I S Quality
... This reliance renders the quality of the software of paramount importance and something that software developers have to put at the top of their list of requirements. ... In order to address this problem of providing a quality software product, software developers are embracing standards that can guarantee a set of minimum requirements for providing quality software. ... The ISO 9000 standard seeks to quantify the minimum requirements for a quality system. ... The ISO 9000 requires companies to document their quality assurance procedures through the use of checklists that can be ticked off when each aspect of quality control has been achieved. ... The Software Engineering Institute created the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) to enable software developers to monitor the quality of software production and to offer a means to improve the process. ... Processes are employed by developers to function more effectively and for software quality to be more easily measured. ... Level 4 - Managed At this level the organisation has measurable quality goals for both software processes and products. ... Any deviation from set processes can be dealt with thus ensuring a consistently high quality product. ... Comparing and contrasting ISO9000 and CMM As we have seen both ISO9000 and CMM are concerned with enabling the software developer to produce a reliable and quality software product. However ISO9000 and CMM are not just different methods to achieve quality – they are different types of approach entirely. ... Customer focus The first difference between the two standards is the attitude toward software quality adopted by the two bodies that adopted them. ... This lack of detail means that ISO9000 may not match the standards of quality and excellence that may be required by many of today’s leading companies. Richard Buetow the director of quality at Motorola stated, “A company may have terrible processes even with ISO9000 certification. A company with bad product can be certifiable if they follow documented procedures” ISO9000 may specify certain processes be employed and followed but does not give any assurance about product quality.