Software Quality

Chapter 9Cost of Software Quality

9.1 This Time the Budget was Approved – an Introductory Mini Case

Mary Janus, head of the SQA team, felt very disappointed when for the third time the general manager rejected her investment plan for installing the Java Solver package in the software development department.

The proposed package included proved capabilities for the automatic detection of 92% of Java program errors, and the automatic correction of 85% of them. The quality observed in the trial results of the proposed package was astonishing. It was as good as that measured in manual corrections, and in a great many cases was even better. A document that presented these facts, together with a proposal for installing four workstations (four licenses) in the department amounting to the sum of $48,000 a year, was submitted to the GM, from which Mary and her team were all expecting a positive decision. In actual fact, this document was an improved version of one submitted just 4 months earlier.

It seems that disappointment may sometimes lead to success in rather creative ways. Mary's disappointment lead her to want to convince the GM again, but this time by presenting calculations of the contribution margin of the proposed investment.

Mary now began her “research” project, and first identified the following:

1. The software development department employs 10 Java programmers and 10 Java testers. The cost of an employee is $13,000 per month on average.
2. Department statistics revealed that ...