Using SPI to achieve delivery objectives in e-commerce software development

Software process improvement (SPI) initiatives in large commercial banking organisations are often constrained by the control mechanisms implemented by the organisation to protect it from financial loss. As such, any changes to the software development process must maintain the required level of independent quality control. However, commercial pressure from customers and competition dictate that high-quality software systems are delivered within shorter timeframes. In order to meet these increasing demands, whilst maintaining the desired level of quality, one option is for organisations to make more effective use of the quality assurance (QA) team during the software development process. This article reports on current research which is examining the impact on software delivery of involving testers earlier in the development life cycle. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.