Quality in IT Projects

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Quality in IT Projects

• By Rafal Sitarz Jakub Strzemzalski

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Agenda

• What is quality ?
• Main factors of quality in IT
• Some methodologies

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Quality lets talk ?

• Everyone is for it (under certain conditions)
• Everyone feels they understand it (even though
  they wouldnt want to explain it)
• Everyone thinks execution is only a matter of
  following natural inclinations (after all, we all
  get along somehow)
• And, of course, most people feel that all
  problems in these areas are caused by other
  people (if only they would take time to do things
  right)
• - Philip B. Crosby

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Quality ??? Whats that ?(1)

• Conformance to requirements (Philip B. Crosby)
• Zero Defects (Philip B. Crosby)
• Waste reduction (William E. Conway)
• Fitness for use (Joseph M. Juran)
• Reduced variation (W. Edwards Deming)
• Value to customers (Gerald M. Weinberg)
• Doing the optimum things the optimum way (Bill
  Silver)
• Degree of excellence (Websters Dictionary)

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Quality ??? Whats that ?(2)

• Many people joke about the poor quality of IT
  products
• People seem to accept systems being down
  occasionally or needing to reboot their PCs
• There are many examples in the news about quality
  problems related to IT
• But quality is very important in many IT projects

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Quality ??? Whats that ?(3)

• Nearly 40 percent of IT projects fail before
  completion.
• Only 10 percent of the respondents indicated
  that their organizations most important IT
  initiative of the past two years had been
  completed both on time and on budget
• complex and buggy software costs Corporate
  America up to 85 billion a year.

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Quality ??? Whats that ?(4)

• Most Computer Science curriculums do not teach
  even one course in Software Testing
• Most Software Engineers know little or nothing
  about Software Testing
• Software Testing as a profession is overwhelmed
  with technical innovation (usually every two
  years)

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Quality ??? Whats that ?(5)

• The International Organization for
  Standardization (ISO) defines quality as the
  totality of characteristics of an entity that
  bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied
  needs
• Other experts define quality based on
• conformance to requirements meeting written
  specifications
• fitness for use ensuring a product can be used
  as it was intended

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Software Quality Realities

• Most small to medium sized companies do not have
  a dedicated testing staff
• Most large professional services companies do not
  have a dedicated testing staff
• Most companies are not successful integrating
  test automation into the development cycle
• The top of the line commercial software players
  (MS, Oracle, SAP, ) achieve a developer to
  tester ratio between 11 and 14, depending on
  the application AND the use of test automation

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Quality Factors

• Correctness
• Reliability
• Efficiency
• Integrity
• Usability
• Extendibility / Maintainability

• Testability
• Portability
• Reusability

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Quality Factors Correctness

• Correctness is the ability of software products
  to perform their tasks, as defined by their
  specification.
• Due to complexity, methods for ensuring
  correctness will usually be conditional or
  layered, each layer relying on lower ones

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Quality Factors Efficiency

• Efficiency is the ability of a software system to
  place as few demands as possible on hardware
  resources, such as processor time, space
  occupied, bandwidth used in communication devices
• Efficiency is only one of the factors of quality
  we should not let it rule our engineering lives
• But it is a factor, and must be taken into
  consideration, whether in the construction of a
  software system or in the design of a programming
  language.

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Quality Factors Reusability

• Reusability is the ability of software elements
  to serve for the construction of many different
  applications
• Software systems often follow similar patterns
• it should be possible to exploit this commonality
  and avoid reinventing solutions to problems that
  have been encountered before
• by capturing such a pattern, a reusable software
  element will be applicable to many different
  developments.

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Quality Factors Extendibility / Maintainability

• Extendibility Reusability ? Maintainability
• remove inadequacies,
• adapt to changing needs,
• extend functionality quickly
• integrate with other systems
• use components in other projects
• Software spends 60-80 of its lifetime in
  maintenance!
• How much of the effort could the industry spare
  if software was built from the start with more
  concern for extendibility?

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Software Quality Assurance

• How do you assure the quality of your software?
• Good processes
• Good documentation
• Learn and improve

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The way to do it... (QMS)

• QMS Quality Management System
• ISO 9000
• Software Engineering Institute Capability
  Maturity Model (SEI CMM),
• Six Sigma
• No generalized QMS can replace critical thinking!

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QMS (continued)

• nothing more but models that can be used to guide
  companies with complex business issues faced in
  software development today
• none of them will improve product or services
  quality just by following them to the letter
• nor were they designed for that purpose they
  were designed as guidelines

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ISO 9000

• ISO9000 is a European standard.
• The standard was designed to be used as a
  contract document between parties, i.e. a
  supplier and a purchaser, and this explains its
  use throughout of phrases like "the supplier
  shall ..".
• All major purchasers now use the same standard
  and many make it mandatory for suppliers to be
  certified - and so the requirement is passed down
  the supply chain.

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ISO 9000

• ISO 9000 consists of five documents 9000, 9001,
  9002, 9003 and 9004 as follows
• 1. ISO 9000 Guidelines for selection and use (of)
  Quality management and quality assurance
  standards.
• 2. ISO 9001 Quality Systems - Model for quality
  assurance in design/development, production,
  installation and servicing.
• 3. ISO 9002 Quality Systems - Model for quality
  assurance in production and installation.
• 4. ISO 9003 Quality Systems - Model for quality
  assurance in final inspection and test.
• 5. ISO 9004 Quality management and quality
  systems elements -Guidelines.

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Is it worth it ?

• In Germany
• 95 of large companies
• 50 small companies
• Great Britain
• over 80 000 certificates
• In US lack of certificates was a problem with
  auctions on international markets.
• In Japan the same, they had delays in
  comparison to UK and Germany.

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ISO Certificates - Advantages

• Companies expect certificates from their
  performers
• In Poland
• NOKIA
• SIEMENS
• MOTOROLA
• Energetyka
• Realities
• Not many certificates ( about 2000 )
• Usually large companies
• Certificate can be advantage in auctions.

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ISO Certificates - Advantages

• Helps to arrange everything in company.
• 2 phases
• mess
• benefits from order

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ISO Certficate - Example

• Example - IT company
• ISO 9002
• Reduction of employees from 43 to 28 in 9 months
• 6 months later to 19
• Number of complains falls down 4 times
• Benefits can be visible only after leading in
  certificates.

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ISO Certificates - Disadvantages

• Bureaucracy
• Costs
• Number of papers increases

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SEI CMM

• Capability Maturity Model
• a process maturity framework that would help
  organizations improve their software process
• this model helps organizations measure
  organizational software process maturity and
  establish process improvement programs
• the basic premise of CMM is that by applying the
  correct methods and procedures, a software
  development project matures and during that
  maturity process advances through various stages

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CMM stages
Optimizing
Managed
Defined
Repeatable
Initial
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SEI CMM In A NutshellQuick Interpretation

• Level 5 - Work your measures
• Level 4 - Measure your work
• Level 3 - Work your plan
• Level 2 - Plan your work
• Level 1 - Dont worry, be happy

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Six Sigma

• Six Sigma is the fastest growing business
  management system in industry today
• Centered on a powerful problem solving and
  process optimization methodology, Six Sigma is
  credited with saving billions of dollars for
  companies over the past ten years
• The main thrust of Six Sigma is the application
  of statistical tools in the context of a
  disciplined, easy to follow methodology
• Six Sigma translates into 3.4 Defects per
  Million Opportunities (DPMO)

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Six Sigma (continued)

• It is an operating philosophy that is
  customer-focused and strives to drive out waste,
  raise levels of quality, and improve financial
  performance at breakthrough levels

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Six Sigma sub methodologies

• DMAIC
• Define - Define the project goals and customer
  (internal and external) deliverables
• Measure - Measure the process to determine
  current performance
• Analyze - Analyze and determine the root cause(s)
  of the defects
• Improve -Improve the process by eliminating
  defects
• Control - Control future process performance

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Six Sigma sub methodologies

• DMADV
• Define - Define the project goals and customer
  (internal and external) deliverables
•  Measure - Measure and determine customer needs
  and specifications
• Analyze - Analyze the process options to meet the
  customer needs
• Design - Design (detailed) the process to meet
  the customer needs
• Verify - Verify the design performance and
  ability to meet customer needs

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The End

• Thats all folks !!!