Software Quality Initiatives: An Empirical Study of Indian SMEs in the IT Sector

Through extensive research into the area of quality management practices, such as ISO (International Standard Organization), Six Sigma has been observed within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Few empirical studies have reported the application of Six Sigma in SMEs, especially in software developing SMEs. The reasons can be attributed to complex issues associated with Six Sigma, as well as cost and time constraints. This paper assesses the current status of quality management practices in software developing SMEs. A survey-based approach was used to understand the conventional quality management practices in software SMEs. The data was collected from 230 respondents in 23 software developing SMEs in National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The respondents involved all three managerial levels and statistical results reflect the non-realization of quality management practices in software development. The SMEs under study were aware of the importance of quality management practices but had not implemented the same in the organization which is one of the basic requirements for the success of any software. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2791-8.ch013