Sustainable quality with Software Quality Assurance (SQA)
Software quality assurance (SQA) is defined as a systematic approach to the evaluation of software quality that assures that the standards, processes, and procedures are appropriate for the project and are correctly implemented. It consists of a means of monitoring the software engineering processes and the methods used to ensure quality. In addition, it includes the process of assuring that standards and procedures are established and followed throughout the Software Development Life Cycle.
Software Quality Assurance is an umbrella activity that is carried out at all stages of the Software Development Life Cycle and includes the following:
- A Review & Approval by a qualified person other than the author is carried out for every software item from the requirement stage to the delivery stage, before it can be delivered. There will be a proper document sign off to make sure all the requirements are fulfilled.
- Traceability is maintained for every item from the requirement stage to the delivery stage. Versioning control will be put in place to keep track of every single changes that occurs along the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Traceability is identified as a configuration item and placed in the configuration library as defined in the Configuration Management Plan.
- A Phase End Review is held at the end of each phase to assess the performance of the project. This meeting is to ensure that criteria of that phase, metrics collection and risk tracking are achieved and monitored before starting next phase activities.
- All corrective actions emanating from Reviews, End-Product Reviews, Phase End Reviews and the internal quality audit are tracked to closure and their effectiveness verified. Every action is scalable and measurable down to the details.
