A discussion of a 'software quality organization' on Slashdot. Worth a read.

Does Open Source Software Need Quality Standards? (http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/29/1928206&tid=163&tid=1)

As a person that works heavily with software; buying it, selling it, and creating it I can say first hand that standards are important, however they are just that standards. Any one can choose to follow any standard. They are not laws and not regulations and they are not codes.

Open source software is not inherently of a lower quality then a commercial product, and also on the other hand it is not automatically better. My take on the whole situation is that it is a choice for the organization producing the software.

I am trying to find out all I can about ISO9001:2000 and believe it would be a great thing for my organization to be at least compliant with the standard. I am choosing to pursue this because I believe in the basic meaning of the quality standard. Like wise the CMMI model while not perfect is a great tool and something that I believe is worth achieving. It is my belief that complying with standards is a great thing, but I do not want to have to do it. I believe that the public can tell a lot about a company by what they do and why they do it.

What worries me about this new group is having another certification that can muddy the water so to speak. If your organization is at a CMMI level of 5 then your software should be top notch, however if you have CMMI, Software Quality Assurance, ISO9001:2000, this, that, new standard B the buying public gets confused and doesn’t properly know how to weigh the value of one verses the other.

--
Blaine

I agree that a 'standard' is not always an answer. To me, most businesses are pretty much the same in that there are basic 'Good Business Practices'. It appears to me that business schools teach a lot about making money and 'running' a business but not at an appropriate level.

Let me pose this:

What is each? What 'is' CMMI' and what does it address?
Same with 'Software Quality Assurance', and with ISO 9001.
What are your thoughts on ISO/IEC TR15504 and SPICE (http://www.isospice.com/standard/is15504.htm) ISO/IEC TR15504, the international standard on software process assessment, was first published in 1998. Since that time an estimated 4000 assessments have been performed worldwide. Based on feedback from the international community ISO/IEC 15504 is being re-published as a full international standard during 2003-2005.

The revised standard provides a more open architecture with the ability to use different sets of processes that can be externally defined within Process Reference Models (PRM's).

The SPICE project that was created to support the international standardization effort has evolved into the SPICE Network. The SPICE Network provides an international framework for cooperation in related research work and intends to eventually provide an international benchmarking service.By the way - This Old Thread might be of some interest Tick-IT vs. ISO 9001 vs. CMM - Software Quality Assurance (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=3263)