From: Bill Deibler
Subject: Re: DATA...HELP!/Deibs

A little on data....

In software engineering environments, this is a very important concept. In software development, we're constantly challenged with data control, as well as document control. Configuration management issues abound in development and technical suport environments (software and systems), and data and design controls are critical elements in maintaining product integrity.

Much has changed since the days when development cycles for products such as operating systems were measured in years. Today, it is not uncommon to miss a market window for a software app by days....and lose it permanently. This presents a great challenge in planning and managing a project and it's associated data.

The software project has a variety of data to maintain....metrics data, test input data, test result data, peformance and reliablity data....the list goes on and on...and so much of this data has direct impact on the quality of the product and software services we deliver to our customers.

Let's present a couple of common examples. When attempting to debug a software problem for a specific customer, one might need to obtain data from various internal and external sources including the customer in order to reproduce and diagnose the problem. Data that is not carefully controlled in these circumstances falls into the category of garbage in/garbage out. It's a case of only being as good as one's data. Compromised data often prevents one from reproducing problems in a timely fashion or at all.

When faced with a product release metrics report with bogus data, it might cause management to release a product that is not ready for the marketplace...or on the other hand...it might delay a product that is ready for the marketplace.

In the software and hardware development worlds, a lot of tools have emerged that help us manage a lot of product and process data and documentation. We've used software configuration management systems to maintain our software assets (development plans, estimates, requirements, specifications, design documentation, specifications, testing artifacts, review results, defect tracking, etc.).

I was thinking the list might find the following white paper of interest:

Configuration Management and ISO 9001

http://www.mks.com/solution/si/2134.htm

There is some discussion of data control, along with other elements in the standard that support the concepts of CM.