This document outlines the key components of a software quality assurance plan (SQAP). The SQAP specifies the goals, tasks, standards, and procedures to ensure software quality. It covers management responsibilities, required documentation, standards and metrics, reviews and audits, testing practices, problem reporting, and tools. The SQAP establishes a basis for measuring and evaluating development activities to achieve optimal software quality.

1. Software Quality Assurance
Planning
The Goals of Software Quality Assurance:
 To improve software quality by appropriately
monitoring both the software and the development
process that produces it.
 To ensure full compliance with the established
standards and procedures for the software and the
software process.
 To ensure that any inadequacies in the process,
product and standards are brought to
managements attention so that these inadequacies
can be fixed

2. Software Quality Assurance Plan
 For each development project the SQAP
specifies:
 Its goals
 SQA tasks to be performed
 Standards against which development work is
to be measured
 Software quality procedures

3. Contents of SQA Plan - Purpose
 Purpose
 Describes the purpose of the project SQAP
 List software covered by SQAP
 State portion of software life cycle covered
 Try to address following issues:
 What is the intended use of the software (criticality,
interfaces etc…)?
 What is the scope of this SQAP?
 How will this plan contribute to the success of the project?
 Name the SDLC that applies to the project and deviations?

4. Contents of SQA Plan –
Reference Documents
 Reference Documents
 complete list of documents referenced elsewhere in
the SQAP

5. Contents of SQA Plan –
Management
 organization - depict structure of org.
 responsibilities
 tasks
 tasks to be performed
 relationship between tasks and checkpoints
 sequence of tasks
 responsibilities
 of each organizational unit

6. Contents of SQA Plan –
Documentation
• identify required documents
• state how documents will be evaluated
• minimum documents required:
– SRS - Software Requirements Specification
– SDD - Software Design Description
– SVVP - S Verification and Validation Plan
– SVVR - S. Verification and Validation Report
– User documentation - manual, guide

7. Contents of SQA Plan – Standards,
Practices, Conventions and
Metrics
 Identify S,P,C,and M to be applied
 How compliance is to be monitored and assured
 Minimum
 documentation standards, logic structure standards,
coding standards, testing standards
 List Selected SQA product and process metrics
• Defects Found, Change Activity, Software Structure,
Availability,…
• Must be related to measurable objectives in Purpose
Section.

8. Contents of SQA Plan –
Reviews and Audits
purpose
define what reviews/audits will be done
how they will be accomplished
what further actions are required
Minimum
Software Requirements Reviews
Preliminary Design Review
evaluate technical adequacy of top-level
design

9. Contents of SQA Plan – Test
 Identify all tests that are not
included in SVVP for the software
covered by the SQAP and shall state
the methods to be used.

10. Contents of SQA Plan –
Problem Reporting
 Practices and Procedures for reporting,
tracking, and resolving problems
 Organizational responsibilities

11. Contents of SQA Plan – Tools,
Techniques and Methodologies
 identify the special software tools,
techniques and methodologies
 purpose
 describe use

12. Standards
 Standards provide a basis against which activities can
be measured and evaluated
 Document, established by consensus and approved by
a recognized body, that provides, for common and
repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for
activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of
the optimum degree of order in a given context. (ISO
– International Organization for Standardization)

13. Types of Standards - 1
 Regulatory Standards - imposed by
Government legislation or regulation;
 Speed Limits;
 Electric Voltages for Distribution;
 Some Communications standards.
 Consensus Standards - adopted by a
community of interest to further the
interests of the community
 Most professional Standards and many
manufacturing Standards.

14. Types of Standards - 2
 External Standards - define the ways in
which an organisation relates to its clients
and competitors.
 e.g. AS 3563; ISO 9001; ANSI/IEEE 730 etc.
 Internal Standards - define the
practices and procedures in place within
an organisation.

15. The Standards Process
Formulation
Definition
Approval
Implementation
Comment