RESUMEN

We've historically determined an organization’s process maturity by conducting a maturity assessment that evaluates whether key process areas are documented and practiced. We've assumed that the higher the maturity level, the more cost effective the software development process. However, the maturity assessment doesn’t validate the critical assumption that cost is reduced and efficiencies are enjoyed; it validates only that KPAs are in place. This article examines evaluating process maturity on the basis of results, or the improvement in cost structure in the four quality-cost categories: prevention, appraisal, internal failures, and external failures.

RESUMEN

The ramifications of failing to completely and correctly address security can devastate an organization, not only in compromised data and financial cost but also in the time and energy spent to recover. One of us, Jane Hayes, sat down with an expert in the field, Frank Perry, to discuss the state of the art and future directions of system security and particularly how it interacts with software quality. Perry is chief engineer of the System and Network Solutions Group at SAIC. The group of almost 10,000 people focuses on network technologies and applications, primarily in the US federal market.