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8 - PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

or simulated customer databases and environments. Good practice includes coordinating work across the project
so functional and feature testing can be performed throughout the project, rather than late in the project. The
risks of major defects being identified late in the project is reduced when functional and feature testing are being
performed throughout the project.

A software project manager also needs to plan for processes and procedures to identify, categorize, measure,
and treat defects. Defect measures need to be defined in the planning software quality management. Software
defects are generally categorized by severity (how many users will be affected and how badly). IEEE Standard 1044 –
Classification for Software Anomalies [28] provides guidance in establishing defect classifications that are meaningful
for software projects. Typically, the acceptable level of defects is specified by the planned kind of release (beta, general
availability, customized). It is typical to allow none of the highest category defects to be released, but the percentage
of second and third level defects often depends on the type of release and the users’ expectations. Release criteria
are project-specific and may involve a level of uncertainty.

Defects can be balanced against risk considerations (see Section 11 of this Software Extension). Software in the
safety-critical domain usually has very high levels of release criteria. For non-safety-critical software, users may
prefer early functionality that includes some bugs. Other software products, such as static web pages, cause very
little risk to safety, but could affect the developer’s reputation when poorly done. Risk management techniques are
important in developing a testing strategy and assessing the impact of defects not discovered until after a software
release.

The tools and techniques for planning quality management in Section 8.1.2 of the PMBOK Guide are applicable
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to planning quality management for software projects.

8.1.2.1 Cost-Benefit Analysis

See Section 8.1.2.1 of the PMBOK Guide.
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8.1.2.2 Cost of Quality (COQ)

See Section 8.1.2.2 of the PMBOK Guide.
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8.1.2.3 Seven Basic Quality Tools

See Section 8.1.2.3 of the PMBOK Guide and Section 8.3.2.1 of this Software Extension.
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8.1.2.4 Benchmarking

See Section 8.1.2.4 of the PMBOK Guide.
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8.1.2.5 Design of Experiments

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See Section 8.1.2.5 of the PMBOK Guide.

148 ©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition
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