Software quality management and ISO 9000 implementation

The software industry has matured into a global business with software products and applications growing in number, complexity, and market importance. Global sourcing and software production and operations sharing are becoming the industry standard. At the same time, the marketplace has become less tolerant of poor‐quality products and hidden maintenance costs. Reviews various existing standards and frameworks and discusses the massive consolidation and coordination efforts currently ongoing for the purpose of developing international quality standards. Also proposes an eight‐step framework that puts all 29 clauses required by ISO 9001 for certification implementation in the software industry into clusters for more efficient management. Warns, however, that becoming ISO 9000 registered is only the first step to achieving consistent software quality.