Module-5

Quality management
• Quality management is the act of overseeing different activities and tasks
within an organization to ensure that products and services offered, as
well as the means used to provide them, are consistent. It helps to
achieve and maintain a desired level of quality within the organization.
• Quality management consists of four key components, which include the
following:
• Quality Planning – The process of identifying the quality standards relevant to
the project and deciding how to meet them.
• Quality Improvement – The purposeful change of a process to improve the
confidence or reliability of the outcome.
• Quality Control – The continuing effort to uphold a process’s integrity and
reliability in achieving an outcome.
• Quality Assurance – The systematic or planned actions necessary to offer
sufficient reliability so that a particular service or product will meet the specified
requirements.
• The aim of quality management is to ensure that all the
organization’s stakeholders work together to improve the company’s
processes, products, services, and culture to achieve the long-term
success that stems from customer satisfaction.
• The process of quality management involves a collection of guidelines
that are developed by a team to ensure that the products and
services that they produce are of the right standards or fit for a
specified purpose.
• The process starts when the organization sets quality targets to be met and
which are agreed upon with the customer.
• The organization then defines how the targets will be measured. It takes the
actions that are required to measure quality.
• It then identifies any quality issues that arise and initiates improvements.
• The final step involves reporting the overall level of the quality achieved.
Principles of Quality Management
• 1. Customer Focus
• The primary focus of any organization should be to meet and exceed the
customers’ expectations and needs. When an organization can understand
the customers’ current and future needs and cater to them, that results in
customer loyalty, which in turn increases revenue.
• 2. Leadership
• Leaders should involve the employees in setting clear organizational goals and
objectives. This motivates employees, who may significantly improve their
productivity and loyalty.
• 3. Engagement of People
• Staff involvement is another fundamental principle. The management
engages staff in creating and delivering value whether they are full-time, part-
time, outsourced, or in-house.
• An organization should encourage the employees to constantly improve their
skills and maintain consistency.
• 4. Process Approach
• The approach principle emphasizes achieving efficiency and
effectiveness in the organizational processes.
• The approach entails an understanding that good processes result
in improved consistency, quicker activities, reduced costs, waste
removal, and continuous improvement.
• 5. Continuous Improvement
• Every organization should come up with an objective to be actively
involved in continuous improvement.
• Businesses that improve continually experience improved
performance, organizational flexibility, and increased ability to
embrace new opportunities.
• Businesses should be able to create new processes continually and
adapt to new market situations.
• 6. Evidence-based Decision Making
• Businesses that make decisions based on verified and analyzed
data have an improved understanding of the marketplace.
• They are able to perform tasks that produce desired results and
justify their past decisions.
• Factual decision-making is vital to help understand the cause-and-
effect relationships of different things and explain potential
unintended results and consequences.
• 7. Relationship Management
• Relationship management is about creating mutually beneficial
relations with suppliers and retailers.
• The organization should manage the supply chain process well and
promote the relationship between the organization and its
suppliers to optimize their impact on the company’s performance.
Benefits of Quality Management

• It helps an organization achieve greater consistency in tasks and

activities that are involved in the production of products and services.
• It increases efficiency in processes, reduces wastage, and improves
the use of time and other resources.
• It helps improve customer satisfaction.
• It enables businesses to market their business effectively and exploit
new markets.
• It makes it easier for businesses to integrate new employees, and thus
helps businesses manage growth more seamlessly.
• It enables a business to continuously improve its products, processes,
and systems.
Risk management

Risk management is concerned with identifying risks and

drawing up plans to minimize their effect on a project
A risk is some adverse circumstance that might occur
Categories of risks (based on what they affect primarily):
 Project risks affect schedule or resources
 Product risks affect the quality or performance of the software being
developed
 Business risks affect the organization developing or procuring the
software

Chapter 22 Project management 9

Examples of common project, product, and business risks
Risk Affects Description
Staff turnover Project Experienced staff will leave the project before it is finished.

Management change Project There will be a change of organizational management with

different priorities.

Hardware unavailability Project Hardware that is essential for the project will not be delivered on
schedule.

Requirements change Project and product There will be a larger number of changes to the requirements
than anticipated.

Specification delays Project and product Specifications of essential interfaces are not available on
schedule.

Size underestimate Project and product The size of the system has been underestimated.

CASE tool underperformance Product CASE tools, which support the project, do not perform as
anticipated.

Technology change Business The underlying technology on which the system is built is
superseded by new technology.

Product competition Business A competitive product is marketed before the system is

completed.
10
The risk management process

Risk identification
 Identify project, product and business risks
Risk analysis
 Assess the likelihood and consequences of these risks
Risk planning
 Draw up plans to avoid or minimize the effects of the risk
Risk monitoring
 Monitor the risks throughout the project

Chapter 22 Project management 11

The risk management process

Chapter 22 Project management 12

Risk identification

May be a team activities or based on the individual project

manager’s experience.
A checklist of common risks may be used to identify risks in a
project
 Technology risks
 People risks
 Organizational risks
 Tools risks
 Requirements risks
 Estimation risks

Chapter 22 Project management 13

Examples of different risk types

Risk type Possible risks

Technology The database used in the system cannot process as many transactions per
second as expected. (1)
Reusable software components contain defects that mean they cannot be reused
as planned. (2)
People It is impossible to recruit staff with the skills required. (3)
Key staff are ill and unavailable at critical times. (4)
Required training for staff is not available. (5)
Organizational The organization is restructured so that different management are responsible for
the project. (6)
Organizational financial problems force reductions in the project budget. (7)
Tools The code generated by software code generation tools is inefficient. (8)
Software tools cannot work together in an integrated way. (9)
Requirements Changes to requirements that require major design rework are proposed. (10)
Customers fail to understand the impact of requirements changes. (11)
Estimation The time required to develop the software is underestimated. (12)
The rate of defect repair is underestimated. (13)
The size of the software is underestimated. (14)
14
Risk analysis

Assess probability and seriousness of each risk

Probability may be very low, low, moderate, high or very high
Risk consequences might be catastrophic, serious, tolerable or
insignificant

Chapter 22 Project management 15

Risk types and examples
Risk Probability Effects

Organizational financial problems force reductions in the project Low Catastrophic

budget (7).
It is impossible to recruit staff with the skills required for the project High Catastrophic
(3).
Key staff are ill at critical times in the project (4). Moderate Serious
Faults in reusable software components have to be repaired before Moderate Serious
these components are reused (2).
Changes to requirements that require major design rework are Moderate Serious
proposed (10).
The organization is restructured so that different management are High Serious
responsible for the project (6).
The database used in the system cannot process as many Moderate Serious
transactions per second as expected (1).

Chapter 22 Project management 16

Risk types and examples
Risk Probability Effects

The time required to develop the software is underestimated (12). High Serious

Software tools cannot be integrated (9). High Tolerable

Customers fail to understand the impact of requirements changes Moderate Tolerable

(11).

Required training for staff is not available (5). Moderate Tolerable

The rate of defect repair is underestimated (13). Moderate Tolerable

The size of the software is underestimated (14). High Tolerable

Code generated by code generation tools is inefficient (8). Moderate Insignificant

17
Risk planning

Consider each risk and develop a strategy to manage that risk

Avoidance strategies
 The probability that the risk will arise is reduced
Minimization strategies
 The impact of the risk on the project or product will be reduced
Contingency plans
 If the risk arises, contingency plans are plans to deal with that risk

18
Strategies to help manage risk
Risk Strategy
Organizational financial Prepare a briefing document for senior management showing how the
problems project is making a very important contribution to the goals of the
business and presenting reasons why cuts to the project budget would
not be cost-effective.

Recruitment problems Alert customer to potential difficulties and the possibility of delays;
investigate buying-in components.

Staff illness Reorganize team so that there is more overlap of work and people
therefore understand each other’s jobs.

Defective components Replace potentially defective components with bought-in components of

known reliability.
Requirements changes Derive traceability information to assess requirements change impact;
maximize information hiding in the design.

19
Strategies to help manage risk

Risk Strategy

Organizational restructuring Prepare a briefing document for senior management showing how the
project is making a very important contribution to the goals of the
business.

Database performance Investigate the possibility of buying a higher-performance database.

Underestimated Investigate buying-in components; investigate use of a program

development time generator.

Chapter 22 Project management 20

Risk monitoring

Assess each identified risks regularly to decide whether or not

it is becoming less or more probable
Also assess whether the effects of the risk have changed
Each key risk should be discussed at management progress
meetings

Chapter 22 Project management 21

Risk indicators

Risk type Potential indicators

Technology Late delivery of hardware or support software; many reported
technology problems.

People Poor staff morale; poor relationships amongst team members; high staff
turnover.

Organizational Organizational gossip; lack of action by senior management.

Tools Reluctance by team members to use tools; complaints about CASE

tools; demands for higher-powered workstations.

Requirements Many requirements change requests; customer complaints.

Estimation Failure to meet agreed schedule; failure to clear reported defects.

22
Configuration Management

• It is a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the

changes in the documents, codes, and other entities during the
Software Development Life Cycle.
• The primary goal is to increase productivity with minimal mistakes.
SCM is part of cross-disciplinary field of configuration management
and it can accurately determine who made which revision.
Why do we need Configuration management?
• There are multiple people working on software which is continually
updating
• It may be a case where multiple version, branches, authors are involved
in a software config project, and the team is geographically distributed
and works concurrently
• Changes in user requirement, policy, budget, schedule need to be
accommodated.
• Software should able to run on various machines and Operating Systems
• Helps to develop coordination among stakeholders
• SCM process is also beneficial to control the costs involved in making
changes to a system
Any change in the software configuration Items will affect the final product. Therefore,
changes to configuration items need to be controlled and managed.
Tasks in SCM process

• Configuration Identification
• Baselines
• Change Control
• Configuration Status Accounting
• Configuration Audits and Reviews
Configuration Identification
• Configuration identification is a method of determining the scope of the software
system. With the help of this step, you can manage or control something even if you
don’t know what it is. It is a description that contains the CSCI type (Computer
Software Configuration Item), a project identifier and version information.
• Activities during this process:
• Identification of configuration Items like source code modules, test case, and
requirements specification.
• Identification of each CSCI in the SCM repository, by using an object-oriented
approach
• The process starts with basic objects which are grouped into aggregate objects.
Details of what, why, when and by whom changes in the test are made
• Every object has its own features that identify its name that is explicit to all other
objects
• List of resources required such as the document, the file, tools, etc.
Baseline:

• A baseline is a formally accepted version of a software configuration

item. It is designated and fixed at a specific time while conducting the
SCM process. It can only be changed through formal change control
procedures.
• Activities during this process:
• Facilitate construction of various versions of an application
• Defining and determining mechanisms for managing various versions of these
work products
• The functional baseline corresponds to the reviewed system requirements
• Widely used baselines include functional, developmental, and product
baselines
• In simple words, baseline means ready for release.
Change Control:

• Change control is a procedural method which ensures quality and

consistency when changes are made in the configuration object. In
this step, the change request is submitted to software configuration
manager.
• Activities during this process:
• Control ad-hoc change to build stable software development environment.
Changes are committed to the repository
• The request will be checked based on the technical merit, possible side
effects and overall impact on other configuration objects.
• It manages changes and making configuration items available during the
software lifecycle
Configuration Status Accounting:

• Configuration status accounting tracks each release during the SCM process. This
stage involves tracking what each version has and the changes that lead to this
version.
• Activities during this process:
• Keeps a record of all the changes made to the previous baseline to reach a new
baseline
• Identify all items to define the software configuration
• Monitor status of change requests
• Complete listing of all changes since the last baseline
• Allows tracking of progress to next baseline
• Allows to check previous releases/versions to be extracted for testing
Configuration Audits and Reviews:

• Software Configuration audits verify that all the software product

satisfies the baseline needs. It ensures that what is built is what is
delivered.
• Activities during this process:
• Configuration auditing is conducted by auditors by checking that defined
processes are being followed and ensuring that the SCM goals are satisfied.
• To verify compliance with configuration control standards. auditing and reporting
the changes made
• SCM audits also ensure that traceability is maintained during the process.
• Ensures that changes made to a baseline comply with the configuration status
reports
• Validation of completeness and consistency
Participant of SCM process:
• 1.Configuration Manager
• Configuration Manager is the head who is
Responsible for identifying configuration items.
• CM ensures team follows the SCM process
• He/She needs to approve or reject change
requests
• 2. Developer
• The developer needs to change the code as per
standard development activities or change
requests. He is responsible for maintaining
configuration of code.
• The developer should check the changes and
resolves conflicts
• 3. Auditor
• The auditor is responsible for SCM audits and reviews.
• Need to ensure the consistency and completeness of release.
• 4. Project Manager:
• Ensure that the product is developed within a certain time frame
• Monitors the progress of development and recognizes issues in the SCM
process
• Generate reports about the status of the software system
• Make sure that processes and policies are followed for creating, changing,
and testing
• 5. User
• The end user should understand the key SCM terms to ensure he has the
latest version of the software
Software Configuration Management Plan
• The SCMP (Software Configuration management planning) process
planning begins at the early coding phases of a project. The outcome
of the planning phase is the SCM plan which might be stretched or
revised during the project.
• The SCMP can follow a public standard like the IEEE 828 or organization
specific standard
• It defines the types of documents to be management and a document
naming. Example Test_v1
• SCMP defines the person who will be responsible for the entire SCM process
and creation of baselines.
• Fix policies for version management & change control
• Define tools which can be used during the SCM process
• Configuration management database for recording configuration information.
Software Configuration Management Tools

• Concurrency Management:
• When two or more tasks are happening at the same time, it is known as concurrent
operation. Concurrency in context to SCM means that the same file being edited by multiple
persons at the same time.
• If concurrency is not managed correctly with SCM tools, then it may create many pressing
issues.
• Version Control:
• SCM uses archiving method or saves every change made to file. With the help of archiving or
save feature, it is possible to roll back to the previous version in case of issues.
• Synchronization:
• Users can checkout more than one files or an entire copy of the repository. The user then
works on the needed file and checks in the changes back to the repository. They can
synchronize their local copy to stay updated with the changes made by other team members.
• 1. Git: Git is a free and open source tool which helps version control.
It is designed to handle all types of projects with speed and efficiency.
• Download link: https://git-scm.com/
• 2. Team Foundation Server: Team Foundation is a group of tools and
technologies that enable the team to collaborate and coordinate for
building a product.
• Download link:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/devops/server/
• 3. Ansible: It is an open source Software configuration management
tool. Apart from configuration management it also offers application
deployment & task automation.
• Download link: https://www.ansible.com/
Summery:
• Configuration Management best practices helps organizations to systematically manage,
organize, and control the changes in the documents, codes, and other entities during the
Software Development Life Cycle.
• The primary goal of the SCM process is to increase productivity with minimal mistakes
• The main reason behind configuration management process is that there are multiple people
working on software which is continually updating. SCM helps establish concurrency,
synchronization, and version control.
• A baseline is a formally accepted version of a software configuration item
• Change control is a procedural method which ensures quality and consistency when changes
are made in the configuration object.
• Configuration status accounting tracks each release during the SCM process
• Software Configuration audits verify that all the software product satisfies the baseline needs
• Project manager, Configuration manager, Developer, Auditor, and user are participants in SCM
process
• The SCM process planning begins at the early phases of a project.
• Git, Team foundation Sever and Ansible are few popular SCM tools.