Improving the quality of software quality determination processes

This paper suggests a systematic orderly process based approach to stating software quality objec tives and knowing if and when they have been achieved We suggest that quality in software is a complex multifaceted array of characteristics and that it is important to establish speci c objectives along various software quality dimensions as requirements for software quality assurance determination processes We propose that process technology be used to design code execute evaluate and migrate processes that are demonstrably e ective in achieving required software product quality objectives Recently there have been numerous highly visible e orts to codify the assessment of software processes and to use assessment results to improve them In this paper we argue that these e orts function as testplans for software pro cesses We borrow some of the notions proposed in these e orts and indicate how they can be used to construct a discipline of measuring and evaluating how well processes can be expected to deliver speci c knowledge about software product qualities We look towards the gradual but eventual establishment of an orderly discipline of software quality demonstration process development that should ultimately sup port a marketplace in which de nitive knowledge about the nature of software products can be bought and sold