The Evolution of Quality Processes at Tata Consultancy Services

0 7 4 0 7 4 5 9 / 0 0 / $ 1 0 . 0 0 © 2 0 0 0 I E E E J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 0 0 I E E E S O F T W A R E 79 policy internally to achieve enterprise-wide involvement. This article describes the path traversed and the lessons learned. As you will see, the institutionalization of processes takes time. Although TCS embarked on its CMM journey in 1996 and achieved Level 4 by 1998, the stage for that was set much earlier during ISO 9000 certification. The same was true for ISO 9000 certification. The initial culture change of moving toward systematic process is comparatively difficult. Once that is streamlined, building further improvements on it is relatively smooth. Background TCS first implemented quality control procedures in the early ’70s—when the projects executed were mainly bureau jobs. To ensure design quality, TCS introduced structured systems analysis and design processes in 1982 and then guidelines for software life-cycle activities. To support this design method and data modeling, the company then started using CASE tools developed at the Tata Research Design and Development Center. It introduced procedures for milestone reviews from 1983 to 1984. The shift from quality control to quality asThe Evolution of Quality Processes at Tata Consultancy Services