Software Quality Standards

• Software Quality Standards
• Quality standards are a way to ensure that the product being developed is a well-engineered product.
• ISO: International Organization for Standards
• CMMI: Capability Maturity Model Integration
• IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• ANSI: American National Standards Institute
• ASQ: American Society for Quality
• SEI: Software Engineering Institute
• Why software Quality Standards are required?
• To ensure the quality
• To have the transparency
• To have the discipline
• To satisfy the customer
• Key Selling Point (KSP)
• Reducing the Rework
• Quality Standards – ISO
• ISO 9000 - General guidelines for procedures and processes
• ISO 9001 - Covers Documentation, Design, Development, Production, Testing, Installation, Servicing and Marketing etc.
• ISO 9002 - Except Design all other aspects
• ISO 9003 - Only for Inspection and Testing
• A companies’ quality system and operations are scrutinized by third-party auditors for compliance with the standard and for effective operation
• Upon successful registration, a company is issued a certificate from a registration body represented by auditors
• Semi-Annual surveillance audits ensure continued compliance with the standard
• For a quality system to be ISO compliant, these processes must address the areas identified in the standard and must be documented and practiced as described
• ISO 9001 is most comprehensive and this is the one most often used by software development organizations
• As ISO 9001 standard is applicable to all engineering disciplines, a special set of ISO guidelines (ISO 9000-3) have been developed to help interpret the standard for use in the software process

• Quality Standards – CMMI
• Capability Maturity Model Integration
• It is developed by the SEI. It is a model of 5 levels of organizational maturity that determine effectiveness in delivering quality software.
• Organizations can receive CMM ratings by undergoing assessments by qualified auditors
• There are 5 maturity levels, each level is composed of  “Key Process Areas”
• A Key Process Area (KPA) is a cluster of related activities that when performed together collectively achieve a set of goals important for establishing process capability at that maturity level
• CMMI Level 1:
• Initial, the software process is characterized as ad hoc. Few processes are defined, and success depends on individual effort
• CMM Level 2:
• Basic Project Management to track cost, schedule, and functionality
• This level involves five KPAs
• Software Configuration Management
• Quality Assurance
• Subcontract Management
• Project Tracking
• Project Planning & Requirements
• Management
• CMMI Level 3:
• Standard software development and maintenance processes are integrated throughout an organization
• Software engineering process group is in place to oversee software process and training programs are used to ensure compliance. KPAs are...
• Inter group co-ordination
• Software Project Engineering
• Integrated Software Management
• Peer to Peer Reviews of Reports
• Organization Process Definition
• Organization Process Focus
• CMMI Level 4:
• Detailed measures of the software process and product quality are measured. This level has 2 KPA’s
• Software Quality Management
• Quantitative Process Management
• CMMI Level 5:
• Enable quality process improvement by quantitative feedback from the process and from testing innovative ideas and technologies. 3 KPAs at this level are:
• Process Change Management
• Technology Change Management
• Defect Prevention