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Processes aid software industry
This article is reprinted here with minor modifications.
The article
was originally published in the Calgary Herald special
edition
"The Quality Way: Standards of Business Excellence",
September 29, 1998
-- Terry Gilbert
The reliance on whiz kid heroes in the software development
world leaves Marielle Chevrier feeling more than just a little uneasy.
"These whiz kids are doing this stuff out of their heads. The problem is,
they might be successful today, but there is no predictability." says Chevrier,
a quality consultant to the software industry.
DEVELOPING RELIABLE, EFFICIENT AND ECONOMIC PROCESSES:
Marielle Chevrier of Tantara Management Services
"They can't guarantee repetition of that success." And should the whiz
kid leave or be too busy, it is unlikely anyone else will be able to replicate
the success, either.
That vulnerability often causes the industry to spend too much time in
crisis mode, says Chevrier, with developers chalking up massive amounts
of overtime and often going without sleep.
But by analyzing, developing and setting out processes, companies can attain
a much greater degree of predictability in the development process and
reduce the need for firefighting.
Chevrier, principal with Tantara Management Services in Calgary, says her
objective is to help companies develop reliable, efficient and economic
processes that do not stifle developers' creativity.
"The industry relies on the champion, the whiz kid who can develop complex
code without any difficulties. Other developers see the talent and respect
them. They carry a lot of clout."
"We do not want to stifle these people. You want to permit the creativity
but remove the firefighting around them."
Quite often a company's processes are invisible -- they vary from project
to project and from developer to developer, with nothing formal or recorded
for reference.
The goal is not to write one process that everyone must follow. "That's
the Dilbert approach." she says.
Instead, the process must show where flexibility is permitted and where
permission to deviate is needed. Chevrier talks in terms of windows of
variance -- so that inside a window the software developer can choose,
outside the window she/he must seek advice.
Jeff Plato, director of customer operations for Taylor
Industrial Software in Edmonton (now, known as Total Control Products
of Canada), says focusing on processes gave "structure to our chaotic culture."
Taylor, which produces industrial automation software for, among others,
refineries, manufacturing plants and the automotive industry, was the first
software development company in the province to achieve its ISO 9001 certification.
The ISO 9001 registration process requires companies to meet specific criteria
for documentation of their processes as determined by an outside auditor.
"ISO 9001 gets the whole organization thinking a little bit more about
how to put into place mechanisms for recognizing problems," Plato says.
For instance, if the customer was suppose to have received eight discs
and only seven arrived, it isn't enough to send the missing disc. Workers
need also to consider whether the mistake was a one-off occurrence or whether
it revealed the need for a checklist or perhaps more training for new hires.
And at a preventative level, Plato says, the company must also be on the
lookout for those things that have the potential to cause problems and
correct them.
Chevrier, who has assisted Taylor in its process work, says the company
now has a shorter cycle time and a better product.
Plato, who has responsibility for quality at Taylor, says that among the
special issues facing the software industry is the fact that "unlike hardware,
you can never get to the point where the product is defect free. The potential
number of defects in any piece of software is astronomical."
That number is reduced through activities like rigorous testing, and the
challenge is to determine the point of diminishing returns.
But Plato says while many companies define quality in relation to the number
of defects in a product, "the more mature way is to ask 'what's quality
in the eyes of the customer?'"
Plato's view is that quality has to do with every interaction with the
customer, from the efficiency of the ordering process, to the level of
technical support provided when a problem arises.
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( Revised: December 17, 1998
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