Date:

Bio:
Diane Manlove is a Software Quality Engineer for IBM in Rochester, MN. Her responsibilities include the management of release quality during product development, system quality improvement, and product quality trend analysis and projections. In her software development quality role, Ms. Manlove has routinely performed 6 Quality Assessments each year for the last 5 years. Diane is certified by the American Society for Quality as a Software Quality Engineer, a Quality Manager, and a Reliability Engineer and by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional. She holds a Master's degree in Reliability and an undergraduate degree in Engineering. Ms. Manlove has been employed by IBM since 1984 and has additional experience in hardware and software test and in manufacturing quality.

The authors have developed a methodology for assessing the quality of a product under development and have used this methodology successfully for many years and across numerous projects. This discussion will address the steps required to prepare for a 'Quality Assessment', beginning with an examination of the process used to developed the product and the information that is key to that process.  The incorporation of both quantitative and qualitative data will be explained. The authors will include many examples from their own experiences, which illustrate useful tools and practices.  Particular attention will be given to the Quality Assessment final deliverables:  the overall assessment rating, assessment summary, and assessment recommendations.