Software QMS Road Map

[Marc]

From: Nancy Jennejohn
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 09:50:03 -0500
Subject: Re: QMS Roadmap /Pathikonda/Dresner

From: Daniel Dresner

> From: "Shashidhar N. Pathikonda"
>
> We are a software company planning to start from beginning
> to implement a Quality Management System and then go for ISO
> certification. I would appreciate if anyone of you can send me
> some reference materials to include website address, manuals
> on the web, etc.
>
> We are a small company and would like to have this done in-house.
>

Hi Shashidhar,

Towards Software Excellence - http://www.software-excellence.org - is a free industry initiative which is designed to help improve and maintain the quality of software development processes and business procedures and thereby ensure that software companies remain competitive.

TSE is not a formal certification scheme - which many small companies find onerous - rather it is a fast-track route to best practice advice. Software suppliers can use TSE to demonstrate commitment to quality to the customers and investors. Similarly, customers and investors can request TSE evaluations of where they hold a stake to ensure that risk is being managed according to contemporary best practice.

It is based on ISO 15504 (Software Process Assessment) and would put you on the well on the road to ISO 9001. Also get the TickIT Guide from the British Standards Institution http://www.tickit.org/guide5.htm

Best wishes,

Danny Dresner

*************************

From: Nancy Jennejohn
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 09:54:38 -0500
Subject: Re: QMS Roadmap /Pathikonda/Holtz

From: "john holtz"

Three suggestions: (1) When you order copies of ISO 9001:2000, also get a copy of ISO 9004:2000, which interprets the 9001 standard for quality management use; (2) Get a copy of Robert Peach's very good Handbook for ISO 9000, Third Edition, which interprets the 9000:2000 standard; (3) if you can find one, also try Robert Peach's Second Edition, which interprets the 1994 standard. Why BOTH Second and Third? IMHO the Second is a better interpretive guide for QMS thinking than the Third, and almost everything that applies to 1994 still/also applies to 2000. All are available from ASQ either on their website (ASQ.org) or call them at 800-248-1946.

- - -
Cheers...and have a great day!

John Holtz

 

[venkat]

ISO 9000:2000 for software

Mr.Shashi

Our company is also a startup company and we also intend to go in for certification. But very few post details in this forum.

Shall we interact and make more postings in this site.

 

[nvarma]

Suggest that you do the following:

Have a well defined Organisation structure

Write in plain English, the activities that you organisation does, starting from Receipt of RFP, customer query, upto proposal preparation and subsequent award of contract.

Describe how you plan the project execution and how do you implement that plan.

Once you complete that, focus on resource aquisition (h/w, s/w, human) define who in the organisation does this.

Once you have completed this then see where all standardisation , in terms of document formats, record formats need to be done.

Suggest go through Pressman's software engineering book and adapt the management and development processes to suit your need.

All the above would then need to be formalised in "process format".

Then procedd to writing processes on audit, continual improvement etc.

I found ISO9000-3 (1994 version) extremely useful and I think it should be used as the basis for development of your quality management system.