A company that does not improve will sooner or later loose its market share.
Thus “Quality Management” and “Process Improvement” are frequently used words in the software industry;
yet companies still have problems to make employees follow the processes defined by the Quality Systems.
Two questions demand an answer: “Where to find successful Software Quality Management?”,
and “What are the premises for success?”
In this thesis IEEE Software Engineering Standards, CMMI, ISO 9000, and ISO/IEC 15504 are introduced.
A characteristic as well as a textual comparison shows how these standards can be used in the software industry.
Opinions on Software Quality Assurance, experiences with process improvements, and observed software engineering practices
in three software companies are presented and analyzed.
ISO and CMMI are very popular because they reward managers with a certification or grade to use for marketing purposes.
The more detailed IEEE standards are not as popular, but are more useful when looking for concrete ideas and
instructions on how to improve. ISO/IEC 15504 differs from the other models, as it focuses on assessments.
Observed Quality Management successes in the Software Industry show that Process Improvements are possible if:
1. management is willing to invest;
2. three improvement rules are followed:
a. Every quality task defined should subjectively improve the performer’s work situation;
b. The quality system should be founded on two-way communication;
c. Use tools whenever advantageous for the users.
I hope these experiences and answers from theory and practice will be helpful for software developers,
managers and others striving towards more structured software development.