dtj v05-04 1993

This Fall 1993 issue of the "Digital Technical Journal" focuses on software process and quality initiatives at Digital Equipment Corporation. The overarching goal is to deliver high-quality products by adopting, improving, and devising modern software development processes.

The journal highlights two key frameworks driving Digital's approach:

1. "Voice of the Customer" techniques: Used to deeply understand and meet customer needs.
2. Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM): Providing a structured framework for process improvement.

Digital's vision is centered on results-driven continuous improvement, where projects establish measurable, customer-driven quality goals, continuously monitor progress, and adapt processes as needed. This involves a "customer-first" approach, applied measurement, and closed-loop feedback.

The issue features several papers exploring these themes through theoretical models and practical case studies within Digital:

• "Modeling the Cost of Software Quality" by Stephen T. Knox presents a model for software development that predicts a significant reduction (approximately two-thirds) in the total cost of quality as an organization advances from SEI CMM Level 1 to Level 5.
• "Changing the Rules: A Pragmatic Approach to Product Development" by Paul K. Huntwork et al. details how the TeamLinks for Macintosh project team used customer-focused methods—such as Contextual Inquiry, artifact walk-throughs, and Vector Comparative Analysis—to gather requirements, enabling rapid decisions, shorter development cycles, and increased customer satisfaction.
• "Defining Global Requirements with Distributed QFD" by John A. Hrones, Jr., et al. describes Digital's enhanced approach to Quality Function Deployment (QFD) for gathering prioritized customer requirements from geographically diverse global teams, emphasizing preparation, training, and the use of automated tools.
• "DEC TP WORKcenter: A Software Process Case Study" by Ernesto Guerrieri and Bruce J. Taylor analyzes how the DEC TP WORKcenter team adapted and refined various software processes (including Contextual Inquiry, QFD, conceptual modeling, rapid prototyping, design reviews, and inspections) to meet customer requirements, ensure product quality, and maintain schedule predictability.
• "SEI-based Process Improvement Efforts at Digital" by Neil L. M. Davies and Margaret M. Dumont provides an overview of the SEI CMM's five levels of process maturity and discusses Digital's experiences and challenges in implementing SEI-based process improvement programs through two case studies.
• "Assessing the Quality of OpenVMS AXP: Software Measurement Using Subjective Data" by Robert G. Thomson presents a new quality-assessment process for porting the OpenVMS operating system to the Alpha AXP platform, using subjective data from developer questionnaires to evaluate quality indicators and manage project risk.

Overall, the journal emphasizes that successful software development relies on a strong commitment to process improvement, continuous learning, and adaptability to meet customer needs effectively.