Skip to main content

Model-Based Quality Management of Software Development Projects

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Software Project Management in a Changing World

Abstract

Managing the quality of artifacts created during the development process is an integral part of software project management. Software quality models capture the knowledge and experience regarding the quality characteristics of interest, the measurement data that can help to reason about them, and the mechanisms to use for characterizing and assessing software quality. They are the foundation for managing software quality in projects in an evidence-based manner. Nowadays, coming up with suitable quality models for an organization is still a challenging endeavor. This chapter deals with the definition and usage of software quality models for managing software development projects and discusses different challenges and solutions in this area. The challenges are: (1) There is no universal model that can be applied in every environment because quality is heavily dependent on the application context. In practice and research, a variety of different quality models exists. Finding the “right” model requires a clear picture of the goals that should be obtained from using the model. (2) Quality models need to be tailored to company specifics and supported by corresponding tools. Existing standards (such as the ISO/IEC 25000 series) are often too generic and hard to fully implement in an organization. (3) Practitioners require a comprehensive set of techniques, methods, and tools for systematically specifying, adapting, and applying quality models in practice. (4) In order to create sustainable quality models, their contribution to the organizational goals must be clarified, and the models need to be integrated into the development and decision-making processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    A product quality model is a conceptual or mathematical model addressing one or more relevant characteristics of certain types of work products (such as requirements, design, code, documentation, or the final product) with the objective of better understanding and dealing with these characteristics (e.g., by specifying or quantifying them or correlating them with others).

  2. 2.

    Registered trademark of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering, Germany and the Fraunhofer USA Center for Experimental Software Engineering, Maryland.

References

  • Avizienis A, Laprie JC, Randell B (2001) Fundamental concepts of dependability

    Google Scholar 

  • Basili V, Caldiera G, Rombach D (1994a) Goal, question metric paradigm. Encyc Softw Eng 1:528–532 (John Wiley and Sons)

    Google Scholar 

  • Basili V, Caldiera G, Rombach D (1994b) The experience factory. Encyc Softw Eng 1:469–476 (John Wiley and Sons)

    Google Scholar 

  • Basili V, Heidrich J, Lindvall M, Münch J, Regardie M, Rombach D, Seaman C, Trendowicz A (2010) Linking software development and business strategy through measurement. IEEE Comput 43(4):57–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basili V, Lampasona C, Ocampo A (2013) Aligning corporate and IT goals and strategies in the oil and gas industry. In: Proceedings of the 14th international conference on product-focused software process improvement, lecture notes in computer science, vol 7983. Springer, New York, pp 184–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Boehm BW (1978) Characteristics of software quality. North-Holland, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavano JP, McCall JA (1978) A framework for the measurement of software quality. In: Proceedings of the software quality assurance workshop on functional and performance issues. ACM, New York, pp 133–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Differding C (2001) Reuse of measurement plans based on process and quality models. In: Proceeding of 3rd international workshop on advances in learning software organizations (LSO). Springer, pp 207–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörr J, Trendowicz A, Kolb R, Punter T, Kerkow D, König T, Olsson T (2004) Quality models for non-functional requirements. Fraunhofer IESE Report No. 010-04/E

    Google Scholar 

  • Dromey GR (1998) Software product quality: theory, model and practice. Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • ECSS-Q-30A (1996) Space product assurance: dependability

    Google Scholar 

  • IEC 61508-1 (2010) Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems

    Google Scholar 

  • IEEE 1061 (1998) Software quality metrics methodology

    Google Scholar 

  • ISACA (2007) Control objectives for information and related technology (CoBIT®). Retrieved 04 12 2007, from www.isaca.org

  • ISO 8402 (1995) Quality management and quality assurance – vocabulary

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 14598-1 (1999) Information technology software product evaluation

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 15939 (2007) Systems and software engineering measurement process

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 25000-1 (2005) Software product quality requirements and evaluation (SQuaRE)Guide to SQuaRE

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 25010 (2011) SQuaRE system and software quality models

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 25021 (2012) SQuaRE quality measure elements

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 25040 (2011) SQuaRE evaluation process

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO/IEC 9126-1 (2001) Software engineering product quality - part 1

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan R, Norton D (1992) The balanced scorecard - measures that drive performance. Harv Bus Rev 71

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitchenham BA, Linkman S, Pasquini A, Nanni V (1997) The SQUID approach to defining a quality model. Softw Qual Control 6(3):211–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kläs M, Münch J (2008) Balancing upfront definition and customization of quality models. In: Proceedings of the workshop on software quality modeling and assessment (SQMB 2008), Munich, Germany, pp 26–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Kläs M, Heidrich J, Münch J, Trendowicz A (2009) CQML Scheme: a classification scheme for comprehensive quality model landscapes. In: Proceedings of the 35th EUROMICRO conference (SEAA 2009). IEEE Computer Society, pp 243–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Kläs M, Lampasona C, Nunnenmacher S, Wagner S, Herrmannsdörfer M, Lochmann K (2010a) How to evaluate meta-models for software quality? In: Proceedings of the joint international conferences on software measurement. IWSM/MetriKon/Mensura, Shaker, pp 443–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Kläs M, Elberzhager F, Münch J, Hartjes K, von Graevemeyer O (2010b) Transparent combination of expert and measurement data for defect prediction – an industrial case study. In: Proceedings of the 32nd international conference on software engineering (ICSE 2010), Cape Town, South Africa, pp 119–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampasona C, Heidrich J, Basili V, Ocampo A (2012) Software quality modeling experiences at an oil company. In: Proceedings of the 6th international conference on empirical software engineering and measurement (ESEM), 20–21, pp 243–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr A, Plösch R, Kläs M, Lampasona C, Saft M (2012) A Comprehensive code-based quality model for embedded systems - systematic development and validation by industrial projects. In: Proceedings of the 23rd international symposium on software reliability engineering (ISSRE 2012), Dallas, TX

    Google Scholar 

  • MISRA Report 5 (1995) Software metrics office of government commerce (2002). The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Delivery, The Stationary Office London

    Google Scholar 

  • Object Management Group (2010) The business motivation model (BMM) V. 1.1. Retrieved 06 08 2010, from www.omg.org

  • Office of Government Commerce (OGC) (2002) The IT infrastructure library (ITIL) service delivery. The Stationary Office, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersson H, Thelin T, Runeson P, Wohlin C (2004) Capture–recapture in software inspections after 10 years research––theory, evaluation and application. J Syst Softw 72(2):249–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Project Management Institute (2008) A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 4th edn. Project Management Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) Public Law No. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745, Codified in sections of 11, 15, 18, 28, and 29 in United States Code, July 30

    Google Scholar 

  • Stasko J (2013) Sun burst. Retrieved 29 01 2013, from www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/ii/sunburst

  • Trendowicz A, Heidrich J, Münch J, Ishigai Y, Yokoyama K, Kikuchi N (2006) Development of a hybrid cost estimation model in an iterative manner. In: Proceedings of the 28th international conference on software engineering (ICSE 2006), Shanghai, China, pp 331–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Trendowicz A, Kläs M, Lampasona C, Münch J, Körner C, Saft M (2009) Model-based product quality evaluation with multi-criteria decision analysis. In: Proceedings of the joint international conferences on software measurement (IWSM/MetriKon/Mensura), Shaker, pp 3–20

    Google Scholar 

  • United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (1997) Def Stan 00-55 requirements for safety related software in defense equipment

    Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Defense and US Army (2003) Practical software and systems measurement: a foundation for objective project management, v. 4.0c, from www.psmsc.com

  • Wagner S, Lochmann K, Winter S, Göb A, Kläs M, Nunnenmacher S (2010a) Software quality in practice survey results. Retrieved 03 06 2014, from http://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1110601/1110601.pdf

  • Wagner S, Broy M, Deißenböck F, Kläs M, Liggesmeyer P, Münch J, Streit J (2010b) Softwarequalitätsmodelle. Praxisempfehlungen und Forschungsagenda, Informatik Spektrum 33(1):37–44 (Springer)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner S, Lochmann K, Heinemann L, Kläs M, Trendowicz A, Plösch R, Seidl A, Goeb A, Streit J (2012) The Quamoco product quality modeling and assessment approach. In: Proceedings of the 34th international conference on software engineering (ICSE 2012), Zurich, Switzerland, pp 1133–1142

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research leading to these results was partially supported by the ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking under grant agreement no. 269335, the research project Quamoco (grant 01IS08023), and from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens Heidrich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Heidrich, J., Rombach, D., Kläs, M. (2014). Model-Based Quality Management of Software Development Projects. In: Ruhe, G., Wohlin, C. (eds) Software Project Management in a Changing World. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55035-5_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55035-5_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-55034-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-55035-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics