Organizing for quality assurance

The software development organizational structure

• Top management
• Department managers
• Project managers

The quality assurance organizational framework

 

Management and its role in software quality assurance

Top management’s quality assurance activities

• Assure the quality of the company’s software products and software maintenance services
• Communicate the importance of product and service quality in addition to customer satisfaction to employees at all levels
• Assure satisfactory functioning and full compliance with customer requirements
• Ensure that quality objectives are established for the organization’s SQA system and that its objectives are accomplished
• Initiate planning and oversee implementation of changes necessary to adapt the SQA system to major internal as well as external changes related to the organization’s clientele, competition and technology
• Intervene directly to support resolution of crisis situations and minimize damages
• Ensure availability of resources required by SQA systems

The SQA unit and other actors in the SQA system

• SQA unit members
• SQA trustees
• SQA committee members
• SQA forum members

The SQA unit

SQA trustees and their tasks

• Unit-related tasks
• Organization-related tasks

SQA committees and their tasks

SQA committees can be either permanent or ad hoc

SQA forums – tasks and methods of operation

• SQA procedure improvements and implementation
• Quality metrics
• Corrective actions – analysis of failure and success cases
• Quality system issues – development and implementation of new tools
• Quality line management problems – daily operational software quality problems brought before it by quality managers from every level

The future of SQA

Facing the future: SQA challenges

• Growing complexity and size of software packages
• Growing integration and interface requirements
• Shorter project schedules
• Growing intolerance of defective software products

Facing the future: SQA capabilities

• Extended use of CASE tools
• Expanded use of professional standards
• Extended use of automated testing
• Expanded software reuse.