How you use six sigma in software quality development?

Answer 1

* http://www.dbar-innovations.com * Mentorsoftpro, A complete Lean Six Sigma Mentoring, training, statistical analysis and multi project tracking management system. In other words, all you would ever need to do any Six Sigma project, one at a time, twenty at a time or a corporation capable software system. * Starting with understanding the DMAIC method, with out this you are never going to have successful results. I recently discovered this site dedicated to answering all the Lean Six Sigma / process improvement needs and questions. They offer a very complete software system that will walk you through the entire DMAIC methodology. It has a training video at every possible step including example data, video demonstration, voice guided instructions, templates for every step. The goal of Six Sigma is to increase profits by eliminating variability, defects and waste that undermine customer loyalty.

A well-documented failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) with robust action plans and implementation will help an organization avoid rework in software projects, irrespective of the project type (full life cycle development, enhancement or maintenance/production support). In each case, there is an existing process, with a number of process steps/activities. FMEA can unravel the potentially weak steps and show where things may go wrong and where to focus. The FMEA tool - either within a full-fledged Six Sigma DMAIC cycle or without - adds immense value to software projects. The FMEA process begins by identifying the ways in which a product, service or process could fail. A project team examines every element of a process, starting from the inputs and working through to the output delivered to the customer. At each step, the team asks, "What could go wrong here?" The team then figures the probability of each possible failure (known as "occurrence"), the damage it will inflict should it actually fail (termed as "severity"), and the likelihood of finding such failures before final delivery (called "detection"). These three parameters are ranked on a 1-to-10 scale and the product of these three is called the risk priority number, or RPN. The RPN indicates which of the process steps or design components are high-risk items and need to be attended to first for medication and/or control measures. Once this is done, the team has to brainstorm action plans to either reduce occurrence or improve detection. Severity normally remains the same. During the brainstorming, team members need to be clear that the action items should not sound like a wish list or a statement of intent, but should be aimed at adding, deleting or modifying an existing process. If a project team recommends such vague actions as, "Peer reviews should be more effective" or "Problem tickets should be assigned to a team member within 30 minutes of receipt by the team leader," little or no improvement can be expected. Instead, the action points need to be more precise, such as, "If the team leader does not assign a ticket coming to the queue in 30 minutes, a pop-up message will be generated to remind them." The action items vary from introduction of checklist, to mandating reviews before a code release, to planning backup resources, to timely assignment/transfer of problem tickets, etc. Whatever the recommendations, after their implementation, the process flow chart is changed. And once done, the FMEA is executed again in the new process to calculate the reduction in the level of risk exposure. Thus the objective is to first identify the potential risks and then take corrective/preventive action to eliminate or at least reduce those risks. To get the best results, FMEA should be done at the beginning of a software project and every three to six months thereafter. However, it is never too late to do an FMEA. The exercise can be done at anytime during the course of the software project. Besides, if a Six Sigma project is executed to improve performance of an ongoing and long-duration software project (especially one that involves maintenance/production support in addition to development/enhancement), executing a FMEA can add considerable value. Here, FMEA should be part of a "look-ahead meeting," which software project teams normally do to proactively reduce defects/bugs. FMEA is a group activity, normally with six to ten on the team. It may be done in more than one sitting, if necessary. The process owner, or project manager, is normally the leader of the FMEA exercise. However, to get best results, multi-disciplinary representatives from all affected activities should be involved. Team members should include subject matter experts and advisors as appropriate. Each process owner also is responsible for keeping the FMEA updated. The heart of the FMEA is the action points arising out of it and the subsequent process improvement that happens when these actions are implemented. A project team at a large manufacturing company was very enthusiastic using the FMEA through the point of completing the calculation of RPNs for each process step. But once that was done, only a few people participated in the brainstorming session for recommending action points for high-RPN process steps. Needless to say, that organization did not benefit much from using the exercise. FMEA looks simple, but it is an extremely powerful tool when applied in letter and spirit. It helps the team assess stakeholder issues and concerns, identifying and creating a strategy for those that should be moved to a higher level of support. Specifically, FEMA: * Captures the collective knowledge of a team. * Improves the quality, reliability and safety of the process/product. * Is a structured process for identifying areas of concern. * Documents and tracks risk reduction activities. * Helps the team create proactive action plans and thus improve process robustness. Some software project managers argue that they do not really need a separate FMEA tool. Risk analysis and mitigation should be a part of the manager's normal project management job, they say. The point is: If an organization is looking for better results in risk mitigation and improved processes, it needs to use a better tool or technique, such as FMEA. Unless a FMEA is done, improvement activities are likely to remain unclear and unfocused, and may not even get implemented in the pressure of meeting schedules and deadlines. In addition, since FMEA action items are generated by the project team through collective brainstorming, rather than an individual, the buy-in of the actions is much higher, and thus the project manager faces minimum resistance in implementing them. In short, the benefits a software project team will gain from this powerful technique are well worth the time invested in applying it. About the Author: Asoke Das Sarma is a Six Sigma deployment leader in a large multinational computer company. He is based at Bangalore, India, For Help-A complete Six Sigma Mentoring System. This is going to be the industry standard in driving Lean Six Sigma projects. Voice guided with instructions how and where to. Has Continuous training as it walks you through the DMAIC methodology, does statistical analysis, reports and tracks the whole project. No limits to amount of projects, users or capabilities. We will custom tailor to your companies operating applications. This is 1/5 the price of the leading industry software with everything they do not offer in training and analysis. Call 713-436-6941 A demonstration is a must. The goal of Six Sigma is to increase profits by eliminating variability, defects and waste that undermine customer loyalty.

A well-documented failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) with robust action plans and implementation will help an organization avoid rework in software projects, irrespective of the project type (full life cycle development, enhancement or maintenance/production support). In each case, there is an existing process, with a number of process steps/activities. FMEA can unravel the potentially weak steps and show where things may go wrong and where to focus. The FMEA tool - either within a full-fledged Six Sigma DMAIC cycle or without - adds immense value to software projects. The FMEA process begins by identifying the ways in which a product, service or process could fail. A project team examines every element of a process, starting from the inputs and working through to the output delivered to the customer. At each step, the team asks, "What could go wrong here?" The team then figures the probability of each possible failure (known as "occurrence"), the damage it will inflict should it actually fail (termed as "severity"), and the likelihood of finding such failures before final delivery (called "detection"). These three parameters are ranked on a 1-to-10 scale and the product of these three is called the risk priority number, or RPN. The RPN indicates which of the process steps or design components are high-risk items and need to be attended to first for medication and/or control measures. Once this is done, the team has to brainstorm action plans to either reduce occurrence or improve detection. Severity normally remains the same. During the brainstorming, team members need to be clear that the action items should not sound like a wish list or a statement of intent, but should be aimed at adding, deleting or modifying an existing process. If a project team recommends such vague actions as, "Peer reviews should be more effective" or "Problem tickets should be assigned to a team member within 30 minutes of receipt by the team leader," little or no improvement can be expected. Instead, the action points need to be more precise, such as, "If the team leader does not assign a ticket coming to the queue in 30 minutes, a pop-up message will be generated to remind them." The action items vary from introduction of checklist, to mandating reviews before a code release, to planning backup resources, to timely assignment/transfer of problem tickets, etc. Whatever the recommendations, after their implementation, the process flow chart is changed. And once done, the FMEA is executed again in the new process to calculate the reduction in the level of risk exposure. Thus the objective is to first identify the potential risks and then take corrective/preventive action to eliminate or at least reduce those risks. To get the best results, FMEA should be done at the beginning of a software project and every three to six months thereafter. However, it is never too late to do an FMEA. The exercise can be done at anytime during the course of the software project. Besides, if a Six Sigma project is executed to improve performance of an ongoing and long-duration software project (especially one that involves maintenance/production support in addition to development/enhancement), executing a FMEA can add considerable value. Here, FMEA should be part of a "look-ahead meeting," which software project teams normally do to proactively reduce defects/bugs. FMEA is a group activity, normally with six to ten on the team. It may be done in more than one sitting, if necessary. The process owner, or project manager, is normally the leader of the FMEA exercise. However, to get best results, multi-disciplinary representatives from all affected activities should be involved. Team members should include subject matter experts and advisors as appropriate. Each process owner also is responsible for keeping the FMEA updated. The heart of the FMEA is the action points arising out of it and the subsequent process improvement that happens when these actions are implemented. A project team at a large manufacturing company was very enthusiastic using the FMEA through the point of completing the calculation of RPNs for each process step. But once that was done, only a few people participated in the brainstorming session for recommending action points for high-RPN process steps. Needless to say, that organization did not benefit much from using the exercise. FMEA looks simple, but it is an extremely powerful tool when applied in letter and spirit. It helps the team assess stakeholder issues and concerns, identifying and creating a strategy for those that should be moved to a higher level of support. Specifically, FEMA: * Captures the collective knowledge of a team. * Improves the quality, reliability and safety of the process/product. * Is a structured process for identifying areas of concern. * Documents and tracks risk reduction activities. * Helps the team create proactive action plans and thus improve process robustness. Some software project managers argue that they do not really need a separate FMEA tool. Risk analysis and mitigation should be a part of the manager's normal project management job, they say. The point is: If an organization is looking for better results in risk mitigation and improved processes, it needs to use a better tool or technique, such as FMEA. Unless a FMEA is done, improvement activities are likely to remain unclear and unfocused, and may not even get implemented in the pressure of meeting schedules and deadlines. In addition, since FMEA action items are generated by the project team through collective brainstorming, rather than an individual, the buy-in of the actions is much higher, and thus the project manager faces minimum resistance in implementing them. In short, the benefits a software project team will gain from this powerful technique are well worth the time invested in applying it. About the Author: Asoke Das Sarma is a Six Sigma deployment leader in a large multinational computer company. He is based at Bangalore, India, For Help-A complete Six Sigma Mentoring System. This is going to be the industry standard in driving Lean Six Sigma projects. Voice guided with instructions how and where to. Has Continuous training as it walks you through the DMAIC methodology, does statistical analysis, reports and tracks the whole project. No limits to amount of projects, users or capabilities. We will custom tailor to your companies operating applications. This is 1/5 the price of the leading industry software with everything they do not offer in training and analysis. Call 713-436-6941 A demonstration is a must.