Software Quality, Change Management and Testing: A Research Report

Running head: Quality Measurement 1
Software Quality, Change Management and Testing: A Research Report
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Quality Measurement 2
Introduction
Software quality engineering has grown to become a major discipline and a critical
consideration for software developers. The discipline is concerned with software quality
management and is rooted in quality models designed to not only deliver products that meets
customer requests but also satisfy standard software quality demands (Côté, Witold, & Elli,
2007). The needs of improved performance, security, user experience, scalability, reliability
and stability propel the development of software quality engineering.
In order to define quality engineering, three authors Marc-Alexis, Witold Suryn and Elli
Georgiadou, in 2007 authored a paper titled “In search for a widely applicable and accepted
software quality model for software quality engineering” in which they reviewed literature on
software quality development and measures. They recommended the development of software
quality management model for use in all development lifecycles.
The purpose of this research report is to review this paper, the research and the findings
that were made. The paper in structured into three sections- the introduction, body and
conclusion. The body section will review definitions of software quality management, its
specifications and quality models as proposed by other researchers. The conclusion summarizes
these findings and relates their importance to the course Software quality, change management
and testing.
Definition of Software Quality
In this paper, the three conducted a literature review of content related to the subjected,
and proposed features describing suitable quality model by way of comparatively evaluating
previously designed/developed quality models alongside their support for quality engineering.

Quality Measurement 3
They started by evaluating several definitions for software quality as proposed by other
researchers, reviewing te specifications and evaluation of quality as far as software quality
engineering is concerned, evaluated quality models and concluded by making recommendations
based on their research findings.
The Importance of Quality in Software Engineering
Traditional software development lifecycle and system analysis segmented user
requirements as either being functional or non-functional (Owlia & Elaine, 1996). The need for
improved user experience, robustness, performance, scalability, reliability and security gradually
shifted software development activities from being functionality-centered to quality-
requirements centered. To meet these requirements, a quality model must be used as a reference
framework towards the definition of quality. Additionally, quality assurance and quality checks
must be integrated with all other software development activities. Such efforts should be
formally managed and their implementation initiated during the definition and analysis of user
requirements and continued throughout the software development lifecycle. As such, software
quality development or quality engineering is seen as the “application of a continuos, systematic
disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development and maintenance of quality of software
products and systems; that is, the application of quality engineering to software (Suryn, 2003)”.
Most unfortunately for many software developers and users alike, the debate about what
constitute software quality is so controversial and its definition remains large vague in the eyes
many. The authors of this article suggested that these differences emanate from the fact that the
fact that many of the definitions do not recognize the different aspects of quality. They then
settled on the views of David Garvin about the five aspects of quality management. These
perspectives are outlined as follows: