SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE PRACTICE IN JAPAN A CASE STUDY IN HITACHI GROUP SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS

SOFTWARE　QUALITY　ASSURANCE　PRACTICE　IN　JAPAN －A　CASE　STUDY　IN　HITACHI　GROUP－ • • • • SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITY ASSURANCE SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES DEVELOPMENT PLAN AUDIT SOFTWARE INSPECTION DOCUMENT INSPECTION QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE TESTING STAGE TESTING STRATEGIES QUALITY TARGET MANAGEMENT QUALITY PROBE (QP) PRODUCT INSPECTION DISTRIBUTION OF SOFTWARE FAULTS SYSTEM TEST SYSTEM SIMULATION TEST Hitachi Systems & Services, Ltd. 　Quality Assurance Department Takamasa Nara

SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITY ASSURANCE SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS POINTS TO CONSIDER AGGREGATE OF ALL LOGIC • DIFFICULTY IN ACCURATE　　　　　 • STRUCTURED DESIGN METHOD 　 DESIGN OF LOGIC AND DESIGN REVIEW • DIFFICULTY IN RELIABLE 　　　　　　 • SYSTEMATIC TESTING METHOD TESTING OF LOGIC INVISIBILITY • INVISIBILITY OF SOFTWARE • DESIGN AND NOTATION 　　　　　　　 • INVISIBILITY OF THE　　　　 METHODS 　 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS • VISUALIZATION OF QUALITY 　　　 AND PROGRESS STATUS

SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS POINTS TO CONSIDER MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE USER 　●DIFFICULTY IN 　　　　　　 ●REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS, 　 UNDERSTANDING THE DEFINITION TECHNIQUE 　　　NEEDS OF THE USER 　●TESTING UNDER USER 　●DIFFICULTY IN CONDITIONS UNDERSTNDING THE CONDITIONS FOR USE GREAT DEPENDENCE ON INDIVIDUALS 　●STANDARDIZATION AND 　●REDUCTION IN DEPENDENCE AUTOMATION OF 　　 ON INDIVIDUALS DEVELOPMENT METHODS 　●EDUCATING INDIVIDUALS 　●RE-USE AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER 　●EDUCATION, TRAINING 　　

SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES

DEVELOPMENT PLAN AUDIT ●PROJECT PLAN ―INSUFFICIENT STAFF AND ORGANIZATION ―UNDERESTIMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT TIME AND MANPOWER ●QUALITY PLAN ―DETERMINATION OF NECESSARY QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITY TARGET VALUES ―METHODS AND PROCEDURES TO REALIZE QUALITY TARGET VALUES AT EACH PHASE

SOFTWARE INSPECTION ITEM EXPLANATION INSPECTION ORGANIZATION THE INSPECTION ORGANIZATION MUST BE INDEPENDENT OF THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO MAKE FAIR JUDGEMENTS INSPECTION ●INSPECTION MUST BE FROM THE CUSTOMER’S 　　 VIEWPOINT: ―PRODUCTS WHOSE QUALITY DOES NOT MEET 　　　 THE PREDETERMINED ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA 　　 ARE REJECTED ●INSPECTION INVOLVES ACTIVITIES TO ENSURE 　　 QUALITY FOR THE CUSTOMER AFTER DELIVERY INSPECTION SCOPE ●IN HOUSE 　－INSPECTION OF INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES 　－QUALITY CONTROL FOR ALL PROCESSES FROM 　　 BASIC DESIGN TO FINAL INSPECTION ●OUTSIDE 　－QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITES 　－LIAISON FOR CUSTOMER NEEDS AND 　　　　　 COMPLAINTS

DOCUMENT INSPECTION 1. INTERNAL DOCUMENT INSPECTION 1. 1 DOCUMENT 　　●FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS 　　 ●DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS ETC. 1. 2 AIMS ●ANTICIPATIVE QUALITY CONTROL OF PROGRAMS ●QUALITY CONTROL AT DESIGN PROCESSES (EVALUATION OF DOCUMENTS) ●PROGRESS CONTROL AT DESIGN PROCESSES 2. EXTERNAL DOCUMENT INSPECTION 2. 1 DOCUMENT ●MANUALS ETC. 2. 2 AIMS ●ASSURING SOFTWARE PRODUCT QUALITY 　 ●CONSISTENCY WITH THE INTERNAL DOCUMENTATION ●EVALUATING UNDERSTANDABILITY AND USABILITY

QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE TESTING STAGE ●TESTING STRATEGIES ●FORECASTING DEFECTS AND MANAGEMENT OF TARGET VALUES

TESTING STRATEGIES 1. SETTING TARGET NUMBER OF ERRORS FOR EACH TEST PROCESS 2. IMPORTANCE OF CODE REVIEW 3. SYSTEMATIC TESTS ●USE EXTERNAL SPECIFICATION AND INTERNAL 　　　　　 SPECIFICATION TESTS ●TECHNIQUE FOR SETTING TEST ITEMS MUST BE BASED ON 　 CLEAR AND APPROPRIATE TEST CRITERIA ●USE TEST COVERAGE MEASURES AND TECHNIQUES 4. REUSING TESTING TECHNIQUES AND REDUCING TEST LABOR REQUIREMENTS 5. SYSTEM TESTING

QUALITY TARGET MANAGEMENT 2. DRAWING MANAGEMENT CURVE 1. SET QUALITY TARGET 6. TARGET REVIEW 3. MONITOR 5. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 4. QUALITY ESTIMATION ●FORECASTING ERRORS BY GROWTH CURVE (FRCST) ●QUALITY PROBE〔QP〕

QUALITY PROBE〔QP〕 PURPOSE: MEASURE AND ESTIMATE SOFTWARE QUALITY DURING TEST STAGE BY QUALITY ASSURANCE DEPARTMENT METHOD: ●SAMPLING TEST 〔 10%~20% OF TEST ITEMS〕 ●OPERATIONAL USE BY INSPECTORS ●ANALYSIS AND ESTIMATION OF THE RESULT －HIDDEN BUGS ESTIMATE 〔QUANTITATIVE〕 　　　－IDENTIFYING WEAK POINTS OF DESIGN 〔QUALITATIVE〕

PRODUCT INSPECTION PURPOSE: JUDGING WHETHER THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS ARE ACCEPTABLE METHOD: ●JUDGEMENT IS MADE FROM THE CUSTOMER’S POINT OF 　　 VIEW ●PRODUCT INSPECTION USES A COMPUTER TO RUN THE 　　　 SOFTWARE PRODUCTS ●IF IT FAILS, THE DESIGN DEPARTMENT IMPROVES 　　　　　　　 QUALITY AGAIN, AND INSPECTION IS REPEATED

Distribution of Software Faults 21. 9 53. 8 (QA Dpt. )

SYSTEM TEST AIMS: ●TEST AS A TOTAL SYSTEM －RUN TEST IN ACTUAL OR SIMULATED USER ENVIRONMENTS －ABNORMAL TEST WITH ERRORS, ABNORMAL OPERATIONS AND OVERLOAD DATA EXPECTED TO OCCUR IN THE ACTUAL ENVIRONMENT －PERFORMANCE EVALUATION TEST FACILITIES OF HITACHI’S SYSTEM TEST CENTER: (REFERED TO AS SST) ●HARDWARE EQUIPMENT INCLUDING 17 LARGE SCALE COMPUTERS ●NETWORK EQUIPMENT ●SIMULATORS(INCLUDING MULTIPLE TERMINAL SIMULATORS, AND HARDWARE ERROR SIMULATORS ●SUPPORT TOOLS

SYSTEM SIMULATION TEST