Quality Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Quality - Assignment Example Examples of such processes include product creation, system testing, code module measurement, project planning and experience packaging for use in other projects to be implemented in the future. They have also described some of the characteristics that identify software processes. Armbrust et al (2012) state that software processes are derived from the real world. The processes can be performed either by humans or machines or by both of them. Human performance is referred to as enactment while machine performance is referred to as execution. The processes can be refined or transformed into sub processes. The sub processes are capable of being refined. Finally, the processes consume further products so as to enable them transform input products into multiple output products. Acuna et al (2000) describe a software process as activities that are set in a partially orderly manner with the aim of managing, developing and maintaining software systems. The process is based on the process of construction and not the end product. Many organizations define their own means of producing software. Evaluation of software processes related to analysis of activities that an organization carries out in order to develop software or softwares as end products. The idea is that the quality of the final product, which is the software, is directly proportional to the quality of the development process. The aim of carrying out software process evaluation is to improve the production (cost and quality). The process of evaluation brings into knowledge standards for assessing the quality of software development (Acuna et al 2000). There are two methods that are popularly used to evaluated software process: software capability evaluation and ISO/IEC 15504. The SCE was developed by the software engineering institute with the purpose not just to evaluate for quality but for purposes of selecting suppliers, monitoring process and internal evaluation. The method focuses on analysis of the way certain key areas are implemented and institutionalized. The method analyses if the software processes adopted by a given organization are fully satisfying the requirements that are usually articulated in the yardstick (Armbrust 2012). The method comprises of three stages or phases: plan and preparation, conduct evaluation and reporting of results. Conduct evaluation involved visiting of the organization being evaluated by the evaluation team. The method incorporates CMM as referencing model. CMM describes various maturity levels that represent an ordinal scale used to rate the development process. The maturity levels are related to the evolution of the process to the end. The fist level is the initial level. This level represents the ad hoc stage, that is, stage that is not managed and unpredictable (Armbrust 2012). The second level is known as repeatable. The level is intuitive in nature. The processes are basically managed and there is the capability of repeating some projects. The third level is known as the defined stage. It is qualitative in nature. The processes are well defined and institutionalized. The fourth maturity level is known as the managed stage. The level is marked by quantitative analysis that amounts to measures and