L7 ITPM - Quality Management

Knowledge Check

Drag and Drop

IT project management is the process of ​

Placeholder

, organizing, and overseeing the execution of IT projects within an ​

Placeholder

.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

planning

organization

Finding

designing

office

writing

Multiple Choice

IT projects can fail for various reasons. What is the technical term for - when the project's scope expands beyond its original boundaries without proper evaluation and approval?

• Poor Planning

• Biting on more than you can chew

• Scope Creep

• Bogus project objectives

Multiple Choice

Failing to gather and document clear and comprehensive requirements from stakeholders before commencing a project can lead to what?

• Misaligned expectations and deliverables.

• Increased stakeholder satisfaction.
• Improved team collaboration.
• Enhanced project timelines.

Drag and Drop

The iron triangle explains the relationship between scope,​

Placeholder

and cost.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

time

staff

plan

team

Multiple Choice

A series of phases or stages that a project progresses through from its initiation to its completion is called what?

• Project life cycle

• Project management

• Software development

• Project architecture

Introduction

•Quality for every organization today
must be of utmost importance and
include a strong customer
influence. Many examples of
project failures which will be looked
at later in this lesson, can be
attributed to poor quality.

•IT project managers are
responsible not only for delivering
product on time and within the
budget but also according to quality
standards.

•There are several approaches that
can be used to achieve this. In this
lesson we will cover some of the
common approaches including the
Prince2 Quality Theme.

The definition of quality varies, depending on many factors, such as who you are (stakeholder or software developer), type of project, industry, dependability, fitness for use, and safety.

The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) uses the American Society for Quality’s definition for quality as: “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfil requirements” (PMI, p. 228).

Quality Definition

Quality Definition (Cont’n)

The International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) defines quality as “the

totality of features and characteristics of a
product or service that bears on its ability to

satisfy stated or implied needs.”

Notice two key points about these definitions:

The product must satisfy the system

requirements (stated needs), and it must

satisfy the customer’s (stakeholder’s) implied
needs. Project managers must make sure that

both are met to ensure a successful project

Recall – Triple Constraint

• To deliver a successful project, a

project manager must learn to
balance the three and make trade-
offs. The fourth element, quality,
can be adjusted as well to ensure
that the other three stay in focus.

• For example, you may be able to

reduce the amount of testing or
negotiate with the sponsor for a
lower-quality product to save
money or time to complete the
project on time.

Recall – Prince 2 Themes (Quality)

(Staragile, 2020)

Quality in Prince2 Context

Define and implement the means by which the project will

create and verify products that are fit for purpose

Quality theme is the PRINCE2@ approach to ensure that

the project's products Meet business expectations

Enable the desired benefits to be achieved

Philip Crosby’s ‘four absolutes’ of quality management:

Quality is defined as ‘conformance to

customer requirements’.

The system for implementing quality is

prevention not inspection.

The performance standard must be zero

defects.

The measurement of quality is the price of

non-conformance.

Quality as explained by: Joseph Phillips

Quiz

https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/657462b9664e58efc79297a0?source=quiz_share

Consequences of poor quality

• Some examples of project

failures can be attributed to
poor quality such as:

• The Boeing 737 Max aircraft

was grounded in March 2019
after two crashes that killed a
total of 346 people.

• The cause of the crashes

was due to faulty flight
control software.

Consequences of poor quality (Cont’n)

British Airways had to cancel all flights on the 27th of May 2017 due to loss
of power in a datacenter which in turn caused an outage of most systems.

The airline was unable to manage their flights, move luggage, or process
customers without redundant failover systems. It was estimated the incident
cost the airline 112 million US dollars.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Consequences of poor quality (Cont’n)

• The United States launched the

Mars Climate Orbiter on December
11, 1998, with the intention of
studying the Earth’s closest planet.
Unfortunately, due to an error in
the ground-based computer
software, the orbiter which cost
$327.6 million, entered the Mars
atmosphere at the wrong entry
point and disintegrated shortly
thereafter.

IT Project Management- Quality Failure - iPhone 4

As the issue continually made the news cycle, Apple eventually conducted a

“voluntary” recall to correct the problem

Independent tests revealed that touching the left side of the case at a certain

spot interrupted the signal and dropped the call – not a great feature for a

handheld device used primarily to make calls.

Calls were dropped suddenly and frequently causing wide spread

dissatisfaction with loyal customers who upgraded to the new version early

on, while Apple continued to deny or minimize the problem.

While they quickly recovered, Apple was on the verge of losing their

dominance in the device market when it became clear that it was difficult to

make a call using the much anticipated iPhone 4.

By Dominic Tramontana - September 19, 2019

Quiz

https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/6574d0703f7dbae4a27e2a99?source=quiz_share

Quality management systems (QMS)

The international standards for a quality

management system (QMS), ISO 9000,are generic

in nature and represent maximum agreement
across all sectors of industry. As a result, the

standards represent minimum, not maximum, best

practice within any one sector.

TickITplus.org (IT/Software Quality Systems)

TickIT is an initiative, promoted by
the UK Department of Trade and
Industry, to establish the relevance
of standards to the production of
software. Its objectives are:

• To harmonize QMS standards,

through the common route of
ISO 9000.

• To improve market confidence in

third-party certification of QMSs.

• To provide authoritative

guidance material to help QMS
implementers.

• To improve professional practice

among software QMS auditors.

SIX SIGMA

• Six Sigma is a rigorous and disciplined

methodology that uses data and
statistical analysis to measure and
improve a company’s operational
performance by identifying and
eliminating defects in manufacturing and
service-related processes.

• Originally used just in manufacturing

companies, it has recently been applied
to projects in all disciplines including IT

SIX SIGMA (Cont’n)

Six Sigma for IT projects is a methodology focused on
improving processes and reducing defects or errors in IT
operations. It emphasizes:

1. Define: Clearly outlining project goals, customer

requirements, and project scope.

2. Measure: Collecting data to assess current

performance and identify areas for improvement.

3. Analyze: Analyzing data to understand root causes

of issues and identify solutions.

4. Improve: Implementing solutions to address

identified issues and optimize processes.

5. Control: Establishing controls to sustain

improvements and prevent regression.

6. Define: Continuously monitoring performance and

making adjustments as needed to maintain quality
and efficiency.