A Study on the Perceived Value of Software Quality Assurance at JPL

As software quality assurance (SQA) moves from being a compliance-driven activity to one driven by value, it is important that all stakeholders involved in a software development project have a clear understanding of how SQA contributes to their efforts. However, a recent study at JPL indicates that different groups of stakeholders have significantly different perceptions about the value of SQA activities and their expectations of what constitutes SQA success. This lack of a common understanding of value has fragmented SQA efforts. Activities are driven by the desires of whichever group of stakeholders happens to hold the greatest influence at the moment leading the project as a whole not realizing the full or needed value of SQA. We examine this and other results of the recent study and how these impact both the real and the perceived value of SQA.