NQA - Experience with Integrated Teamwork and Network based Quality Assurance
Dr Richard Messnarz, Director ISCN Ltd., Dublin, Ireland Dr Robert Stubenrauch, Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria Martin Melcher, Rainer Bernhard, NQA Chief Developers, ISCN, Graz, Austria
This paper describes the experience with a new team management concept for software quality assurance which has been field tested in firms since 1994 in different countries and resulted in an IEEE book "Better Software Practice for Business Benefit".
In addition, since 1998, the European Commission supports the development of a tooling concept on basis of Hyperwave (a leading multimedia system which won the EU IT Prize in 1997) for computer automating these role centred team work management paradigms for quality management. At the time of paper writing it is field tested in leading German and Scandinavian firms and research centres such as Daimler Benz, FZI, etc.
This paper contains a description of the paradigms followed and a first summary of the lessons learned.
Richard Messnarz, Dr., Florence House, 1 Florence Villas, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, ph.: +353 1 286 1583, fax.: +353 1 286 5078, email: rmess@iscn.ie
However, the key problem is that distributed collaboration needs effective co-ordination of the work of the different partners. And old conservative means such as direct supervision, local meetings, large local and not distributed teams, do not work any more. The decomposition into smaller competence teams with clear cooperation interfaces supported by new and effective communication systems is needed. This includes a virtual office on the net with project archives and document management, configuration management, guide-lines and computer support for project documentation, network and computer supported information flows, and appropriate security mechanisms assuring privacy of the materials exchanged and produced.
NQA is developed in co-operation with Hyperwave [6], [7], a leading information management system, and places the required functionality of such a virtual office on top of it. The system has been field tested in leading German and Scandinavian industry in the software co-operation and out-sourcing sector.
Most of the large companies (e.g. Siemens re-organises again and centralises more, Daimler Benz and other manufacturers require a much more closer co-operation between the teams of suppliers and their internal teams) start to question the simple out-sourcing concept. They think about a system that will create a virtual office through which teams from the supplier and the manufacturer work together as if they are one team in the same office, thus solving the missing-control problem of out-sourcing.
Another potential is to use it as a virtual office of many smaller companies who jointly develop and follow joint quality control scenarios over the net.
The development of NQA has been supported by the European Commission under the ESPRIT project HYMN.
Figure 1: A Role Play for Feature Request Management and Planning
Work Instructions for the Feature Request and Planning Scenario at Hyperwave
Only after the establishment of such a role-based model the information flows become clear and a tool can start to support the team communication and quality control activities through a virtual office of distributed competence teams.
This way users can insert and maintain document or result templates and adapt the system to their own specific documentation requirements without any change or customization of code (just by configuration of data).
Figure 2: Data and Functional Configurability
Function Base Driven Configuration (Re-Use Pool Concept)
At the moment three basic elements can be configured to which the above functionality is generated.
Documents - The below picture shows the standard window for document creation, with SAVE the functionality is generated to the template taken from the pool and a first version is issued under configuration management)
Figure 3 : Document Object Creation Window
Reports - The below picture shows the standard window for report creation, after ADD a report is added to a list and the functionality is generated to the template taken from the pool and a first version is issued under configuration management.
Figure 4 : Report Object Creation Window
Linked Reports - same as with reports, plus the report is automatically linked backward and forward to what has been selected in the right combo boxes.
Figure 5 : Linked Report Object Creation Window
Depending on the user needs the three elements are configured. E.g. Linking Feature Requests (FR) with user Requirements Documents (URD), so that an URD is automatically created by the links to accepted FRs (example from a customer wish from Daimler Benz).
Further basic elements might be considered and inserted into the NQA configuration pool in later releases.
Figure 6: Functional Header Generated for Document Objects
Creation of reports from a template pool (configurable by customer). Automatic administration within a project structure under a certain documentation category (e.g. quality control reports). Electronic submission to a distribution list (workflow). Version management and change control (see configuration management). Automatic forward and backward linking between documents and reports, or reports and reports (e.g. linking test protocols with problem reports, and problem reports with modification reports). On-line edit of forms at server side, and on-line submission (no download necessary for edit). Figure 7: Parts of a Typical Report Form
Electronic submission of reports ad results to team members. Encryption module can be used. Administration of distribution lists (for automatic forward). A communication log per project archiving all communication flows between team members (roles).
Figure 8: A Standard Notification Message for Submissions
Figure 9: Version control with Object History Including Test Status
Figure 10: Forward and Backward Linking (e.g. Review Reports Linked to a User Requirements Document)
Administration of a team per project (see only their project). An NQA system administrator nqaadmin (sees all). Administration of a distribution list (for electronic submission) per team.
Figure 11: Identification and User Control
Figure 12: Creation of Projects also Builds Project Teams
By just using Netscape the team members (from home, from any work place, etc.) can access the NQA virtual server and work on-line through a joint interface.
Some case sstudies from real practice are -
This process has been extremely difficult because the teams were locally distributed resulting in instable URDs with changes and additions lateron.
A stability of approx. only 50% was given, and a high flexibility in the entire process was needed. A much better situation is the goal with about 80% stability and fewer additions later, leading to higher effort at the start but much higher productivity throughout the development and field test.
Now, a virtual office system allows to jointly collect the FRs, to publish them in a joint planning cluster, to submit them for review over the net, and to automaatically link them forward and backward with the related reviews leading to either acceptance or non-acceptance of the FR.
The most important feature was then the automatic forward and backward linking of the accepted FRs with the URD, leading to an automatically created URD on the net.
A case study from a Spanish innovation management organisation showed that the use of role based team scenarios is a perfect tool for training of new staff to be integrated. The roles are clear from the beginning and to know the interfaces to other team members in advance led to much easier integration of new staff. The average time to integrate new staff was reduced by 67%.
A case study at a middle sized software and research company in Austria showed that the use of real practice work scenarios for the establishment of working instructions for an ISO certification leads to a large increase of the motivation of staff. (17% really using to above 70%).
Another factor is that practitioners want to have a system in place (not a paper handbook) that facilitates them the additionally required documentation effort and is accessible through a common interface from their normal work place.
If organisations tried to use it without understanding the required management principles first.
When middle management realised that the role models also require that their role is described with interfaces to the roles played by the staff, because this also makes their duties more visible. (a psychologic barrier)
If the system 's configurability and linking features were neglected or not properly configured leading to inflexible top-down project administration (hated by technical staff).
The EU ESPRIT Programme supported us to realise the ideas and new comcepts in an industrial tooling environment on the basis of Hyperwave in the HYMN ESPRIT project.
We would like to thank Gerhard Pail, Frank Kappe, Mansuet Gaisbauer, Juergen Schipflinger, Joerg Faschingbauer, and Peter Luttenberger for their active support, the test, and the use of NQA for ISO 9001 certification of Hyperwave itself.
We also would like to thank Mr Alejandro Moya from the European Commission for his strict control to ensure project progress, and all people from Hyperwave, Daimler Benz, FZI who field tested the system.
[2] ISO 9000-3. Quality management and quality assurance standards. International Standard. Part 3: Guidelines for the Application of ISO 9001 to the Development, Supply and Maintenance of Software. ISO (1990).
[3] ISO 9001. Quality Systems. Model for Quality Assurance in Design/Development, Production, Installation and Servicing. International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva (1987)
[4] ISO 9126, Information Technology - Software Product Evaluation - Quality Characteristics and Guidelines for Their Use, 1991
[5] ISO/IEC 12207, Information technology - Software life cycle processes, first edition Aug. 95.
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[7] Maurer H., What We Want from WWW as Distributed Multimedia System; Proc. VSMM’97, Geneva. IEEE, 148-155.
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[10] Messnarz R. , Tully C. (eds.), The PICO - Book : Software Process Improvement for Business Benefit - Principles and Experience, IEEE Computer Society Press, November 1998