Chapter 8 IT Project Quality Management
Cause-and-effect diagrams
trace complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations • They help you find the root cause of a problem • Also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams • Can also use the 5 whys technique where you repeated ask the question "Why" (five is a good rule of thumb) to peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause
Maturity Model (OPM3) in December 2003
Addresses standards for excellence in project, program, and portfolio management best practices and explains the capabilities necessary to achieve those best practices
Acceptance Testing
Certifies that the system satisfies the end user or customer's scope and detailed requirements after systems testing is complete. It is the user's or client's responsibility to assure that all features and functionality are included so that the project's MOV will be achieved.
Key performance indicator
Community addresses local issues
Quality Systems ISO 9000 Principles
Customer Focus • Leadership • Involvement of People • Process Approach • System Approach to Management • Continual Improvement • Factual Approach to Decision Making .Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships
DMAIC stands for
Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Measure:
Define measures, then collect, compile, and display data
Define
Define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer requirements
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) -
Derived from Greek word "isos," meaning equal - Formed in 1947 - Today has over 130 members "to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards." - Standards make up the ISO 9000 (organizations) and ISO 14000 (environmental) families
The IT Project Quality Plan Verification
Focuses on process-related activities to ensure that the products & deliverables meet specified requirements before final testing - Are we building the product the right way?
Gray Box Testing
Focuses on the internal structure of the program.
Unit testing
Focuses on the module, program, or object level to determine whether specific functions work properly. •Black Box Testing •White Box Testing •Gray Box Testing
Book Out of the crisis
From Deming
Improve
Generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem
Planning quality management
Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to satisfy them; A metric is a standard of measurement
Deming 14 Points of Management
It takes everyone to accomplish the transformation. ( It takes everybody to do quality)
Outcome:
Local initiatives, meaning the organization develops pockets of consensus around areas of special interest
Maturity Levels
Maturity levels lay successive foundations for continuous improvement • Can measure the maturity of an organization's software process • Can evaluate its software process capability • Help prioritize improvement efforts
Performing quality control
Monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the relevant quality standards
Quality Systems 6 Sigma
Originated by Motorola in Schaumburg, IL • Based on competitive pressures in 1980s - "Our quality stinks"
Performing quality assurance
Periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards Quality assurance includes all the activities related to satisfying the relevant quality standards for a project • Another goal of quality assurance is continuous quality improvement • Benchmarking • A quality audit
Black Box Testing
Tests the program against specified requirements or functionality.
Systems Testing
Tests the system as a whole in an operating environment to verify functionality and fitness for use. May include tests to verify usability, performance, stress, compatibility, and documentation.
Integration Testing
Tests whether a set of logically related units (e.g., functions, modules, programs, etc.) work together properly after unit testing is complete.
Basic Information on Six Sigma
The target for perfection is the achievement of no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities • The principles can apply to a wide variety of processes • Six Sigma projects normally follow a five phase improvement process called DMAIC
Six Sigma Projects Use Project Management
The training for Six Sigma includes many project management concepts, tools, and techniques • For example, Six Sigma projects often use business cases, project charters, schedules, budgets, and so on • Six Sigma projects are done in teams; the project manager is often called the team leader, and the sponsor is called the champion
Control
Track and verify the stability of the improvements and the predictability of the solution
Six Sigma projects normally follow
a five phase improvement process called DMAIC
• Performance
addresses how well a product or service performs the customer's intended use
One of Juran's ten steps states that
an organization should build awareness of the need and opportunity for improvement.
One of Deming's 14 Points for Management states that
an organization should remove barriers that rob people of workmanship and eliminate the annual rating or merit system.
You can use quality control charts
and the seven run rule to look for patterns in data
• System outputs
are the screens and reports the system generates
Level 5: - Optimizing
at the highest level of software process maturity- the whole organization is focused on continuous process improvement. - Key Process Areas • Process Change Management • Technology Change Management • Defect Prevention
OPM3 provides the following example to illustrate a
best practice, capability, outcome, and key performance indicator
Benchmarking generates ideas for quality improvements
by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products within or outside the performing organization
Six Sigma projects strive
for no more than 3.4
Six sigma means Standard deviation and it measures
how much variation exists in a distribution of data
The seven run rule states
if seven data points in a row are all below the mean, above the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for nonrandom problems The Seven Run Rule
DMAIC is a systematic, closed-loop process for continued
improvement that is scientific and fact based
Standard deviation is a key factor
in determining the acceptable number of defective units found in a population
Six Sigma
is "a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success. means standard deviation
A quality audit
is a structured review of specific quality management activities that help identify lessons learned that could improve performance on current or future projects
Another goal of quality assurance
is continuous quality improvement
Reliability
is the ability of a product or service to perform as expected under normal conditions • addresses the ease of performing maintenance on a product
Functionality
is the degree to which a system performs its intended function
Quality assurance includes all the activities related to
satisfying the relevant quality standards for a project
Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close
understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes"*
Philip Crosby (1926 - 2001) - Advocated
• "Do it right the first time" • "Zero defects" • "Quality is free" • "Non-conformance costs organizations money"
PMI released the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) in December 2003
• Model is based on market research surveys sent to more than 30,000 project management professionals and incorporates 180 best practices and more than 2,400 capabilities, outcomes, and key performance indicators
Kaoru Ishikawa (1915 - 1989)
• Studied under Deming • Believes quality is a continuous process that relies on all levels of the organization • Advocated the use of easy-to-use statistical tools - Ishikawa, or Fishbone Diagram - Pareto Diagram - Flow Charts
The target for perfection is the achievement of no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities
• The principles can apply to a wide variety of processes
Immature Software Organization
- Reactive in nature - Managers continually "fight fires" - Schedules & budgets are usually exceeded - Functionality & quality often compromised to meet schedules - Project success determined by who is or is not part of the project team - No basis for judging quality - Never seems to be enough time to address problem issues or improve the current processes
quality
"an inherent or distinguishing characteristic; a property; having a high degree of excellence" • Features & functionality - Grade is not quality! - "fitness for use" - "conformance to requirements"
The main outputs of quality control are:
- Acceptance decisions - Rework - Process adjustments
Business Reviews
- Are designed to ensure that the IT solution provides the required functionality defined in the project scope and detailed requirements definition to ensure that a particular project deliverable • Is complete • Provides information necessary for the next phase or process • Meets predefined standards • Conforms to the project (and software development) methodology
Level 2: - Repeatable
- Basic policies, processes, and controls for managing a software project are in place. Previous project successes can be repeated by other project teams on other projects. - Key Process Area • Software Configuration Management • Software Quality Assurance • Software Subcontract Management • Software Project Tracking and Oversight • Software Project Planning • Requirements Management
Level 1: Initial
- Characterized by an immature software organization in which the software process is ad hoc and often reactive to crises. Does not have a stable environment for software projects, and success of a project rests largely with the people on the project and not the processes that they follow. - Key Process Area • no key process areas are in place
• Management Reviews
- Compares the project's actual progress against the baseline project plan - Useful for resolving issues or making critical decisions - Usually focuses on the project's scope, schedule, budget, and quality objectives
Project Quality Metrics process Process
- Control the defects introduced by the processes required to create the project deliverables - Can be used to improve software development or maintenance - Should focus on the effectiveness of identifying and removing defects or bugs
Project Quality Metrics process Project
- Focus on the control of the project management processes to ensure that the project meets its overall goal as well as its scope, schedule, and budget objectives
Project Quality Metrics process Product
- Focuses on the intrinsic quality of the deliverables and satisfaction of the customer, client, or sponsor with these deliverables - Attempt to describe the characteristics of the project's deliverables and final product
Kaoru Ishikawa advocated the use of easy-to-use statistical tools
- Ishikawa, or Fishbone Diagram - Pareto Diagram - Flow Charts
The process of Performing Quality Control is often associated with the technical tools and techniques of quality management, such as
- Pareto charts -quality control charts - statistical sampling
Mature Software Organization
- Proactive and able to follow a set of disciplined processes throughout the software project. - Software processes and the roles of individuals are defined explicitly and communicated throughout the organization. - Software processes are consistent throughout the organization and continually improved based on experimentation or experiences. - Quality of each software process is monitored so that the products and processes are predictable across different projects. - Budgets and schedules are based on past projects so they are more realistic and the project goals and objectives are more likely to be achieved.
The IT Project Quality Plan Validation focuses on
- Product-oriented activities that attempt to determine if the system or project deliverables meet the customer or client's expectations - Testing • Does the system function as intended and have all the capabilities & features defined in the project's scope and requirements definition?
Juran's Quality Planning Road Map (Quality Trilogy)
- Quality Planning 1. Identify who the customers are. 2. Determine the needs of those customers. 3. Translate those needs into our language. 4. Develop a product that can respond to those needs. 5. Optimize the product features so as to meet our needs as well as customer needs. - Quality Improvement 6. Develop a process that is able to produce the product. 7. Optimize the process. - Quality Control 8. Prove that the process can produce the product under operating conditions. 9. Transfer the process to Operations.
Level 4: - Managed
- Quantitative metrics for measuring and assessing productivity and quality are established for both software products and processes which are characterized as being quantifiable and predictable. - Key Process Areas • Software Quality Management • Quantitative Process Management
Level 3: - Defined
- Software engineering and management processes are documented and standardized throughout the organization and become the organizations standard process. - Key Process Area • Peer Reviews • Intergroup Coordination • Software Product Engineering • Integrated Software Management • Training Programs • Organization Process Definition
Software Process Performance
- The actual results achieved when a particular software process is followed so that actual performance can be compared to expected results
Software Process Capability
- The expected results that can be achieved by following a particular software process that can be used to predict the outcome if a software process is followed
Software Process Maturity
- The extent to which a particular software process is explicitly and consistently defined, managed, measured, controlled, and effectively used
Software Process
- The logical organization of people, materials, energy, equipment, and procedures into work activities to produce a specified end result
Walter A. Shewhart (1891 - 1967) Consider to be the grand father of the quality movement
- Worked for Western Electric Company (Bell Telephones - Quality improvements needed for underground equipment - Applied statistical theory to control production processes
Six Sigma projects often use
- business cases - project charters - schedules - budgets, and so
Project quality management processes includes
-Planning quality management - Performing quality assurance - Performing quality control
Project Quality Metrics (PPP or 3 P)
-Project -Process - Product
Juran's Quality Planning Road Map (Quality Trilogy)
-Quality Planning -Quality Improvement - Quality Control
The Main outputs of the Planning quality management process.
-Quality management plan -Process improvement plan - quality metrics - quality checklists - project documents updates.
The IT Project Quality Plan Validation
-Technical Reviews -Business Reviews -Management Reviews
Software Testing Approaches
-Unit testing -Integration testing -Systems testing - Acceptance testing
The Quality Movement
-Walter A. Shewhart (1891 - 1967) The Rise of Japan - W. Edwards Deming (1900 - 1993) -Joseph Juran (1904 - ) -Philip Crosby (1926 - 2001) -Kaoru Ishikawa (1915 - 1989)
Examples of common metrics include
-failure rates of products produced -availability of goods and services -customer satisfaction ratings.
The main outputs of Performing quality assurance
-organizational process asset updates -change requests, -project management plan updates -project document updates.
The IT Project Quality Plan Quality Philosophies and Principles
.Focus on customer satisfaction • Prevention not inspection • Improve the process to improve the product • Quality is everyone's responsibility • Fact-based management
CMMI
.Software Process • Software Process Capability • Software Process Performance • Software Process Maturity
Joseph Juran (1904 - )
.Viewed quality as "fitness for use" • Message is that quality does not happen by accident - it must be planned.
Planning quality
1- Implies the ability to anticipate situations and prepare actions to bring about the desired outcome 2-Important to prevent defects by: - Selecting proper materials - Training and indoctrinating people in quality - Planning a process that ensures the appropriate outcome
Levels of Software Process Maturity levels (MODIR)
1- Initial 2- Repeatable 3-Defined 4- Managed 5- Optimizing
Deming's 14 points
1.Have a purpose (improve products and services, be competitive, stay in business, and provide jobs). 2. Adopt the new philosophy of management.. 3. Don't depend on inspection at the end. 4. Don't award business based on price alone of price. 5. Keep improving constantly. 6. Institute training on the job. 7. Institute leadership 8. Drive out fear. 9. Break down barriers between departments. 10. Eliminate slogans. 11. a) Eliminate quotas b) Eliminate management by objective and by numbers. 12. Take pride in your work. 13. Focus education and self-improvement. 14. It takes everyone to accomplish the transformation.
Technical Reviews
Ensure that the IT solution will conform to the specified requirements
Best practice
Establish internal project management communities
White Box Testing
Examines paths of logic or the structure inside a program.
Capability
Facilitate project management activities
Analyze
Scrutinize process details to find improvement opportunities
Quality Systems The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University • Includes a set of recommended practices for a set of key process areas specific to software development. • Provide guidance as to how an organization can best control its processes for developing and maintaining software. • Provide a path for helping organizations evolve their current software processes toward software engineering and management excellence
There are Seven Basic Tools of Quality
that help in performing quality control
Maintainability
the ease of performing maintenance on a product
Project quality management ensures that
the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken
