Personal Blogs

Author

Article

Year

Read

Shull, F.

Disbanding the “Process Police”

2012

26-Jul-12

Key words

Compliance, safety, process, SQA role

Summarizing comments

Shull’s article hits a sensitive spot of how QA can contribute to the good of the end product. This IEEE Software article is looking at other motivations for processes than for the effectiveness of engineering, as compliance to standards or regulations are often a reason for an extensive Quality Management system. Let’s acknowledge this is the case and assume that processes are the key to required level of control on the quality of the products.

Shull’s article provides an example that among engineers this is not a common view, where two senior NASA engineers are admitting not to recognize engineering practices in their system engineering manual. Shull argues that QA tasks are viable, but to have any real impact should stay within the boundaries of the tools and data relevant to the engineering activities. I do sympathize with that view, but also recognize that the push for better engineering practices as configuration control and requirements management are not born through the engineers’ desire for freedom and flexibility.

Shull is encouraging SQO to look beyond the checklist and be just as critical towards the effectiveness of the process in this context as they are towards the way the process has been applied. He pushes the idea of a ‘process coach’ rather than a ‘process police’. Am I too naïve to think that was the whole idea.

To my opinion this article lacks the viewpoint of the future engineer or the customer organization trying to implement a new software component, an outsourcing partner trying to make sense of what has been provided. QA activities should, in my opinion remain focused on making what is/has been done understandable. An excited engineer is not the most reliable contributor to the maintainability of a system, I am afraid.

Actions

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1. Skim read and summarize

26-Jul-12

Closed

2. Share with QSAC staff

27-Jul.12

Open