level within a project or in a matrix management situation in which the SQS is administered by an organizational element completely outside the project organization.

In order that the software quality practitioners have the authority commensurate with their responsibilities and accountabilities, there should be a written charter from senior management that specifies the roles, objectives, and authority of the SQS and software quality practitioners. The preparation and approval of the charter will serve to get the commitment of senior management to whatever software quality system is finally implemented. Senior management commitment is a key requisite to the success, both near and long term, of the SQS. An SQS, and the software quality practitioners who execute it, are at high risk from political and financial variations within the organization without the formal commitment of senior management.



Practical Guide to Software Quality Management
Practical Guide to Software Quality Management (Artech House Computing Library)
ISBN: 1580535275
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 137
Authors: John W. Horch

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