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1. Define the term Quality.

Quality, simplistically, means that a product should meet its specification. Standards shall and
can help to define terms like ë
. Nevertheless, the means of expression used in standards
are often not appropriate for the practice. This is also true for the definition of the ISO 8204 for
quality: ͞Totality of 

 

of an entity that bears on its ability to satisfy stated and
implied  ͞. That means: We require a ë


  to have certain


 

that are related to  ë   
(of the user) and satisfy them. It is clear that the
pair  ë   and 

 
plays a central role in the definition of ë
. Therefore, an
object oriented model1 contributes to a better understanding for these notions. Figure 1 show
a software product, which is to fulfill  ë   
in having appropriate 

 

. The
existence of relationships between  ë   
and 

 

makes statements about
the quality of a product possible.

u. What is the objective of Reliability? Discuss various issues involved in ensuring Reliability.

The need for a means to objectively determine software quality comes from the desire to apply
the techniques of contemporary engineering fields to the development of software. That desire
is a result of the common observation, by both lay-persons and specialists, that computer
software does not work the way it ought to. In other words, software is seen to exhibit
undesirable behavior, up to and including outright failure, with consequences for the data
which is processed, the machinery on which the software runs, and by extension the people
and materials which those machines might negatively affect. The more critical the application
of the software to economic and production processes, or to life-sustaining systems, the more
important is the need to assess the software's reliability. Regardless of the criticality of any
single software application, it is also more and more frequently observed that software has
penetrated deeply into most every aspect of modern life through the technology we use. It is
only expected that this infiltration will continue, along with an accompanying dependency on
the software by the systems which maintain our society. As software becomes more and more
crucial to the operation of the systems on which we depend, the argument goes; it only follows
that the software should offer a concomitant level of dependability. In other words, the
software should behave in the way it is intended, or even better, in the way it should.
 The circular logic of the preceding sentence is not accidental ʹ it is meant to illustrate a
fundamental problem in the issue of measuring software reliability, which is the difficulty of
determining, in advance, exactly how the software is intended to operate. The problem seems
to stem from a common conceptual error in the consideration of software, which is that
software in some sense takes on a role which would otherwise be filled by a human being. This
is a problem on two levels. Firstly, most modern software performs work which a human could
never perform, especially at the high level of reliability that is often expected from software in
comparison to humans. Secondly, software is fundamentally incapable of most of the mental
capabilities of humans which separate them from mere mechanisms: qualities such as
adaptability, general-purpose knowledge, a sense of conceptual and functional context, and
common sense.
Nevertheless, most software programs could safely be considered to have a particular,
even singular purpose. If the possibility can be allowed that said purpose can be well or even
completely defined, it should present a means for at least considering objectively whether the
software is, in fact, reliable, by comparing the expected outcome to the actual outcome of
running the software in a given environment, with given data. Unfortunately, it is still not
known whether it is possible to exhaustively determine either the expected outcome or the
actual outcome of the entire set of possible environment and input data to a given program,
without which it is probably impossible to determine the program's reliability with any
certainty.
However, various attempts are in the works to attempt to rein in the vastness of the
space of software's environmental and input variables, both for actual programs and
theoretical descriptions of programs. Such attempts to improve software reliability can be
applied at different stages of a program's development, in the case of real software. These
stages principally include: requirements, design, programming, testing, and runtime evaluation.
The study of theoretical software reliability is predominantly concerned with the concept of
correctness, a mathematical field of computer science which is an outgrowth of language and
automata theory. Probably everyone has an idea about the meaning of ë
However, when
it comes to quality in the real world, i.e. in conjunction with a software development project,
disagreements between the persons involved often lead to further problems. Especially in the
case of customer complaints about faults in a software product, it seems to be unclear not only
what the requirements are, but also if the software has the ͞right͟ characteristics with regard
to these requirements.
. What are the Quality Management activities? Explain in brief.

Ans:
1. Quality assurance
ͻ Establish organizational procedures and standards for quality.
2. Quality planning
ͻ Select applicable procedures and standards for a particular project and modify these
as required.
3. Quality control

ͻ Ensure that procedures and standards are followed by the software development
team.

Quality management should be separate from project management to ensure

independence.

4. List and explain KPAs in CMM.

Ans: Key Process areas

The CMMI contains several key process areas indicating the aspects of product development
that are to be covered by company processes.

Key Process Areas of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)

Abbreviation Name Area Maturity
Level
REQM Requirements Engineering 2
Management
PMC Project Monitoring Project Management 2
and
Control
PP Project Planning Project Management 2
SAM Supplier Agreement Project Management 2
Management
CM Configuration Support 2
Management
MA Measurement and Support 2
Analysis
PPQA Process and Product Support 2
Quality Assurance
PI Product Integration Engineering 3
 RD Requirements Engineering 3
Development
TS Technical Solution Engineering 3

VAL Validation Engineering 3

VER Verification Engineering 3

OPD Organizational Process Process Management 3

Definition
OPF Organizational Process Process Management 3
Focus
OT Organizational Process Management 3
Training
IPM Integrated Project Process Management 3
Management
ISM Integrated Supplier Process Management 3
Management
IT Integrated Teaming Process Management 3

RSKM Risk Management Process Management 3

DAR Decision Analysis and Support 3

Resolution
OEI Organizational Support 3
Environment
for Integration
OPP Organizational Process Process Management 4
Performance
QPM Quantitative Project Process Management 4
Management
OID Organizational Process Management 5
Innovation
and Deployment
CAR Causal Analysis and Support 5
Resolution
j. Discuss continual improvement principle with appropriate examples?

Ans: Continual improvement should be a permanent objective of the organization.

Steps in application of this principle are:
1. Make continual improvement of products, processes and systems an objective for every
individual in the organization.
2. Apply the basic improvement concepts of incremental improvement and breakthrough
improvement.
3. Use periodic assessments against established criteria of excellence to identify areas for
potential improvement.
4. Continually improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all processes.
5. Promote prevention based activities.
6. Provide every member of the organization with appropriate education and training, on
the methods and tools of continual improvement such as the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle,
problem solving, process reengineering, and process innovation.
7. Establish measures and goals to guide and track improvements, and
8. Recognize improvements.
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1. What are the issues need to be looked into while ensuring Quality?

Ans:
1. Concerned with ensuring that the required level of quality is achieved in a software
product.
2. Involves defining appropriate quality standards and procedures and ensuring that these
are followed.
3. Should aim to develop a ͚quality culture͛ where quality is seen as everyone͛s
responsibility.

u. What do you mean by the term Software Quality Management? Explain.

Ans: When applied to software the adjective quality may apply to source code as seen by
software developers, or to applications software as seen by the end-users of the software.
There are many attributes that can be used to measure software quality.
The definition of quality as 

 
means that the purpose of the software needs to
be used to deduce those attributes that should be used to measure its quality. One attribute
often used is the number of faults encountered in the software. Software that contains few
faults is considered to have higher quality than software that contains many faults.

. What do you mean by the term Software Quality Management? Explain.

Ans: Before discussing the principles and some of the common misconceptions about the
software, it is important to put the subject of process in perspective. When some approach
seems to fit a need, it is often tempting to assume it will solve all the problems. While Process
Management provides a powerful basis for assessing software problems and a consistent
framework for organizational improvement, it is not a cure-all. There are six basic principles of
the software process change which are as under:

i. Major changes to the software process must start up at the top.

Senior management leadership is required to launch the change effort and to provide
continuing resources and priority.

ii. Ultimately, everyone must be involved. Software Engineering is a team effort, and anyone
who does not participate in improvement will miss the benefits and may even inhibit progress.
iii. Effective Change requires a goal and knowledge of the current process.
To use a map, you must know where you are.

iv. Change is Continuous. Software Process improvement is not a one-shot effort; it involves
continual learning and growth.

v. Software Process change will not be retained without conscious effort and periodic
reinforcement.
vi. Software Process improvement requires investment. It takes planning, dedicated people,
management time, and capital investment.

4. Who proposed EFQM Excellence Model? Discuss in brief.

Ans: The most elaborated and accepted concept of quality management is the model of the
EFQM Excellence Model.
The EFQM Excellence Model is a framework for organizational management systems, promoted
by the European Foundation for Quality
Management (EFQM) and designed for helping organizations in their drive towards being more
competitive.
Regardless of sector, size, structure or maturity, to be successful, organizations need to
establish an appropriate management system. The EFQM Excellence Model is a practical tool to
help organizations do this by measuring where they are on the path to excellence; helping them
understand the gaps; and then stimulating solutions.
Over the years a number of research studies have investigated the correlation between the
adoption of holistic Models, such as the EFQM Excellence Model, and improved organizational
results. The majority of such studies show a positive linkage. One of the most comprehensive of
these was carried out by Dr. Vinod Singhal of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Dr. Kevin
Hendricks of the College of William and Mary.
The model can be used in four ways:
1. As a framework which organizations can use to help them develop their vision and goals for
the future in a tangible, measurable way.
2. As a framework which organizations can use to help them identify and understand the
systemic nature of their business, the key linkages and cause and effect relationships.
3. As the basis for the EFQM Excellence Award, a process which allows Europe to recognize its
most successful organizations and promote them as role models of excellence for others to
learn from.
4. As a diagnostic tool for assessing the current health of the organization. Through this process
an organization is better able to balance its priorities, allocate resources and generate realistic
business plans. This fourth, diagnostic use, is also known as self-assessment. Self-assessment
has wide applicability to organizations large and small, in the public as well as the private
sectors. Increasingly organizations are using outputs from self-assessment as part of their
business planning process and use the EFQM model as a basis for operational and project
review. The EFQM Excellence Model is a non-prescriptive framework based on nine criteria.
Five of these are 'enablers' and four are 'results'. The 'enabler' criteria cover what an
organization does. The 'results' criteria cover what an organization achieves. 'Results' are
caused by 'enablers' and feedback from 'results' help to improve 'enablers'.
The model, which recognizes there are many approaches to achieving sustainable excellence in
all aspects of performance, is based on the premise that excellent results with respect to
performance, customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving policy and
strategy, that is delivered through people partnerships and resources, and processes.

j. How cost of a software contributes to the quality? Discuss.

The Cost of the quality includes all costs incurred in the pursuit of quality or in performing
quality-related activities. Cost of quality studies are conducted to provide a baseline for the
current cost of quality, identify opportunities for reducing the cost of quality, and provide a
normalized basis of comparison.
Quality cost may be divided into costs associated with prevention, appraisal and failure.
Prevention cost include
i) Quality Planning
ii) Formal Technical Reviews
iii) Test Equipments
iv) Training
Appraisal Costs include activities to gain insight into product condition the ͞first time through͟
each process. Examples of appraisal cost include
i) in-process and inter-process inspection
ii) Equipment calibration and maintenance
iii) Testing

Failure Costs are those that would disappear if no defects appeared shipping a product to
customers. Failure costs may be subdivided into internal failure costs and external failure costs.
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are incurred when we detect a defect in our product prior to shipment.
Internal failure costs include:
i) Rework
ii) Repair
iii) Failure Mode Analysis

  

are associated with defects found after the product has been shipped to
the customer. Examples of the external failure costs are:
i) Compliant Resolution
ii) Product return and replacement
iii) Help line support
iv) Warranty Work