Using cost of software quality for a process improvement initiative

Abstract

Process improvement in the manufacturing sector traditionally starts with calculation of: cost of quality. The cost of quality calculation enables identification of the weakest links of the process that requires immediate attention, prioritization of improvement tasks and establishment of a baseline for these tasks. In the software field, process improvement initiatives usually leave out the cost of quality calculations. The authors report on a case study concerning the utilization of cost of software quality as an initiator for software process improvement in a public software development organization.