Software Project Management (SPM
Lecture 9 Software Quality Management
Dr. Daniel Keret
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Reading Assignment Software Project Management, Bob Hughes and Mike Cotterell, McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition. •Chapter 12 A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMI Publications, 3rd Edition, 2004 •Chapter 8
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Quality Management
Software Quality Standards – ISO – CMM
Quality Planning – Cost Benefit Analysis – Benchmarking – Cost Of Quality – Quality Management Plan Quality Assurance – Metrics Measurements – Corrective Actions – Preventive Actions Quality Control – Audits, Analysis – Checklist
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Software Project Quality Management
The Activities that Determine Quality POLICIES, OBJECTIVES, RESPONSIBILITIES.
It includes the PLANNING, ASSURANCE and CONTROL of the POLICIES, PROCEDURES and PROCESSES Forecast the End Result Quality during the Development Stages
Special Characteristic of Software: – Increasing Criticality and Importance of Software – Intangibility of software is a source for Unpredicted Errors – Software Errors are accumulating through the project life cycle
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Software Product Quality Factors
Product Operation: – Correctness (follow specifications), – Reliability (number of errors, fault tolerance, simplicity), – Efficient (optimize resources usage: storage, memory, CPU) – Integrity (access control & audit to processes and data) – Usability (ease of use/training, operation) Product Revision (changes, enhancements)
– Testing (effort required, regression tests) – Flexibility (effort required to modify the functionality) – Maintenance (effort required to locate and fix a bug: modularity, no duplication of code, documentation) Product Flexibility (Transition) – Portability (change h/w, operating system, compiler, etc) – Interoperability (integrate with other systems, flexible data and interface structures) – Reusability (can be used as part of another application as a whole or parts – platform free, modular design)
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Software Quality Standards
ISO 9001 (International Organization for Standardization) – Defines the needs from a monitor & control system to check quality
– Certification of the Design, Development, Production, Installation an Service Processes – Describes the fundamental features of Quality Management System (QMS) – Useful in selecting a sub-contractor with “best practices” quality processes. – Deals with quality of the development process, not with the quality of the product
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ISO 9001 Principles – – – – – – – – –
Determine the NEEDS and Expectations of the customer Establish Quality Policy and imply the actual quality objectives Design the project activities to include the quality objectives Assign responsible parties to all the quality objectives Allocate enough and knowledgeable resources Implement methods to measure the quality objectives in each process Collect & Analyze the Measurements and Identify discrepancies Define action items to eliminate the cause of the discrepancies Documentation (follows quality manual) of the actual (updated) operation of an activity that includes objectives, plans, procedures and records
– The QMS is well managed and knowledgeable resources are assigned to the Quality Management Process. – Demonstrate that the Production Process is well defined, designed, recorded, communicated and measured. – Sub-Contractors and Purchasing are managed in the same manners.
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CMM – Capability Maturity Model
Software Development Methods and Tools which are Likely to produce Quality Software Software Companies are assigned a level ( 1 to 5 ) of Process Maturity that indicates the quality of their software production practices Level 1: Initial Level – Default level, Some no defined quality throughout the organization. projects mayprocess adopt some measures. Level 2: Repeatable Level – Basic Project Management in place, not in the activities level Level 3: Defined Level – Project Management Plan is well defined at all levels Level 4: Managed Level – Products & Processes are Measured and Controlled Level 5: Optimizing Level – Process Improvement is introduced based on documented data gathered from previous projects, processes.
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Quality Planning
Identify the Project Quality Standards Determine how to Satisfy the Standards Inputs: – Enterprise Factors (law, regulations, standards) – Organizational Factors ( QA policies) – Scope Statement (objectives, thresholds, acceptance criteria, performance criteria, etc.) – Project Management Plan Tools & Techniques – Cost Benefit Analysis • Cost Of Quality: Expenses associated with the Project Quality Management • Benefit: Less Rework, higher productivity, lower cost, higher stakeholder satisfaction – Benchmarking Compare the project process practices to other projects to get ideas for improvements – Others: Brainstorming, Flowcharts
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Quality Planning - Output
Quality Management Plan – How the project management will implement the quality policy – Quality Control Plan – Quality Assurance Plan – Continuous Improvement Plan Quality Metrics – Detailed Plan of what will be measured, actual values Quality Checklist – Structured tool. Process, Activity based. Templates can be available from prior projects or QA organizations. Quality Baseline – The quality OBJECTIVES of the project – The basis for measuring and reporting Process Improvement Plan – Identification of WASTE and NON-VALUE ADDED activities – Set TARGETS for Improved performance
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Quality Assurance - QA
A QA Department in the Organization
Observe that the project will employ all processes needed to meet Quality Targets
QA support & Knowledge Base
Provides Umbrella for Continuous Process Improvement
Recommend Corrective Actions and Updates to the Project Plan
Update Organizational Process Assets
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Software Metrics ”“You Can Not Control What You Can Not Measure
Retain Records (historical data) – Used to evaluate future projects (sizing,schedule, cost, effort)
Problem Reporting – Supply Information about problem fixing (cycle, time, amount, frequency, etc.)
Quality Assurance Plan – Define Quality Thresholds is the definition of “Low System Complexity”)
Corporate Quality Goals – Measure progress toward the Goals
Types of Software Metrics
(What
– Directly Observed: Number of Test Cases, Project Cost – Predicted: Project Baseline Cost, Estimate To Complete – Calculated: Productivity=KLOC/Staff-Months
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Useful Metrics
Precise or Defined with Clear Tolerance, Well Defined Methods of Data Collection
Helps Goals to Measure the Organization/Project Quality Simple & Easy to understand Inexpensive to Use Robust Consistent and Used Over Time Easy To Collect
Easy to Access (online)
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Software Metrics – Examples of Direct Observations
Control Chart - Upper/Lower Control Limit ( Usually the Corporate or Project Quality Targets) – Actual Measures per Module/Activity VS Corporate Goals. The Average Project Measurement implies the overall project compliance. Deviation from the control limits indicate problem in a specific Module/Activity – Typical Metric: Design Review Hours Invested per Module.
Total Hours to investigate and resolve problem per predefined problem types (interface, documentation, input data, computational, etc.) Defects Discovered and Defect Fixed Over Time Mean Age of: Open Problems at the end of the Month Closed Problems at Month End
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Continuous Process Improvement
Main Goals: – Continuous Improvement in Resource Planning (increase the probability to deliver accurate estimates) – Continuous Reduction in Waste/Non-Productive Project Activities. – Continuous Improvement in Other Corporate Quality Goals Values in Software Activities – Value Added: Design, Code, Test, Install, Etc. – Non Value Added but Essential: Acceptance Testing, Setup, Training, Etc. – Non Value Added and Nonessential: Retest, Rework, Management, Installing Software Tools, Delays, Etc.
Value Metrics: Value/Total, Non-Value Essential/Nonessential, Value+Essential/Total
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Quality Control - QC
Monitor SPECIFIC project results to determine its compliance with the Quality Standards Identify ways to eliminate CAUSES of unsatisfactory results
Continuous Process Uses Sampling and Probability analysis Analysis Types – Prevention & Inspection – Sampling (check conformance (Yes/No) to standards, goals, Etc) – Variables Sampling – Level Of Conformance with Standards/Goals – Special Causes/Unusual Events – Tolerance (results fall within/outside the control limits)
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QC – Tools & Techniques
Cause & Effect Diagram – Per Major Defect (E.G: Users Interface Issues) – Cause: Guidelines not Followed • Reasons: Did not read the guidelines(no time), Can not find the guidelines (No central Location) – Cause: Lack of users feedback • Reasons: Lack of users resources, Prototype not clear enough, No process to get early feedbacks
Control Charts
Flowcharting (activities, decision points, sequencing) – Can point potential quality issues
Histogram – Number of Defects per Problem Type
Pareto Chart – 80/20 rule. Order Defects by Number of Defect and focus on those that causes the majority
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.QC – Tools & Techniques (Cont
Run Charts/Scatter Diagram (indicate trends over time) Examples: – Failure rate (defect found per test hour) over Cumulative test time – New Defects/Resolved defect per week over weeks Statistical Sampling
Inspection
Defect Repair Reviews
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