Ensuring Delivery Standards: Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Capacity Planning Strategies

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Ensuring Delivery Standards: Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Capacity Planning Strategies

System Analysis and Design · Chapter 9: Project Management, Scheduling, and QualitySection 9.7 · lesson 66 of 696 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Quality assurance and control, ISO 9001 and CMMI, quality metrics, and capacity planning.

  • Distinguish quality assurance from quality control
  • Compare ISO 9001 and CMMI
  • Identify common quality metrics, and what each measures
  • Explain resource and system capacity planning

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (780 words). Read along, or search it.

Project Management, Scheduling, and Quality

Ensuring Delivery Standards

A project can finish on time and on budget, and still deliver poor quality. This section covers two kinds of quality work, two widely used quality standards, and the metrics that track quality over time. Then capacity planning, making sure there is enough, of people and of infrastructure, to deliver.

2 Different Jobs

Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control

Quality assurance and quality control are often used interchangeably. But they are two distinct kinds of work. Quality assurance, or Q A, focuses on the process used to create the product. It is proactive. It aims to prevent defects, and it runs throughout the project. Quality control, or Q C, focuses on the product itself. It is reactive. It detects defects, after work has been produced. Establishing a code review standard is Q A. So a team that requires review before any change is merged is improving its process, which is quality assurance. Inspecting a finished deliverable against its requirements is Q C. A useful shorthand. Q A improves the recipe. Q C inspects the meal. Strong quality assurance means fewer defects for quality control to catch. But neither one replaces the other.

Quality Standards

ISO 9001 and CMMI

Organizations do not have to invent a quality approach from scratch. Two widely recognized standards give a starting point. I S O nine thousand one is a general quality management standard, applicable across any industry. Organizations are certified against its defined set of quality management requirements. C M M I, the capability maturity model integration, focuses on process maturity, specifically for development organizations. It is organized as five maturity levels, from ad hoc processes to continuous improvement. So an organization that wants one quality system across several business units, not just software, would choose I S O nine thousand one.

Figure 1

The 5 CMMI Maturity Levels

Here are C M M I's five levels, as a staircase. Level one, initial. Processes are unpredictable, poorly controlled, and reactive. Level two, managed. Work is planned and executed according to policy. Level three, defined. Processes are well characterized, and standardized across the organization. Level four, quantitatively managed. Processes are measured, and controlled using data. And level five, optimizing. The organization focuses on continuous process improvement. At level one, work gets done, but unpredictably. At level five, processes are disciplined and measured enough to be improved deliberately, over time.

Quality Metrics

Measuring Quality Over Time

Quality is easier to manage when it can be measured. Four metrics are common. Defect density is the number of defects relative to the product's size, such as defects per thousand lines of code. Defect removal efficiency is the percentage of defects caught before release, rather than found by customers afterward. Mean time between failures, or M T B F, is the average time a system runs before it fails. And the customer-reported defect rate counts the defects customers report after release, reflecting real-world quality. Tracking how many defects are caught internally, versus reported by customers, is defect removal efficiency. It matters because a defect caught before release costs far less, in money and in customer trust, than one found after.

Capacity Planning

Enough, When It Is Needed

Delivering quality also depends on having enough capacity, in two different senses. Resource capacity planning makes sure the right people, with the right skills, are available when the project needs them. For example, scheduling enough developers for a demanding sprint, without overloading the team. System capacity planning makes sure the technical infrastructure can handle expected, and peak, demand without degrading. An online retailer expecting ten times its normal traffic during a major sale, provisioning enough servers to cope, is doing system capacity planning. Both ask the same question, about a different resource. Will there be enough of it, at the moment it is needed, to keep quality from slipping under load?

Key Terms

The Vocabulary of This Section

Let's lock in the key terms. Quality assurance is proactive work, improving the process used to create a product, to prevent defects. Quality control is reactive work, inspecting a finished product to detect defects. C M M I is a framework of five levels of process maturity, for development organizations. Defect density is the number of defects relative to the size of a product. And capacity planning makes sure enough resources, whether people or infrastructure, are available to meet expected demand.

Key Takeaways

What to Carry Forward

To pull this together. Quality assurance is proactive and process-focused. Quality control is reactive and product-focused. Strong Q A lightens the load on Q C, without replacing it. I S O nine thousand one is a general quality management standard. C M M I is a five-level process maturity framework, specifically for development organizations. Common quality metrics include defect density, defect removal efficiency, mean time between failures, and the customer-reported defect rate. And resource capacity planning makes sure enough people are available, while system capacity planning makes sure infrastructure can handle expected and peak load.

About System Analysis and Design at UPI Study

System Analysis and Design (Computer Science 390) is a self-paced online course of 69 video lessons in 9 chapters, from the analyst's role and requirements to UML modeling, interface and database design, testing, maintenance and project management. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

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Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

System Analysis and Design carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Ensuring Delivery Standards: Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Capacity Planning Strategies

What is the difference between quality assurance and quality control?
Quality assurance focuses on the process used to create a product and aims to prevent defects, while quality control inspects the product itself to detect defects after work is produced. Requiring code review before any change is merged is quality assurance; checking a finished deliverable against its requirements is quality control. A common shorthand is that QA improves the recipe and QC inspects the meal.
What is the difference between ISO 9001 and CMMI?
ISO 9001 is a general quality management standard that applies across any industry, and organizations are certified against its requirements. CMMI, the capability maturity model integration, focuses on process maturity in development organizations and is organized into five maturity levels. An organization wanting one quality system across several business units, not just software, would typically choose ISO 9001.
What are the five levels of CMMI?
The five CMMI maturity levels are initial, managed, defined, quantitatively managed, and optimizing. At level 1, processes are unpredictable and reactive. At level 2, work is planned and executed according to policy. At level 3, processes are standardized across the organization. At level 4, processes are measured and controlled using data, and at level 5 the organization focuses on continuous process improvement.
What is defect removal efficiency?
Defect removal efficiency is the percentage of defects caught before release rather than found by customers afterward. It matters because a defect caught internally costs far less, in money and customer trust, than one found after release. Other common quality metrics include defect density, the number of defects per unit of size such as per thousand lines of code, and mean time between failures.

About the System Analysis and Design course

How many college credits is System Analysis and Design?
System Analysis and Design (Computer Science 390) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does System Analysis and Design cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 69 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does System Analysis and Design take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 69 lessons total about 9 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
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