The Software Quality Group's Relationship to Development

This paper presents the roles of the Software Quality Organization in software development as observed in dozens of commercial organizations. It looks at the different ways the quality group's purpose and charters were viewed. The potential benefits and drawbacks for various charters are discussed, along with the organizational structure and typical activities for each. The idea that the charter for the quality group changes over time is also presented, along with observed progressions in organizations. The various possible organizations, charters, and roles are described and related briefly to quality systems described in both the SEI Maturity Model and ISO 9000 Standards (ISO 9001 and ISO 9000-3). It describes the impact on product quality of the different types of development process, and possible roles for the software quality group.