Office of the

Government Chief Information Officer

QUALITY MANUAL

[Q1]
Version : 4.6

May 2011
© The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The contents of this document remain the property of and may not be reproduced in whole or
in part without the express permission of the Government of the HKSAR
 COPYRIGHT NOTICE

© 2008 by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Unless otherwise indicated, the copyright in the works contained in this publication is owned
by the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. You may generally copy and
distribute these materials in any format or medium provided the following conditions are
met –

(a) the particular item has not been specifically indicated to be excluded and is therefore not
to
be copied or distributed;

(b) the copying is not done for the purpose of creating copies for sale;

(c) the materials must be reproduced accurately and must not be used in a misleading context;
and

(d) the copies shall be accompanied by the words “copied/distributed with the permission of
the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. All rights reserved.”

If you wish to make copies for purposes other than that permitted above, you should seek
permission by contacting the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.
QUALITY MANUAL QUALITY POLICY
___________________________________________________________________________

QUALITY POLICY

The quality of the products and services delivered by the OGCIO to

users/customers is the concern of every person in the organization. All
personnel should then be involved creatively in providing high-quality products
and services through :

 Their responsiveness to user/customer needs;

 The provision of satisfying work and meaningful careers for all employees;
 The constant measurement and monitoring of all operations;
 The continuous improvement of procedures, processes, products, and
services; and
 The performance of operations in a responsible manner.

The quality of products and services will be maintained in accordance with

current OGCIO policy, standards and procedures.

The Quality System will embrace a Total Quality Management philosophy and
will comply with appropriate international quality standards.

________________________________________________________________________________________
QUALITY MANUAL CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. PURPOSE...................................................................................................................................... 1

2. SCOPE ............................................................................................................................................ 1

3. REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 1
3.1. STANDARDS ................................................................................................................................. 1
3.2. OTHER REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 2
3.2.1. OGCIO Documentation ............................................................................................................. 2
3.2.2. Bibliographies ............................................................................................................................ 2
4. DEFINITIONS AND CONVENTIONS ....................................................................................... 1
4.1. DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................................ 1
4.2. CONVENTIONS ............................................................................................................................. 1
5. QMS - FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................................. 5-1
5.1. MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY ......................................................................................... 5-1
5.1.1. Quality Policy ......................................................................................................................... 5-1
5.1.2. Responsibility and Authority ................................................................................................... 5-1
5.1.3. User Department's Responsibility ........................................................................................... 5-2
5.1.4. Resources ................................................................................................................................ 5-3
5.2. QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM....................................................................................... 5-4
5.2.1. General.................................................................................................................................... 5-4
5.2.2. Quality Management System Documentation ......................................................................... 5-4
5.2.3. Quality Plan ............................................................................................................................ 5-4
6. QMS - LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................... 6-1
6.1. QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OVERVIEW ................................................................. 6-1
6.1.1. Standards and Methods ........................................................................................................... 6-1
6.1.2 Project Quality Plan ............................................................................................................... 6-3
6.1.3 Quality Review ........................................................................................................................ 6-4
7. DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................................................ 7-1
7.1. QUALITY RECORDS ................................................................................................................. 7-1
7.1.1. General.................................................................................................................................... 7-1
7.1.2. Retention of Records ............................................................................................................... 7-1
7.1.3. Disposal of Records ................................................................................................................ 7-1
7.2. MEASUREMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 7-1
APPENDIX A: QUALITY MANAGEMENT CHARTER ......................................................................... 1

________________________________________________________________________________________
QUALITY MANUAL PURPOSE
___________________________________________________________________________

1. PURPOSE

This manual defines the organization, policies and principles of OGCIO Quality
Management System (QMS) that is applied to application system development
work at the Office of Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) of the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It
also defines the responsibilities and authorities of those who manage, perform
and verify work affecting quality and the effective implementation of this quality
system.

This manual shall be accessible to all users and interested parties to demonstrate
OGCIO's capability of and commitment to producing high quality products.

________________________________________________________________________________________
1-1
QUALITY MANUAL SCOPE
___________________________________________________________________________

2. SCOPE

The QMS described in this manual shall apply to activities in all application
system development projects in OGCIO. It covers five phases of the System
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) which is the framework for a system
development project:

 Project Request Phase

 Feasibility Study Phase
 Systems Analysis and Design Phase
 Implementation Phase
 Post Implementation Phase

The activities start by establishing a prima facie case for an application system
development project of a user initial request and end on the hand over of the
application system from project management to service management and a post
implementation review. The QMS described herein does not cover the activities
of the operation and maintenance of the application systems.

________________________________________________________________________________________
2-1
QUALITY MANUAL REFERENCES
___________________________________________________________________________

3. REFERENCES

3.1. STANDARDS

ISO 9000 Quality Systems - Guide to selection and use - 1987

ISO 9001 Quality Systems - Model for quality assurance in design

development, production, installation and servicing - 1994

ISO 9000-3 Quality management and quality assurance standards - Part 3:

Guidelines for the application of ISO 9001 to the development,
supply and maintenance of software - 1991

AS3563.1 Australian Standard: Software Quality Management System

IEEE ANSI/IEEE Software Engineering Standards

610.12-1990 IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology

(ISBN 1-55937-067-X)

729-1983 IEEE Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology (ANSI)

730-1989 IEEE Standard for Software Quality Assurance Plans (ANSI)

982.2-1988 IEEE Guide for the use of IEEE Standard Dictionary of

Measures to Produce Reliable Software

983-1986 IEEE Guide for Software Quality Assurance Planning (ANSI)

________________________________________________________________________________________
3-1
QUALITY MANUAL REFERENCES
___________________________________________________________________________

3.2. OTHER REFERENCES

3.2.1. OGCIO Documentation

Standards/Procedures S&M Ref. No.

Quality Planning Procedure [Q2]

Quality Assurance Review Procedure [Q3]

Information Systems Procedures Manual (ISPM) [P1]

Practice Guide to Project Management for IT [S19]

Projects under an Outsourced Environment

Practitioner Guide on PRINCE [G38]

SSADM Practitioner guides [S3], [S4], [G15], [G16]

RAD Practitioner guides [G47], [G48]

OOM Practitioner guides [G52], [G53]

3.2.2. Bibliographies

Quality Assurance Manager Handbook, QAI

Establishing Quality Control, Quality Assurance Practices Manual (Volume 1),

QAI

K.Daily, Quality Management for Software, NCC Backwell Limited, 1992

William F. Perry, Quality Assurance for Information Systems, QED Technical

Publishing Group, 1991

________________________________________________________________________________________
3-2
QUALITY MANUAL DEFINITIONS AND CONVENTIONS
___________________________________________________________________________

4. DEFINITIONS AND CONVENTIONS

4.1. DEFINITIONS

Sources for definitions are listed in order of preference.

ISO 8402 Quality Vocabulary 1986

610-12-1990 IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering

Terminology (ISBN 1-55937-067-X)

729-1983 IEEE Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology

(ANSI)

4.2. CONVENTIONS

In this manual, the use of the following words have special meaning:

 'shall' indicates a mandatory requirement, usually based on some published

Standards
 'should' indicates a requirement for good practice, which should be
implemented whenever possible
 'may' indicates a desirable requirement

The following acronyms are used in the text of this manual:

ISPM Information Systems Procedures Manual [P1]

OOM Object Oriented Methodology

PRINCE PRojects IN Controlled Environments

RAD Rapid Application Development

S&M Standards and Methods

SDLC System Development Life Cycle

SSADM Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology

________________________________________________________________________________________
4-1
QUALITY MANUAL QMS - FRAMEWORK
___________________________________________________________________________

5. QMS - FRAMEWORK

5.1. MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY

5.1.1. Quality Policy

The OGCIO Quality Policy and all subsequent versions of the Policy shall be
approved by the Quality Management Committee (QualCom). The Policy shall
be placed in the front of this manual and subsequent version of the Policy shall
be published and circulated to all officers through the OGCIO News or the
Intranet, etc.

The QMS described in this manual is governed by the OGCIO Quality Policy.

5.1.2. Responsibility and Authority

"Quality" is the responsibility of all staff members in OGCIO. However, the

organizational responsibilities and authority in quality related tasks are specified
as follows:

5.1.2.1. Quality Management Committee (QualCom)

QualCom is the highest authority for all quality matters in OGCIO. It is chaired
by the Deputy Government Chief Information Officer (Consulting and
Operations). Its members include Assistant Government Chief Information
Officers and Chief Systems Manager under the Deputy Government Chief
Information Officer (Consulting and Operations). A Senior Systems Manager
who assumes the duty of Quality Manager is its secretary.

The committee is responsible for the endorsement of Quality Policy and the
QMS documentation, and monitoring of QMS implementation and periodic
review on the QMS.

5.1.2.2. Standards and Methods (S&M) Registration Office

The S&M Registration Office is responsible for registration of IT standards,

guidelines and procedures. It maintains the Standards and Methods Registry. It
also coordinates the on-going review and update of IT standards, guidelines and
procedures maintained by respective responsible parties.

5.1.2.3. Professional Development Team

The Quality Manager, the head of the Team, is responsible for facilitating and
advising all quality related matters and is functionally reporting to QualCom.

________________________________________________________________________________________
5-1
QUALITY MANUAL QMS - FRAMEWORK
___________________________________________________________________________

The Quality Manager is also responsible for reporting the performance of the
QMS and advising any necessary actions to QualCom.

The Professional Development Team is responsible for maintaining the QMS,

and providing general advice on quality procedures, techniques and tools. A
complete description of the responsibility and authority are defined in the
Quality Management Charter (Appendix 1) endorsed by QualCom.

5.1.2.4. Development Project Team

The project team is responsible for the product quality of respective project.
The Project Manager of the team shall prepare a Project Quality Plan and
monitor the quality of the processes and products in accordance with the Quality
Management System and the user requirements. Project team members and
reviewers shall work according to Project Quality Plan to ensure the stated
standards and procedures are conformed to and the requirements of the products
are met.

5.1.2.5. The Support Teams

The technical support teams and infrastructure support teams are responsible for
producing and maintaining technical guidelines, standards, procedures and
manuals.

5.1.2.6 Line Managers

Line managers (including Chief Systems Managers (CSM), Senior Systems

Managers (SSM) and Systems Managers (SM)) in OGCIO organization
structure have line responsibility on the overall performance of the divisions,
sections and teams.

5.1.3. User Department's Responsibility

The user department shall cooperate with OGCIO to provide all necessary
information in a timely manner and resolve pending items. The responsibilities
of the user department in the project are clearly stated in the Information
Systems Procedures Manual (ISPM).

User department should assign a senior management with the responsibility for
dealing with OGCIO on all project matters. The representative should chair the
Project Steering Committee (PSC) which has the authority to deal with all the
contractual matters with OGCIO including:

a) defining the user requirements;

b) accepting the proposals;

________________________________________________________________________________________
5-2
QUALITY MANUAL QMS - FRAMEWORK
___________________________________________________________________________

c) concluding the requirements;

d) approving acceptance criteria and procedures;
e) accepting the product; and
f) providing sufficient user resources.

The structure of a PSC is stipulated in “Practice Guide to Project Management

for IT Projects under an Outsourced Environment” (S&M Ref.: [S19]) or
“Practitioner Guide on PRINCE” (S&M Ref.: [G38]). The decisions and
agreements reached should be documented in the form of minutes of meeting of
PSC or confirmed by memos.

5.1.4. Resources

OGCIO management shall identify resource requirements and provide adequate

resources and personnel with the appropriate skills for management and
performance of SDLC activities in accordance with the government procedures.

________________________________________________________________________________________
5-3
QUALITY MANUAL QMS - FRAMEWORK
___________________________________________________________________________

5.2. QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

5.2.1. General

The QMS is to systematically program, document and control those standards

and procedures for the effective development of application systems in
accordance with international standards and to maintain sufficient Quality
Records.

The Quality Manual [Q1] makes references to the standards/procedures used in

the QMS. These standards/procedures shall be reviewed and approved by the
responsible line managements and then registered by Standards and Methods
Registration Office.

5.2.2. Quality Management System Documentation

The QMS elements, requirements and provisions are documented in the Quality
Manual [Q1], Quality Planning Procedure [Q2] and Quality Assurance Review
Procedure [Q3]. These manuals are posted in the Standards and Methods
Registration Office of the ITG InfoStation.

Professional Development Team is responsible for developing and maintaining

the QMS Documentation.

5.2.3. Quality Plan

Quality Manual and Quality Planning Procedure are established to ensure that
the QMS is understood and observed by the project team. The project team
shall prepare a project quality plan to implement quality activities for each
development project according to the QMS.

________________________________________________________________________________________
5-4
QUALITY MANUAL QMS – LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES
___________________________________________________________________________

6. QMS - LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES

6.1. QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OVERVIEW

The QMS is an integrated process documented in this Quality Manual which

shall apply to all activities in following five phases of the System Development
Life Cycle:

 Project Request Phase

 Feasibility Study Phase
 System Analysis and Design Phase
 Implementation Phase
 Post Implementation Phase

6.1.1. Standards and Methods

Standards, procedures and guidelines applicable to SDLC are referred in the

ISPM. All authorized officers are able to access the soft copy of the applicable
standards, procedures and guidelines posted at Standards and Methods
Registration Office of the ITG InfoStation.

The QMS embraces three major sets of standards and methods which work
together to ensure that quality is built into the development processes:

6.1.1.1. Information Systems Procedures Manual (ISPM)

It is a documented procedures manual which covers the procedures and

guidelines related to information systems development and maintenance.

6.1.1.2. S&M for Project Management

 Practice Guide to Project Management for IT Projects under an Outsourced

Environment

 PRojects IN Controlled Environmet (PRINCE)

They are for the management of plans, controls, quality, risks, and changes of
application system projects.

________________________________________________________________________________________
6-1
QUALITY MANUAL QMS – LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES
___________________________________________________________________________

6.1.1.3. S&M for Application Development

 Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM)

It is an information system engineering methodology adopted by OGCIO for

application system requirement definition and design in the Feasibility Study
and Systems Analysis and Design phases.

 Rapid Application Development (RAD)

It is another information system engineering methodology adopted by OGCIO

aimed at the faster delivery of application systems through the use of an
integrated set of CASE tools and a number of rapid development techniques.
The RAD life cycle consists of phases for planning, designing, constructing, and
implementing an application system.

 Object Oriented Methodology (OOM)

It is the latest information system engineering methodology adopted by OGCIO.

With this methodology, a computer system can be developed on a component
basis which enables the effective re-use of existing components and facilitates
the sharing of its components by other systems.

6.1.1.4 Structure of documents

OGCIO development related documents are organized in a three level structure:

Quality Manual, the top level document, summarizes how the overall quality
system works.

The ISPM, the second level document, describes the policy, procedures, and the
applicable standards for systems development activities.

The standards, guidelines and procedures are the third level documents that
detail the methodologies and technical requirements for carrying out the
activities.

Structure of these documents are depicted as follows:

________________________________________________________________________________________
6-2
QUALITY MANUAL QMS – LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES
___________________________________________________________________________

Quality Manual

ISPM

Standards Guidelines Procedures

6.1.2 Project Quality Plan

The Quality Planning Procedure is a documented procedure for preparing the

Project Quality Plan in accordance with the specific characteristics and
requirements of the project which may deviate from the standard practice for the
monitoring of the quality of system development.

Each project shall have a Project Quality Plan as an integral part of the Project
Plan. The Project Quality Plan shall be prepared in accordance with the Quality
Planning Procedure and specified:

a) the standards and procedures applied for each phase;

b) the input and output criteria for each phase;
c) the verification, test and validation activities to be carried out;
d) the planning of the verification, test and validation activities to be carried out
including schedules, resources and approval authorities; and
e) specific responsibilities of the quality activities.

The Project Quality Plan should be formally approved together with the Project
Plan by PSC or appropriate authority. A copy of Project Quality Plan shall send
to Professional Development Team of OGCIO for information.

________________________________________________________________________________________
6-3
QUALITY MANUAL QMS – LIFE CYCLE ACTIVITIES
___________________________________________________________________________

6.1.3 Quality Review

Quality review is a process to assure a product and its development processes

have met the stated quality standards. Project internal and external reviews shall
be conducted to ensure the product conforms to the quality requirements.

Project team shall perform project internal review which shall satisfy the quality
review requirements as stipulated in the adopted project management method.
Quality Assurance Review, being conducted by an independent reviewer, is a
project external review and shall be performed in accordance with the Quality
Assurance Review Procedure.

Quality Assurance Review shall be conducted at the following checkpoints:

 Feasibility Study - End of phase review

 System Analysis & Design - End of phase review
 Implementation - End of Physical Design review
 Implementation - Pre-production review

These checkpoints shall be specified in the Project Quality Plan and carried out
by reviewers (preferably in the rank of SSM or equivalent and independent of
the project) appointed by the Senior Technical or the fund controller (for project
with no Senior Technical). This is to ensure that the requirements are met and
proper standards and methods are employed for the design and implementation
of the project.

The records of the Quality Assurance Reviews are formal Quality Records and
shall be maintained by the project team as defined in the Quality Assurance
Review Procedure. A copy of Quality Assurance Review form shall send to
Professional Development Team for information.

________________________________________________________________________________________
6-4
QUALITY MANUAL DOCUMENTS
___________________________________________________________________________

7. DOCUMENTS

7.1. QUALITY RECORDS

7.1.1. General

Records should be maintained to adequately support and substantiate all SDLC

project activities. They should be accurate, legible, of a permanent nature and
complete to provide evidence of the quality of the product, and compliance with
the agreed requirements.

As defined in the Quality Assurance Review Procedure, formal review records

(Quality Records) shall be maintained by the project team in the project file.
Supporting documents shall be maintained in the project files.

All Quality Records shall be filed and maintained according to relevant subject
matter and indexed in such a way that they are readily retrievable.

7.1.2. Retention of Records

Quality Records shall be retained by the project team and the minimum
retention period for the Quality Records is the life span of the application.

7.1.3. Disposal of Records

No Quality Records of any project should be disposed of unless authorized by

the line management of respective project team.

7.2. MEASUREMENTS

To continuously improve the QMS, statistical techniques and measurements

should be introduced progressively for establishing, controlling, and verifying
the effectiveness of the processes and the quality of the products.

________________________________________________________________________________________
7-1
QUALITY MANUAL APPENDIX A
___________________________________________________________________________

APPENDIX A: QUALITY MANAGEMENT CHARTER

THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT CHARTER

Quality Management
OGCIO (the then ITSD)
March 1993

________________________________________________________________________________________
A-1
QUALITY MANUAL APPENDIX A
___________________________________________________________________________

1. PURPOSE OF DOCUMENT

This document defines the goals of the Professional Development Team on

quality for the next three years. It is not intended to be a working document to
define short term objectives and plans, but rather a strategic statement of the aim
of the Professional Development Team on quality.

The Charter will serve as a baseline against which to measure progress of the
Professional Development Team on quality on an annual basis.

Detailed plans and objectives will be developed, driven by this document, and
resource requirements estimated on an annual basis.

2. REVIEW PROCESS

This document will be formally reviewed by QualCom on an annual basis to

ensure that the strategic direction is still appropriate.

3. GOALS OF THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM ON QUALITY

The goals of the Professional Development Team on quality are:

1) to support the mission and objectives defined in OGCIO strategic quality

charter;
2) to monitor the OGCIO quality policy for effectiveness and continuous
improvement;
3) to promulgate and manage the quality programme in OGCIO;
4) to uphold the principles and develop the imperatives of TQM; and
5) to strive for commitment and involvement of OGCIO to quality through
education on and about quality.

________________________________________________________________________________________
A-2
QUALITY MANUAL APPENDIX A
___________________________________________________________________________

4. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

The Professional Development Team is responsible for:

1) advising QualCom on future quality needs and directions, in view of market

trends and OGCIO requirements;
2) developing and maintaining quality policy for OGCIO on behalf of
QualCom;
3) managing the OGCIO quality programme; ensuring that the quality policy is
actively and positively implemented;
4) providing a repository of information on TQM, quality methods, tools and
procedures for the benefit of OGCIO to include the quality library and also
general advice services;
5) conducting research and development into quality methods, tools and
procedures; advising on their adoption where appropriate and planning and
managing the implementation; and
6) developing OGCIO awareness and expertise in quality by advising on
appropriate quality training.

5. RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER FUNCTIONS

5.1 Development Project Teams

The Professional Development Team will provide general advice on OGCIO

QMS to development project teams . The development project teams are
responsible for the quality of their projects.

TQM OVERVIEW

TQM is a management philosophy, the purpose of which is to increase profit.

The successful implementation of TQM leads to increased productivity and
increased customer satisfaction - this combination therefore leads to increased
profitability.

The following core concepts are essential:-

Everyone is involved
Quality is everyone's responsibility. Ownership by the individual of the
problems which are causing poor quality, and responsibility for development or
improvement of the processes which will raise the level of quality is essential.

Continuous Improvement

________________________________________________________________________________________
A-3
QUALITY MANUAL APPENDIX A
___________________________________________________________________________

TQM is an ongoing programme, not a single implementation. Processes need to

be constantly measured, evaluated and improved, and relatively small changes
can lead to enormous quality rewards.

Recognition and reward

Recognition and reward systems are powerful motivators and are essential
contributors to TQM. They demonstrate that the additional effort expended by
the individual in quality improvement is appreciated and encourage him to strive
further for improved quality.

Metrics
Variation is the one of the main causes of poor quality. Quality management
approaches are said to 'manage by fact', that is to have facts and figures
(metrics) available to identify and reduce variation as far as possible in the
development process.

Managers as role models

At all levels managers must be conscious that they are role models for quality.
People will note what they do more than what they say. They must positively
demonstrate their commitment to quality every day in their management style
and decisions.

Right First Time

The aim of TQM is to achieve defect-free work most of the time. This is the
result of an emphasis on preventive measures which establish an environment
where the processes in place are constantly assessed to prevent defects from
occurring.

________________________________________________________________________________________
A-4