This work was developed by the quality group of the Desoft Sancti Spíritus Computer Applications Company and as a result of the intense work of software quality tests and reviews that have been carried out in the last 2 years. The main objective of this research is to carry out an important analysis of the indicators that must be managed and taken into account in a software quality testing laboratory, as well as their relevance within the business strategy to improve the internal management of such processes. such as: Software development and software testing itself. The results are validated through a computer application that manages and displays information,achieving valuable results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the statistical data collected for decision-making, associated with software development processes, innovation management and derivatives. This research was widely accepted by those involved, since it helps the continuous improvement of the company's internal services, products and processes.
A few years ago, a national software testing laboratory was set up at the Desoft Computer Applications Company, with the aim of carrying out quality reviews that would allow said industry; on the one hand, objectively grant recognition to products; and secondly, to generate objective and reliable information in the form of statistics and records that facilitate raising confidence in software products. With the passage of time this objective has been extended as part of the vision of the team members and their commitment to the work, becoming of interest the recognition of software testers, the work of the laboratory itself, and what is useful of the information generated there for all the internal management of the organization.
Currently, the company does not have a complete and reliable database of people with some knowledge in tests, of all the products that are released by the quality group, of the versions of the products, etc. At Desoft's national software testing laboratory, all these aspects are intended to be disclosed to managers, be it knowledge management, innovation management, and any other interested party, thus allowing the generation of statistics on the current conditions of the company. and facilitate actions that can improve them and be more effective with the current market. It is also the objective of the laboratory to generate and share quality metrics, receive support and exchanges with strong entities in this regard, and publicize the results as they are obtained.
Regardless of the important data that is collected as part of the tests, say: the effectiveness or not of a certain test, the density of the defects found, the defects by severity or by rework, just to mention a few, there are other data that they are also collected almost imperceptibly and that until now were considered inconsequential outside the closed framework of the test laboratory. Among these aspects are, for example, the effectiveness of the tester, the errors according to the technology used, the errors according to the revision categories, the types of applications reviewed, the geographical regions with more or less errors, etc. This may all seem unimportant, but when you run a software company with geographically distant external dependencies,With somewhat different market characteristics, different infrastructures, few strictly specialized personnel, and many others, it can be stated that nothing in insignificant, every detail is important in order to know how to guide the correct production of the entity.
But: Is that information used appropriately? Does it become objective information for the rest of the company? Is such information interactively shared outside the scope of the laboratory itself? These were some of the questions that were asked each other, a team of testers from the Desoft Computer Applications Company with the aim of externalizing information and contributing important results to other processes that were not exclusively productive and development processes; but processes of quality, innovation, management and others.
In this sense, a computer tool is used to manage part of the laboratory's information and provide it in a timely manner to whoever may be interested within the entity, such as managers, deputy directors, commercial and human resources specialists, among others.
This paper aims to show the results obtained by the test laboratory of the Desoft Computer Applications Company, which has been in uninterrupted operation for 3 years and which is obtaining important results within the company. Interesting data on statistics of the laboratory and its members are shown making them available to everyone.
DEVELOPING
Software testing is based on empirical and technical research that enables objective information on the quality of the application to be provided to interested parties. They are a critical part of the quality control process and that is why software testing cannot be underestimated if you want to guarantee a quality product to users.
The tests are basically a set of activities within software development, these activities may be implemented at any time in said development process, depending on the type of tests. There are different test models, each corresponds to a different level of involvement in development activities.
In this sense they are like 2 large groups, functional tests that involve functional requirements (RF), for which test cases are designed and executed, and system tests that focus on non-functional requirements (RNF) of the system. but they add great value to it, such as: security, reliability, availability, performance, among others.
The activities related to software testing are currently a trend in software companies since, in a software development process, after the analysis, design and at some point in the application development, the stage must begin of evidence. For this, an environment isolated from that of development is necessary, that is, the application execution should be simulated in an identical environment to where it is going to be executed and create the minimum conditions to simulate the scenarios as close to reality as possible.
These environments, commonly known as software testing labs, are independent from the development department, (although they work and have a lot in common) and there are cases that are thought from the point of view of a system user. Taking into account that it handles lots of computer applications, many personnel, different application deployment environments, different infrastructures and others, it is possible to think that a software testing laboratory is an incessant source of data that as a whole can become valuable information for the entire organization and technicians in general.
From the analysis of the main characteristics of the company and the test laboratory in question, elements related to knowledge management, quality management and strategic management were analyzed, all aspects that contribute to the achievement of efficiency and effectiveness. in entities. The disciplines of the organizations considered smart were studied in depth, as well as international norms and standards of quality adopted by SMEs.
Organization characterization
The computer applications company Desoft can be classified by its characteristics within the group of small and medium-sized companies, it has a well-defined knowledge management program that involves all workers, which encourages both internal and external training for its specialists, as well as the tools to socialize and externalize the tacit knowledge of its workers.
From another perspective, it also has a clear strategic management defined, its vision and mission are correctly defined, as well as all the objectives that comply with them with their respective indicators of efficiency and effectiveness. It focuses its services and products largely on its corporate purpose, but without losing sight of customers and their needs, since they are, after all, its main engine. In the case of Innovation and Quality management, there are numerous deficiencies because policies are not clearly defined or implemented for them, there are no dedicated personnel for these tasks, and they are not given due importance.
However, for the last 3 years isolated but successful actions have been carried out in terms of the quality management system, an aspect that was almost entirely absent within the entity and which has taken a very important boom within it..
One of the most important elements that have materialized after attempts to create a quality management system is the testing of software products and services. This element was part of an advanced process that included those processes that were directly linked to production, since they are undoubtedly those that provide the most added value to the success of the company in the social context; then in a second phase, the internal processes of the organization would be included as elements to support production processes but with great weight in achieving quality products and services.
Specifically, the previous idea was materialized with the creation of a software testing laboratory. It has the objective of being a final filter and releasing those products developed in the company that intend to be part of its portfolio of official products or created for marketing purposes nationwide. The aforementioned laboratory in question has peculiar characteristics inherited from the host organization, such as: few testing personnel, all roles are concentrated in the same person, its members are geographically isolated, in some cases they do not have differentiated training as engineers in software testing and some others,This makes it even more important to know all those aspects that allow the correct management of the roles of these people to make the work more effective. The laboratory is located in the Desoft Sancti Spíritus territorial division with members from other provinces such as Havana, Ciego de Ávila and Holguín. They have a work methodology, defined procedures for internal, release and acceptance tests, various types of tests are carried out, such as exploratory, functional, system tests, test files are prepared and there are also quality reports after each stage of review. and after the final release of the products.They have a work methodology, defined procedures for internal, release and acceptance tests, various types of tests are carried out, such as exploratory, functional, system tests, test files are prepared and there are also quality reports after each stage of review. and after the final release of the products.They have a work methodology, defined procedures for internal, release and acceptance tests, various types of tests are carried out, such as exploratory, functional, system tests, test files are prepared and there are also quality reports after each stage of review. and after the final release of the products.
All the aforementioned elements are known by the rest of the company through a report made by the head of the laboratory and which is often of no consequence due to the lack of opportunity with which it is issued or the lack of knowledge of it by those purely productive people, who are the ones who decide and plan development and research projects. That is why as part of an initiative of the quality group of the territorial division Sancti Spíritus, the idea arose to materialize laboratory indicators that serve as a basis for decisions of other important areas within the company such as innovation management, knowledge and the strategic vision.
These indicators will be exposed in an entity's own web application, easily accessible and that will be public for all the divisions of the company, making their daily consultation help their productive and innovative management.
Indicators
Taking into account the perspectives analyzed and described above, a set of indicators are proposed that add value to each one and give a quicker and more concise vision of their effectiveness.
Perspective "Knowledge management"
Among the indicators that can be effective in this area are undoubtedly the labor competencies of the workers and any considered training material that can be used for guided or individual training study.
In this sense, the following elements are provided by the testing laboratory:
- Tester effectiveness Quarterly tester evaluation DB with expertise of testing staff Knowledge of software quality by provinces, sources of acquisition, etc. Test record.
These elements help to:
- Detect leaders. This activity seeks to ensure that the soft skills of people are recognized; with greater knowledge of the subject, they are in turn able to lead work teams under the conditions explained by geographical distance and little knowledge, thus breaking the classic traditional team schemes. This culture of leadership fosters the training aspirations of the members under the leadership, as well as the interest in coordinating the work and carrying out diagnoses of both projects and personnel, among others. Form documentary basis. This activity is aimed at leaving written evidence and subsequent consultation by those interested, of all the documentation that is generated during the tests and that are part of their record. In this way, it is possible to control the testing process by managers and also serve as a study and improvement for future members of the work team.
Innovation Management Perspective
From this perspective, elements focused mainly on the software products themselves and the needs of markets by regions of the country, among others, are provided. In this sense, some of the elements provided by the laboratory management are:
- Database with the released products.
Of these products we have:
- Product type: (management (economic, productive, HR), educational, portals, multimedia) Technologies: (programming languages, database languages, frameworks) Versions: (describing at all times its characteristics) Product file: (document that describes the product in greater depth and specificities). Most used technologies. Technologies by provinces. Quantity of product iterations. Quantity of non-conformities (NC) of the product and its associated artifacts. Percentage of NC by categories (Documentation, application, design, training material). NC percentage by used technologies. Provinces / Released products. NC quantity by provinces.
These elements help to:
- Innovation management. The activity of product and service innovation may be affected by these elements since, for example, decisions can be made on the use of one or another technology for certain types of projects, as well as knowledge of all the products released in the company and what they are for, which prevents repeated development of applications with similar purposes and encourages the evolution of existing ones; Helps to assess whether or not an application should be migrated to another technology in future versions; among other. Project management.This activity is nurtured by obtaining information on regions of the strongest country in one or another technology, or in a specific type of project and guiding the appropriate market strategy towards it. It is decided which project may be a new development or is simply an evolution of an existing product, this makes the management of resources (human and technical) within a project more effective and helps to guarantee its success.
Perspective "Quality Management"
This perspective is considered intangible for many companies and although there is some truth in its little tangible results, there is no doubt that it provides very significant contributions that ensure and control production and development processes, finally guaranteeing the quality of its products and services. Oriented to this, a software testing laboratory is an inexhaustible source of elements that provide the quality vision of a company in every way, that is why all the previous elements and many more are part of this perspective.
Therefore, some will be mentioned that mainly contribute to the internal quality of the organization's processes, such as:
- Customer complaints (quarterly and yearly). Complaints vs. products. Complaints vs. services. Results of service verifications. Results of customer satisfaction surveys. Results of reviews of internal processes.
These elements help to:
- Quality management. It allows continuous improvement on processes and services based on corrective actions and lessons learned. It fosters a culture of quality through organized work, constant reviews. Form a documentary base. They help by recording all the reviews that are carried out on processes and services, such as minutes, review reports, surveys and complaint records.
Results
This initiative has been having some results that are already being asserted in the Desoft Sancti Spíritus division and that are shown as an example of everything previously explained. These results are relevant to the entity's strategic decisions, and are already available for analysis and discussion by all relevant parties. Next, Figure 1 is shown, which represents the effectiveness and margin of error of the testers, taking into account the number of non-conformities that they detect and the percentage of them that are canceled.
Next, we see Figure 2 that shows some data collected on those involved that demonstrate that the knowledge they have of quality was acquired fundamentally in the university, with a low percent of this knowledge acquired in the postgraduate course, which helps to manage the Knowledge to know how the training process is progressing in this regard and helps to take measures in this regard.
This quality knowledge is applied in different scenarios and Figure 3 below deals with the percentage of these people who use that knowledge as part of their current job.
From a different perspective, it has been possible to show the different types of products that have passed through the laboratory and which have predominated. See Figure 4.
In this sense we also have what the predominant technologies have been, even with a weighting of the same according to the provinces that use them; this is shown in Figures 5 and 6 below.
The products released by provinces and the number of non-conformities detected in each case are also of vital importance to assess the effectiveness of the development process and associated technology. Figure 7 below shows data from Villa Clara (VCL), which has been the province of the country with the most products released and the number of non-conformities thereof.
The aforementioned is corroborated with the following graph that shows that Villa Clara is the province with the lowest average of non-conformities (NC) per released application.
CONCLUSIONS
The management of a test laboratory is extremely useful in business management, far beyond knowing the quality indicators of products, services and corresponding devices. It provides important elements that can be managed to make knowledge management, innovation management, quality management and strategic management more effective.
The data shown in this report have been widely accepted by the managers of the Desoft Sancti Spíritus Territorial Division with the intention of nurturing the company and the division itself of important elements that must be taken into account when they appear. decision-making and the strategic approach to computerization within the entity and all its dependencies.
It is up to managers to convert this information into mandatory consultation to measure the quality of the organization.
REFERENCES
Software Testing. Retrieved on 2017 January 17.
Tayché, CG, Yanet, BR, Raykenler, YH and Aylin, FE (2014) Strategy to develop the perspective Internal processes in a software testing laboratory. Cuban Journal of Computer Science, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 145-156 (2014)
QA: Tests to ensure the quality of the software product (I). Retrieved on January 17, 2017. Retrieved from:
mantis.ssp.desoft.cu
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Ing. Lian Lisette Hurtado Linares works at the Desoft Computer Applications Company, specifically in the territorial division of Sancti Spíritus, she has 9 years of experience in the software development department and 5 years ago she has been specifically in the role of specialist in software quality by leading a national group of technical reviews of software products. Teaching Category: Desoft Internal Instructor. Member of the National Association of Economists of Cuba ANEC. Union of Informatics of Cuba UIC.
Ing. Arlethy Betancourt Matos works at the Desoft Computer Applications Company, specifically in the territorial division of Guantánamo, she has 6 years of experience in the computerization department and for 3 years she has been specifically in the role of software quality specialist. Teaching Category: Desoft Internal Instructor. Member of the National Association of Economists of Cuba ANEC. Union of Informatics of Cuba UIC.
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