SQA trustees and their tasks

26.2 SQA trustees and their tasks

SQA trustees are staff members who, being strongly interested in software

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quality, volunteer part of their time to promoting quality. They are frequently

instructed on subjects of interest by the SQA unit. As SQA “agents”, trustees are expected to provide the internal support necessary to successfully imple- ment SQA components.

Trustees’ tasks vary substantially among organizations. Tasks may be unit-related and/or organization-related, and include some or all of the fol- lowing activities.

Unit-related tasks

Support their colleagues’ attempts to solve difficulties arising in the implementation of software quality procedures and work instructions

Help their unit manager in performing his or her SQA tasks (e.g., prepa- ration of a project’s work instructions, collection of data for calculating SQA metrics)

Promote compliance and monitor implementation of SQA procedures and work instructions by colleagues

Report substantial and systematic non-compliance events to the SQA unit

Report severe software quality failures to the SQA unit. Organization-related tasks

Initiate changes and updates of organization-wide SQA procedures and work instructions

Initiate organization-wide improvements of development and mainte- nance processes and applications to the CAB for solutions to recurrent

26.3 SQA committees and their tasks

SQA committees can be either permanent or ad hoc. The subjects dealt with,

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authority as well as division of tasks between permanent and ad hoc com- mittees, vary considerably among organizations and over time.

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Permanent committees commonly deal with SCC (software change con-

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trol), CA (corrective actions), procedure s, method development tools and

quality metrics. Ad hoc committees commonly deal with specific cases of

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more general interest such as updates of a specific procedure, analysis and

and other actors

solution of a software failure, elaboration of software metrics for a targeted process or product, updating software quality costs and data collection methods for a specific issue.

Permanent SQA committees are integral parts of the SQA organization- al framework; their tasks and operation are usually defined in the organization’s SQA procedures. In contrast, ad hoc committees are estab- lished on a short-term per-problem basis, with members nominated by the

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executive responsible for software quality issues, the head of the SQA Unit, the SQA sub-units, the permanent SQA committees, or any other body that initiated its formation and has an interest in the work it is to do. This body

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also defines the ad hoc committee’s tasks.

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26.4 SQA forums – tasks and methods of operation

SQA forums are informal components of the SQA organizational frame- work; they are established by volunteers and display some features of a community. The forums operate rather freely, not being subject to any stan- dard requirements or procedures. A forum’s subjects, activities and participants vary from one organization to another and reflect, more than anything else, the individuals belonging to the organization’s software qual- ity community who are eager to create a meeting place for the exchange of SQA experiences and ideas. An organization generally benefits from the activities of its SQA forums, which can function independently or in some kind of cooperative relationship.

Members of an SQA forum usually define its scope and mode of opera- tion, which can be limited or broad in scope. The forum can meet regularly or sporadically, and can define its preferred means of communication (Internet, intranet, electronic mail, etc.).

SQA forums typically focus on:

SQA procedure improvements and implementation

Quality metrics

Participation in SQA forums may be closed (e.g., limited to quality line man- 565 agers) or open to all. Members of an open forum may include:

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SQA unit members

SQA trustees

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Software development and maintenance staff

SQA and software engineering consultants/experts

Customer representatives. Forums also maintain the option of publication. Publications can include

newsletters to members, periodic reviews of SQA issues, reports of profes- sional task force or special forum committees. In addition to describing and analyzing a quality issue, reports may include recommendations for correc- tive actions. The forum also decides upon a distribution list, and whether its publications are limited to its members or extended to other members of the organization.

An example of a forum operating for several years in a well-known soft- ware house was the “Template Forum”. Four team leaders, two of whom had

a reputation of being outstanding report writers, established the forum, whose sole objective was to prepare a set of templates for the 11 teams work- ing within the framework of the Software Development Department. On average, membership of the forum was 8–11 members, but membership never exceeded 15. During the forum’s three years of activity, about 20 different templates were issued, most of which were also updated at least once during this period. The templates were publicized in the department’s data commu- nication network and were defined as the department’s standard in the space of about a year. The forum discontinued its activities after two of its initiators left the firm. Several attempts by the SQA unit to renew the forum’s activities failed in the absence of a staff member to drive its reactivation.

Summary

(1) Describe the SQA unit’s tasks according to the proposed Organizational Structure Model.

The tasks of the SQA unit are grouped into SQA operations functions and SQA devel- opment and maintenance functions.

SQA operations functions:

Project life cycle SQA: performs tasks such as contract reviews, formal design reviews and software testing.

SQA infrastructure operations: performs tasks such as publication of updated ver- sions of SQA procedures, SQA training activities and follow-up of staff certification.

choice of development methodology and implementation of SQA procedures.