Overview | Quality Journey | Quality Policy & Organization | Best Practices

Best Practices

1. Estimation Tools
   
   Right estimations are key to success of the project. Aricent uses proven techniques of estimating size, effort, and schedules. Estimations are typically done using the organizational productivity data from past projects, Delphi Wide-band methods and other techniques like COCOMO.
   
   
   • COCOMO II for effort estimation
   • Delphi wide band techniques for size, effort and schedule estimation
     
     
2. Risk Management Tools
   
   
   • Risk Database
   • Risk Profiling Tool
   • Risk Management Tool
     
     
3. Software Quality Assurance
   
   Every project identifies a Software Quality Assurance (SQA) representative to ensure that the project follows the defined processes and report the metrics to the organizational repository. These SQA representatives also enable sharing of best practices among projects. At the end of every month or at the end of every phase, the SQA representative conducts a process compliance audit to highlight areas that are not following the defined process for the project. She also reports the metrics using a web based tool and help the project manager in analyzing the data. Some screen shots of the process compliance framework and the some analysis reports by SQA are given below:




SQA Report

Process Compliance



4. Comprehensive Measurement Program
   
   
   • Baseline Report
   • Web based project metrics collection and analysis tool
   • Health Index
     
     
5. Defect, Effort and Schedule prediction models
   
   Various prediction tools have been developed, based on statistical techniques like Rayleigh distribution, regression and correlation analysis and past performance of the projects. These tools, with a user friendly simple interface, assist the project managers in predicting the expected variance from planned data and help them in taking mid-course corrective action.
   
   
• Defect prediction model based on Rayleigh distribution
• Effort prediction based on past data
• Schedule prediction based on regression analysis
  
  
6. Review/Inspection effectiveness measurement tool
   
   In Aricent, each SDLC phase exit is linked with review/inspection of the various work products. We focus on early detection of the defects in the life cycle. To know whether review has been effective or not at the end of each phase, we use 2X2 Matrix. This tool measures the effectiveness of inspection and review process. It gives a fair idea of defects found with respect to effort spent by inspection team.




Concept

Application

Observations

Last updated : December 19, 2005