The Phantom Within:

1. The Phantom Within: Managing Quality Assurance In IT Projects John A. Luchetti, PMP

2. What you will learn 1. Why quality assurance is important to clients 6. The role of the client in producing quality outcomes 2. How to manage the quality expectations and needs of clients 3. How to identify risks in current quality assurance processes 4. Effective quality assurance techniques and tools to meet client quality standards 5. When and how to develop response parameters for quality standards

3. A Quality Funny

4. Terms of Reference Project Quality Management • Quality Planning • Quality Assurance • Quality Control

5. The Importance of Quality Assurance to Project Clients • Corporate performance Corporate image Staff moral, retention & satisfaction Team building Customer service issues Customer satisfaction Project success

6. Strategic Quality Management • Quality is determined/defined by customer Quality is linked to profitability Quality is a competitive advantage Quality needs to be planned into the process Quality needs commitment from all staff

7. How to Manage Quality Expectations and Client Needs • Understand variables that affect market expectations Communication – quality checks/reports Change management Political sensitivity Act responsibly Nurture relationships

8. Identifying Risks in Current QA Processes The decision maker in the process • Organizational standards for quality Testing standards, processes & quality audits Client quality standards Lessons learned Repeating errors Dissention in the ranks (blame storming) Unusually high error rates

9. Quality Assurance Tools & Techniques PMBOK Quality Tools & Techniques • Benefit/cost analysis • Benchmarking • Flow-charting • Design of experiments • Cost of quality • Quality audits

10. Other Quality Tools & Techniques • Business Requirements & Change Management • Testing • Effective & Timely Communication • Issue & Risk Management

11. Business Requirements & Change Management Respect the role and responsibility of the business analyst Understand that clarification & refinement of business requirements is inevitable Understand that the needs of the User/Client may change during the project Beware The laundry list! Conflicting requirements among users

12. Testing Unit Stress Performance Conversion Recovery System Job Stream Module Regression Interface User Acceptance Security

13. Testing Documentation Test Plan Development Test Case Development Test Scenarios Development Test Matrices Internal Audit Reviews User Reviews Historical Information

14. Effective and Timely Communication Who What When How

15. Quality Issues & Risk Management Identification Qualification Quantification Prioritization Assignment Track to Resolution

16. Quality Assurance Response Parameters • Project Planning • Test Plan Development • Client/Customer/Sponsor/Team Interviews • Historical Information • Resource Acquisition

17. The Client’s role in Producing Quality Outcomes Major partner in defining quality standards Decision Maker Quality Champion Quality Navigator

18. Initiating Processes Planning Processes Controlling Processes Executing Processes Closing Processes Conclusion Build quality into project processes and sub-processes:

19. Thank-You John.Luchetti@bay3000.com (905) 947-8562 ext 23

20. The Importance of Quality Assurance to Project Clients What are the quality expectations of the client? How will I meet the clients quality needs? Have needs been prioritized and/or ranked? Do I fully understand the client’s need for quality? Have quality objectives/standards been identified?

21. How to Manage Quality Expectations and Client Needs • Do I understand what is driving the need? • Is there a  management plan in place? • Is there a communication strategy in place? • What political factors exist which may create barriers or obstacles? • Are the quality standards and objectives documented and understood by client?

22. How to Identify Risks in Current Quality Assurance Processes Do I know who has ultimate authority? Are all client, organizational, testing and process standards documented and communicated to project teams prior to project start? Do we evaluate lesson learned from previous projects What specific types of issues are occurring on project? Do we have any recurring issues/problems on projects?

23. Quality Assurance Tools & Techniques • What quality tools have been used successfully in the past? • How will we measure quality? • What actions will be taken as a result? • How will outcomes be communicated? • What soft-skills can be used to meet quality assurance objectives?

24. Quality Assurance Response Parameters • Have ALL quality expectations, standards and measures been documented in the project plan? • Will these expectations, standards and measures be met with available resources? • Have all stakeholders been interviewed? • Has historical information been obtained & reviewed? • Does a comprehensive test strategy exist?

25. The Client’s role in Producing Quality Outcomes Does the client understand his/her role? Is the client accepting of this role? Does the PM and project team understand the role of the client? What is the quality tolerance of the client? What are the expectations in regards to communication of quality outcomes?