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The Review Of Business Information Systems

Volume 8, Number 3

Critical Issues
In Software Quality Assurance:
An Exploratory Study
William D. Burg, (E-mail: burg@uab.edu), University of Alabama, Birmingham
Sanjay K. Singh, (E-mail: ssingh@uab.edu), University of Alabama, Birmingham

Abstract
Recent reviews of the Software Quality Assurance (SQA) literature expose that in mostorganizations, systems development is characterized by recurrent problems, such as poor system
quality. The conclusions of these reviews is that SQA efforts have failed due primarily to their
failure to adequately address the linkages between the organizational and process aspects of
quality assurance in software development projects. As an initial step in identifying and
understanding the linkagesbetween the organizational and process aspect s of SQA, the authors
conducted an exploratory study to elicit a set of issues critical to the assurance of delivering
reliable software.

Introduction

I

n the last decade alone, software failures have wrecked a European satellite launch, delayed the op ening
of the new Denver airport for a year, destroyed a NASA Mars mission, killed fourmarines in a
helicopter crash, induced a U.S. Navy ship to destroy a civilian airliner killing hundreds of civilians,
and shut down ambulance systems in London, leading to as many as 30 deaths. Mizuho Bank of Japan, one of the
largest banks in the world in terms of assets, launched a software system without thorough quality assurance. The
system crashed shortly after it was launched. As a result,customers were unable to make withdrawals or deposits at
approximately 7,000 ATMs for almost a month, and multiple accounts were debited by mistake.
According to a recently released study commissioned by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST), software errors cost the U.S. economy an estimated $59.5 billion annually.
The NIST study also found thatmore than a third of these costs, or an estimated $22.2 billion, could be eliminated
through earlier and more effective identification a nd removal of software defects (NIST, p. ES-11).
With the increasing reliance on software for everything from managing personal finances to performing eye
surgery, quality in software is no longer optional. In addition, the use of web -based applications linkedto legacy
systems gives both customers and business partners direct experience with the reliability and quality of an
organization’s systems. Given the importance of delivering software of sufficient quality, one would expect that
software quality assurance (SQA) practices themselves would be not only mature, but also pervasively implemented.
Yet recent reviews of the SQA literature exposethat in most organization, systems development is
characterized by recurrent problems, such as poor system q uality, long development lead times, user dissatisfaction,
and high costs (Ravichandran and Arun, p. 382). In assessing the state of SQA, these reviews point out that
managing systems development quality involves managing two fundamental but different dimensions. First, a
sophisticatedtechnological infrastructure based upon adherence to accepted software engineering standards for the
design of high-quality software needs to be implemented and used throughout the software development process.
Second, an organizational system for managing all aspects of the overall software development process – one that
encourages all stakeholders to engage in quality-oriented behaviors – mustbe established and utilized throughout the

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The Review Of Business Information Systems

Volume 8, Number 3

software development process. These reviews conclude that, unfortunately, SQA research has focused primarily on
the technical aspects of SQA, to the detriment of the organizational and process aspects.
Given the success of Total Quality Management (TQM) in improving the...