UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS

November/December 2013

PROGRAMME MSc Software Engineering Projects and Management

MODULE NAME Software Quality Management

DATE Thursday
28 November 2013 MODULE CODE CSE6011

TIME 9:30 – 12:30 hrs DURATION 3 Hours

NO. OF 3 NO. OF QUESTIONS 3

QUESTIONS SET TO BE ATTEMPTED

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

This paper contains 3 questions.

Question 1: 50 Marks, Question 2: 25 Marks and Question 3: 25 Marks

All questions are COMPULSORY.

The marks are as indicated.

Start each question on a fresh page

 SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT - CSE6011

Answer all questions.

Start each question on a fresh page

Question 1 - [Total 50 Marks]

Read the case study before attempting the question that follow.

WebStar Web Agency

WebStar Web Agency is a Mauritian IT start-up company with a mission to develop

high quality websites for local business operators in the tourism sector. WebStar was
set up in 2008 by a seasoned developer, Chris. Initially there were only 2 employees,
Kelly and Peter, both experienced web developers with proven track record of
developing great websites.

Being a small company, no formal development process or methodology is used or

applied. Chris acts as the marketing/business development manager who leveraged
his network of people to find new business. Projects are assigned to either one of the
developers who runs the project from the initial request to completion/delivery.

The major steps used at WebStar to develop websites are:

Figure 1: Steps used by WebStar to develop website

(continued next page)

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 SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT - CSE6011

(Question 1 continued)

The wireframe design and web page graphic designs are finalised after a few
interactive discussions with the customers. After the website is deployed on the
production server, the customers go online to validate the website. Very often the
production version requires touch-ups and the customer would send in request for
changes. As a result the website is not widely advertised for another month. That
time is used to fine-tune the website and to fix bugs that are being uncovered as the
website is informally tested by ‘friends’ of the customers or by Chris.

So far the delivery approach worked well; the customers, employees and owner
were happy; and the company was financially in good shape. Given the success in
the first two years of operation, Chris decided to grow WebStar. In view to manage
his costs, Chris decided to go for entry level developers (1 year of experience). Six
more developers were hired.

Chris stepped up his effort to get more projects. More projects were secured and the
developers kept the same approach. Initially, the quarterly revenue went up, stayed
constant before it dropped. As revenue declined, the stress level rose in the
company. The developers were the first ones to be blamed for the growing backlog
of works. In the months that follow, it is no wonder that the company became
financially unsustainable (cash flow problem). Chris still believed he would be able
to turn the situation around provided someone is willing to inject cash into his
company.

Chris felt lucky when he came across an old friend who has been working with a
large global consulting company. The latter will be happy to invest in WebStar but
would like Chris to implement his recommendations to improve delivery
beforehand. The five recommendations to be implemented are as follows:

Recommendation 1:
Quality activities should be integrated in the project life cycle

Recommendation 2:
The team at WebStar should stop relying uniquely on their intuition for estimation.
Proper metric and estimation techniques should be used to estimate project effort

Recommendation 3:
Currently the testing being done is clearly insufficient. The right testing strategy
needs to be put in place to reduce rework.

Recommendation 4:
To manage scope creep and post-implementation work requests, it is recommended
that management set up change control processes.

(continued next page)

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 SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT - CSE6011

(Question 1 continued)

Recommendation 5:
The company will improve its profit margin through quality despite concerns that
some upfront investment is required to implement quality processes.

Answer the following question:

Chris is keen on winning the investment from his old friend. You are hired as the
Quality Assurance person to help in the implementation of the five
recommendations listed above.

Chris knows very little about quality, for each of the recommendation:

i. Provide him some background to clarify the recommendation and how it will
help WebStar.
ii. Outline to Chris the major changes/actions you would put in place in view to
implementing the above recommendations.
[10 x 5 Marks]

Question 2 - [Total 25 Marks]

(a) Define software error, software fault and software failure. Explain the
differences between these undesirable software issues.
[7 Marks]

(b) Explain how non-compliance with documentation and coding instructions

can lead to software errors.
[4 Marks]

(c) Continuous improvement is vital to keep up with competition.

(i) Explain what is continuous improvement?

(ii) Discuss the importance of lesson learned in software development as

part of continuous improvement. (use example(s) to illustrate your
answer)
[3 x 2 Marks]

(d) It is widely accepted that benefits are gained by use of SQA standards,
certifications and frameworks. These include amongst others ISO,
CMM/CMMi, TQM, etc

(i) How relevant is ISO 9001 to software development?

[4 Marks]

(ii) Which is most important for software development CMM or CMMi?

Justify your choice.
[2 Marks]
(iii) Discuss the goal of TQM “Do the right things right the first time, every
time”
[2 Marks]

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 SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT - CSE6011

Question 3 - [Total 25 Marks]

(a) Write down the quality factor that best fits each of the requirements below
and discuss why:

(i) The failure frequency of heart-monitoring device is required to be less

than one in 10 years
(ii) Training a new employee will take no more than two days, after which
the trainee will be able to handle 45 service calls a day
(iii) The size of a software module will not exceed 30 statements
(iv) The subsystem that deals with billing clients for technical intervention
may be eventually used as a subsystem in the “helpdesk” software
package
(v) The “Helpdesk” software package developed for Windows 7 operating
system should be compatible for application in a Linux environment

[3 x 5 Marks]

(b) Quality attributes of a software can be measured using McCall’s factor model.
List the attributes in McCall’s factor model and explain how it can be used.
[10 Marks]

END OF QUESTION PAPER

sg/

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