Auditing

Definition

Auditing is the quality engineering technique modeling an independent evaluation of a baseline at a milestone in order to determine if the endeavor is on course.

Discussion

Each milestone should have an associated set of baselined work products to be released to the customer organization. These work products may be documents, components, or applications. At most milestones, these work products are typically incomplete.

Objectives

The typical objectives of auditing are to:

• Determine if a milestone has been successfully met:
  • Determine if the associated baseline of work products is complete.
  • Determine if the baseline’s work products:
    • Have passed their associated evaluations (e.g., inspections, testing).
    • Have been properly identified (i.e., configuration identification).
    • Are ready for release to the customer organization.
• Reduce risk by obtaining an independent assessment of the milestone’s status.
• Provide recommendations for improving future activities.

Preconditions

Auditing can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The baseline associated with a milestone has been documented.
• The development organization has declared the baseline to be complete.
• The milestone date has been reached.

Completion Criteria

Auditing are typically complete if the following postconditions hold:

• An audit report documenting the results of the audit has been delivered to the customer organization and the development organization.

Steps

During auditing, the following producers perform the following steps:

• The quality team:
  • Determines the work products that should form the baseline.
  • Determines if the baseline actually contains the correct (e.g., latest) version of each of its component work products.
  • Determines if the work products are ready for release to the customer (e.g., passed inspection, approved by the approver roles etc.).
  • Documents the finding of the audit in the audit report.
  • Delivers the audit report to the customer representative and project manager.

Work Products

Auditing results in the following work products:

• Audit Report

Limitations

Auditing is subject to the following limitations:

• Auditing does not critique the quality of work products in the baseline.

Guidelines

• Auditing should be performed as necessary and based upon their strategic impact and risk level of the project.