Page 168 -
P. 168
8 - PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT
improvement or whether the software is of exceptional quality. In the latter case, the methods or techniques that
resulted in superior quality might be propagated throughout the project and the organization.
Pareto charts can be used to show the number of defects in different software components. Components that
have high numbers of defects (error-prone components) may require a design or code review by senior members
of the team to determine the root cause of the problems. Pareto charts are also used to graph data from software
configuration management. Software components that are changing excessively may indicate a dangerous kind of
code volatility, for example, a situation in which each defect “fix” breaks some other part of the code.
Histograms are useful in identifying process failures. For example, an investigation may be necessary when
software builds are failing frequently over time. By keeping track of reasons why the builds fail, the changes 8
that need to be made can be identified. In the case of software build failure, it is may be determined that the
build process hasn’t been correctly automated or that the checklist for manual builds is incomplete or incorrect.
Similarly, when regression tests fail repeatedly, the cause may be that a “fix” broke something else, earlier fixes
were defective, or possibly that the wrong code was included.
8.3.2.2 Statistical Sampling
See Section 8.3.2.2 of the PMBOK Guide.
®
8.3.2.3 Inspection
®
See Section 8.3.2.3 of the PMBOK Guide.
8.3.2.4 Approved Change Requests Review
See Section 8.3.2.4 of the PMBOK Guide.
®
8.3.3 Control Quality: Outputs
The following outputs for controlling quality in Section 8.3.3 of the PMBOK Guide are applicable outputs for
®
controlling quality for software projects.
8.3.3.1 Quality Control Measurements
See Section 8.3.3.1 of the PMBOK Guide.
®
8.3.3.2 Validated Changes
See Section 8.3.3.2 of the PMBOK Guide.
®
©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition 159
®
