Software SIG -- Quality in 2011: A Survey of the State of the Art  

Software quality is a topic of importance throughout the world.  Unfortunately software quality assurance groups are often understaffed for the work at hand, and also undercapitalized and under equipped.  This presentation attempts to cover the known factors which influence software quality results, including methodologies, tools, and staffing levels.  The presentation provides empirical data on the impact of major quality approaches, such as the six-sigma approach, TSO/TSP, clean-room methods, ISO certification, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) capability (CMM) level concept, and other topics that can impact overall quality levels by as much as 1%.  The presentation utilizes the function point metric for quantifying quality results.  U.S. software averages about 5 defects per function point, with about 85% of these being removed prior to delivery.  Empirical data is provided on software quality levels in a number of industries, and in the major industrialized countries.

This presentation will explain the measured impact of poor quality on the software industry, the state of the art of defect prevention and removal, the value of achieving > 95% defect removal efficiency, and the return on investment of successful quality control.

Capers Jones is currently the President and CEO of Capers Jones & Associates LLC.  He is also the founder and former chairman of Software Productivity Research LLC (SPR).  He holds the title of Chief Scientist Emeritus at SPR.   Capers Jones founded SPR in 1984.  Before founding SPR Capers was Assistant Director of Programming Technology for the ITT Corporation at the Programming Technology Center in Stratford, Connecticut.  He was also a manager and researcher at IBM in California.  Capers is a well-known author and international public speaker.  His most-recent book is The Economics of Software Quality with Jitendra Subramanyam as co-author, Addison Wesley, 2011.  Capers and his colleagues have collected historical data from more than 600 corporations and more than 30 government organizations.  This historical data is a key resource for judging the effectiveness of software process improvement methods.  More than 13,000 projects have been reviewed.  In addition to his technical books, Mr. Jones has also received recognition as an historian after the publication of The History and Future of Narragansett Bay in 2006 by Universal Publishers. Mr. Jones has consulted at more than 150 large corporations and also at a number of government organizations, including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Courts.  He has also worked with several State governments.

6:30 PM – Networking and Pizza(*)

7:00 - 8:00 PM – Program

(*) There is no cost to attend at McLean and Silver Spring.

Locations:

Mr. Jones will be presenting remotely from his home, with video tele-conferencing (VTC) between:

For details and driving directions, see the July Software SIG announcement.

If you can host another location via VTC, please contact Scott Ankrum (below)

TO ATTEND THE MeetingPlace Collaboration CONFERENCE:

1. Go to: http://audioconference.mitre.org/  2. Click on Attend Meeting. If MeetingPlace Collaboration Window does not automatically open, press connect.  3. Dial your telephone to connect to the audio of the meeting.

·        Dial 703-983-6338 (x36338) from the Washington DC region.

·        Dial 781-271-6338 (x16338) from the Bedford, MA region.

Meeting ID: 509509, when prompted.   Meeting Password: 05090509, when prompted.

Visit http://audioconference.mitre.org to test your web browser for compatibility with the web conference. Follow this link to the browser test link on the page.

Registration:

Registration Website: http://www.asq509.org/ht/d/DoSurvey/i/26913

You must register by noon on Monday, July 25. If you cannot attend at any location, select telephone dialin when you register. To RSVP for FDA (Silver Spring), please indicate citizenship. If not a US citizen, please provide your title, employer, and address. Allow two business days for registration before the meeting.