Application Quality Engineering

Definition

Application quality engineering is the is the activity consisting of the cohesive collection of all tasks that are primarily related to the quality of an application.

Goals

The typical goals of application quality engineering are to:

• Ensure and continually improve the quality of the application, its deliverable work products, and the process used to produce it.

Objectives

The typical objectives of application quality engineering are to:

• Assess the quality needs of the application.
• Plan the quality tasks and work products.
• Assure the quality of the process used to produce and maintain the application.
• Control the quality of the associated work products.

Examples

Examples of application quality engineering include:

• TBD

Preconditions

Application quality engineering typically may begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The initiation phase has started.
• The quality team is initially staffed and trained in quality engineering.

Completion Criteria

Application quality engineering is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• The application is retired.

Tasks

Application quality engineering involves the following teams performing the following quality engineering tasks:

• Quality Team, which performs:
  • Quality Needs Assessment
  • Quality Planning
  • Quality Assurance
  • Quality Control
• Process Team, which performs:
  • Quality Assurance
• Enterprise Team, which performs:
  • Quality Control
• Program Team, which performs:
  • Quality Control
• Project Team, which performs:
  • Quality Control

Environments

Application quality engineering is typically performed using the following environment(s) and associated tools:

• Engineering Environment:
  • Configuration Management Tools for determining and obtaining the work products to be evaluated and audited
  • Database Management Systems for storing results.
  • Documentation Tools for producing the quality work products.
  • LowerCASE Tools for understanding how the process is used in practice.
  • Metrics Tools for obtaining quality metrics on the work products.
  • Process Engineering Tools for understanding the process to be assured.
  • Test Tools for understanding how testing is performed and for performing regression testing.
  • UpperCASE Tools for understanding how the process is used in practice.

Work Products

Application quality engineering typically results in the production of all or part of the following work products:

• Quality Set::
  • Quality Plan
  • Audit Report
  • Endeavor Debrief Report
  • Inspection Reports
  • Inspection Summary Reports
  • Process Inspection Checklist
  • Review Materials
  • Review Report

Phases

Application quality engineering tasks are typically performed during the following phases:

• Business Strategy: Not Applicable
• Business Optimization: Not Applicable
• Initiation: Ongoing
• Construction: Ongoing
• Delivery: Ongoing
• Usage: Ongoing
• Retirement: Ongoing

Guidelines

• This activity is documented using the typical configuration for large projects. It is intended to be configured (i.e., instantiated, extended, and tailored) to meet the needs of specific projects.
• The preconditions of this activity should be the union of the preconditions of its constituent tasks.
• The completion criteria for this activity should be the union of the postconditions of its constituent tasks.