Execution Model | Delivery Model | Project Management | Software Process | Quality Commitment

 

Overview

We understand that success in the software industry takes more than delivering an application to the marketplace as per schedule. Software applications are created in rapid development environments, driving them towards the marketplace at breakneck speed. As a result, the quality of software might get affected thus affecting a company's reputation and it's relationship with it's clients in effect the market value of our organization. Two factors are vital for increasing the market share of our organization -

• the quality of our applications and
• the processes that assure quality

Achieving the Desired Quality

ESSPL's Quality Management System has implemented all the processes and practices of the SEI Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) at Maturity Level 3 to deliver quality products with lower error rates.

Our Quality Management System was named as "Odessi", which contains

• Apex Manual is a policy level document, which defines the Quality policy and Quality Objectives of ESSPL
• Library of Records created as a result of implementing the QMS and important past project data Process Asset Library(PAL)
• Processes descriptions along with Guidelines, Checklists, Standards, Forms and Templates

 At ESSPL we have different groups to ensure that the quality of our applications are up to the clients. The roles and responsibilities of these groups are as follows:

• Quality Management Group ensures compliance to the Quality Management System of the organization.
• Software Quality Assurance Group is led by the Quality Manager who continuously monitors quality activities at the organization level.
• Software Engineering Process Group maintains and enhances the QMS and is primarily responsible for setting appropriate Quality Standards for the organization. This group is responsible for setting and monitoring organizational quantitative goals.
• Metrics Group is responsible for collecting and collating the organization wide data aligned with the quality goals of the organization.
• Review Group is responsible for the review of performance of projects and organizational processes against quantifiable goals, risk status and critical technical issues.

 Our Review Approach

The review approach at ESSPL is decided depending on the criticality of the product components and the risk associated with it. The project manager in consultation with the QA Manager plans this in advance at the time of the project kick off. This review plan is continuously monitored and updated. In case of less critical and low risk items, we normally adopt review approaches like Walkthrough or Desk-Checks, where as in case more critical and high risk items we normally adopt more formal group review approach like Inspection.

We have the quantitative measurement approach to control quality in a bid to align the information needs of the management with the organization-wide measurement objectives. A few of the prime metrics along with the goals are mentioned below.

Besides this metrics, the project managers sometimes define their own metrics depending on the type of the project for better monitoring and control and improve the quality.

Tools and Systems used to Deliver Quality Applications

At ESSPL, to deliver quality projects we consider primarily three types of incidents, namely, Issues, Change Requests and Defects, if not monitored properly, adversely impact the quality, cost and schedule of the project. To properly track and monitor the above incidents, we have developed an in-house web based tool, Incident Tracking System (ITS), which has three sub-systems called Defect Tracking System (DTS), Change Management System (CMS) and Issue Management System (IMS) in conformance with our organization level procedure for Defect Management, Change Request Management and Issue Management. At present most of our clients use this tool to report and monitor acceptance defects, Change requests and Issues.

Besides this tool we have another web-based in-house tool, called Project Execution and Tracking (PETS), which primarily used for micro level task tracking and time reporting at project level.

Testing Mechanism

Our testing process is fast, scalable, extensible, agile and capable of integration with plan-driven (waterfall/V-model), and other development lifecycles. In case of incremental development scenario, we use automated testing tools for regression testing. Our Quality Assurance engineers partner closely with our development team to understand project requirements and create and execute comprehensive test plans. Our thorough planning and analysis process allows our QA team to build and execute extensible and comprehensive test plans that include feature verification, black box, white box, usability testing, component and user acceptance testing. Our engineers have experience on industry standard platforms and technologies, providing expert defect reporting and recommendations.

The ESSPL Quality Advantage

• Our Quality Management System lowers Total Cost of Ownership and increases Total Benefits of Ownership
• It brings in more predictability into the software development process thus ensuring improvement on future deliverables
• Our QMS ensures total customer satisfaction ,thus building up of lasting relationship with our customers and more referrals (60% of our customers are referral based)
• We ensure that our validation services test every angle of the software applications that are the backbone of your business thus making them reliable

 Related Info

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