8 Software Quality Management Best Practices
With the surge of software applications dominating different industries for years, software quality has become a top priority for all businesses. A low-quality software application could lead to disastrous events and, eventually, monetary losses to businesses. Hence, software quality management (SQM) should always be in the software development life cycle (SDLC).
Software quality management is a crucial aspect of product development that ensures that software products meet customer requirements and are reliable, efficient, and maintainable. This activity is continuous, not just occasional tasks that must be performed before software is released. It is the main reason many businesses invest heavily in software quality assurance.
According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets, the global software testing market was valued at USD 24.3 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 50.3 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 12.6% during the forecast period of 2021-2026.
Businesses can abide by several software quality management guidelines and principles. On top of these, software quality management best practices should also be made mandatory. For the rest of this article, we will discuss eight software quality management best practices crucial in every software development phase.
Define quality metrics.
Software quality metrics are quantitative or qualitative measures used to assess software quality during its development, testing, and maintenance phases. These metrics provide insights into various aspects of software quality, such as its reliability, efficiency, maintainability, and usability.
Software quality metrics are used to evaluate software systems' performance, identify improvement areas, and make informed decisions about software development and maintenance processes.
Some quality metrics include the following but are not limited to:
Code coverage
Defect density
Cyclomatic complexity
Cycle time
Mean time between failures
Use test automation tools.
A recent report released by Perfecto revealed that 35% of businesses involved in the survey evaluated manual testing as the most time-consuming part of the test process. Thus, test automation tools are now being widely used as part of software quality management best practices.
These tools can help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software testing, ensuring that software meets quality requirements and is free from defects, with minimal human intervention.
Aside from the increased efficiency, using test automation tools bring the following benefits:
Improved test coverage
Increased test accuracy
Early defect detection
Cost-effectiveness
Consistency
Reusability of test scenarios
Conduct code reviews.
Code reviews involve one or more individuals systematically examining source code to identify and fix defects or areas for improvement. Code reviews are a crucial step in the software development process to ensure that the code added or modified meets the established coding standards, is efficient, and is free from bugs and vulnerabilities. In software quality management, code reviews are considered essential for the following reasons:
Identifying and fixing defects
Ensuring coding standards and best practices
Knowledge sharing and learning
Improving code maintainability and readability
Enhancing software security
Early detection of issues
Follow a standard development process.
A standard development process provides a systematic approach to developing software, ensuring that each process stage is executed consistently and efficiently. It helps ensure that the software meets user requirements and expectations, is of high quality, and is delivered on time and within budget. These criteria are crucial for software quality management. Following a standard development process helps ensures the following:
Consistency in development
Facilitation of communication
The efficiency of the software
Improved quality
Maintenance and support
Implement continuous integration and continuous delivery.
Continuous integration (CI) and Continuous delivery (CD) are two closely related practices in software development that aim to improve the quality and speed of software delivery. Continuous integration refers to automatically building, testing, and integrating code changes into a shared repository frequently. The main objective of CI is to identify issues as early as possible in the development cycle and prevent code integration problems by catching issues before they can cause problems in the production environment.
Meanwhile, Continuous Delivery (CD) builds on top of CI by automating the process of deploying software to production environments. The goal is to make deploying new changes to production as smooth and efficient as possible by ensuring that the software is always in a releasable state.
Together, CI and CD can help teams to reduce the risk of production failures, improve the speed of delivery, and increase the overall quality of the software being developed. It is why they are widely considered best practices in software quality management. They provide a number of benefits to software development teams and organizations, such as:
Faster feedback loops
Increased productivity
Consistent and reliable builds
Provide training and support.
Training and support to everyone involved in the SDLC can ensure that everyone in the software development process has the knowledge and skills required to produce high-quality software. Developers, testers, project managers, and all other stakeholders should benefit from this training and support.
Test early; test often.
"Test early, test often" is a software development principle that suggests that software testing should be conducted regularly throughout the software development process, from the early stages of development to the final stages. By testing early and often, developers can catch bugs and errors early on, making them easier and less expensive to fix.
This approach also helps ensure that the final product is of high quality and meets the requirements of the end-users - which is what software quality management aims for.
Testing early and often also helps to reduce the risk of project failure and can lead to a more efficient and effective software development process. Identifying and fixing problems early on will help developers and other stakeholders avoid costly rework and delays later in the development process.
Use software quality management tools.
There are many software quality management tools available commercially that can help software development teams to ensure that their products are of high quality.
Some of the most commonly used software quality management tools are:
Test Tools
Continuous Integration (CI) Tools
Code Analysis Tools
Defect Tracking Tools
Performance Testing Tools
Version Control Tools
Using such tools mentioned along with other relevant business software, i.e., top business management tools for small businesses, can aid software quality management systems in implementing world-class software.
There are many other tools that organizations can use in their software quality management system as long as they fit their business needs.
Implementing a software quality management system makes for effective software development.
Software quality management systems play a crucial role in ensuring the overall success of software development projects. The implementation of its best practices can help organizations achieve a higher level of quality in their software products by providing a structured approach to quality management.
Also, the development team can detect and address potential issues early in the development cycle, reducing the likelihood of errors and defects making their way into the final product.
Furthermore, a well-implemented software quality management system can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by ensuring that software products meet or exceed their expectations.
This can help to improve the reputation of the organization, increasing its market share and profitability. By embracing these best practices, organizations can establish a culture of quality and continuous improvement, leading to long-term success and growth.