Software Quality Management
The notion of "quality" is not as simple as it may seem. For any engineered product, there are many desired qualities relevant to a particular project. The section explains software quality fundamentals, including the main SQM processes: quality assurance, verification, validation, review, and audit.
Software Quality Fundamentals
Quality Improvement
The quality of software products can be improved through an iterative process of continuous improvement which requires management control, coordination, and feedback from many concurrent processes: the software life cycle processes; the process of error/defect detection, removal, and prevention; and the quality improvement process.
The theory and concepts behind quality improvement, such as building in quality through the prevention and early detection of errors, continuous improvement, and customer focus, are pertinent to software engineering. These concepts are based on the work of experts in quality who have stated that the quality of a product is directly linked to the quality of the process used to create it.
Approaches such as the Total Quality Management (TQM) process of Plan, Do, Check, and Act (PDCA) are tools by which quality objectives can be met. Management sponsorship supports process and product evaluations and the resulting findings. Then, an improvement program is developed identifying detailed actions and improvement projects to be addressed in a feasible time frame. Management support implies that each improvement project has enough resources to achieve the goal defined for it. Management sponsorship must be solicited frequently by implementing proactive communication activities. The involvement of work groups, as well as middle-management support and resources allocated at project level.