Implementing a Quality Management System

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Implementing a Quality Management System The
only way
Chryssa Nikopoulou Quality Manager
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Brief Company Profile

Subsidiary of INTRACOM Group Established in 1996
to better serve Western Europe Market Headquarters
in Luxemburg branches in Belgium
Greece Employ about 450 employees (by end of 2002)

• Key Customers
• European Institutions (European Central Bank,
  European Commission, European Parliament)
• National Public Institutions (Belgian
  Parliament, Romanian Government, UK Swedish
  Customs Administrations)
• Telecom Internet Services through Switchlink

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Why proceed with a Standard? And which Standard?

• Key Market Characteristics
• Extremely Competitive - gt International Open
  Procurement
• Highly Accountable/Auditable by the customer
• State of - the - art technology
• Strict Contractual Framework (services linked
  with penalties!)
• High Quality Requirements

• Covers all business areas (management,
  production, human resources, security, etc.)
• Sets Framework (things to consider)
• Built on consolidated experience
• Easily Recognisable
• Accepted in our market

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Quality Management System Scope / Objectives

• Scope
• Analysis, Design, Development, Deployment, and
  Maintenance of Information Systems
• Operations of Information Systems
• Hosting of Information Systems/Services
• Outsourcing Services
• Objectives
• High quality of products and services
• All deliveries on time according to schedule
• Adequate support to customers when needed
• Adequate controls before delivery
• Improvement actions planned and followed up

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Quality Management System Standards

• Implement Requirements of
• Using as input

ISO 9001
IEEE Standards ISO 9126 Rational Unified Process
(RUP) Methodologies imposed by Customer
Experience and best practices of company
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Quality Management System Areas to Cover
Establish Processes to address
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Quality Management System - Implementation
Design Processes
Define the Services to Address
Train Personnel in ISO 9001
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Quality Management System - Monitoring
Action Planning
Business Objectives Continuous Study of
Methodologies/Standards Lessons Learned from
Projects Feedback from Customer Feedback from
Staff Efficiency of existing processes New
Tools Any new services to offer
Redefine Processes Adjust Control Mechanisms and
Indicators Communicate changes to staff
Implement Corrections/improvements
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QMS Areas of Concern
ACTIONS!!!

• Staff Learning Curve
• Understand Requirements of ISO 9001 Standard
• Implement the established Processes
• Document Results of processes activities
• Reporting
• Staff Resistance
• In the short term, the quality procedures
• impose overhead
• Results evident in the Long term
• Cost
• Staffing QA team Independent Testing
• Specifications Teams
• Tools internal or Commercial to support
• Testing, configuration change management

Training by QA
Management Commitment Champion Approach Support
by QA
Return on Investment though increased quality of
products and services
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Quality Management System - Benefits

• Enhanced Companys Reputation in the Market
• Improved Management Involvement in Process Design
  Monitoring
• Ensured Traceability of Requirements across the
  S/W Lifecycle
• Increased the maintainability of our products
  (S/W Documentation)
• Increased the quality of testing and accuracy of
  testing results improved efficiency of
  regression testing
• Ensured on time delivery of Products and Services
  since repair time is minimised
• Eliminated possibility of rejecting our
  deliveries

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Quality Management System - Benefits

• Improved our competence of assessing impact of
  change (contractual, technical, change in
  requirements, change in schedule)
• Improved the configuration management activity
• Improved Communication Flow across the company
• Improved the level of service though the
  establishment and monitoring of objective metrics
• Increased employee competence in planning,
  reporting, documenting, participating in teams,
  provide feedback for corrections and improvements

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Conclusions

• ISO set the Framework for Quality Improvement -
  not an end in itself
• Considering Though
• Projects audited on a continuous basis by the
  customers or specialists EVEN Competitors!!!
• Undergo Financial, Security, Quality Audits
  (assessed as CMMI Level 3)
• Our market is not only price sensitive QUALITY
  MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
• But best quality in lower cost wins!
• Handle projects of large duration
• Our customers do not want dependency over
  contractors
• Future Objectives
• Move towards S/W oriented quality models
• Emphasis on Metrics for decision making

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Thank you for your attention