kurtz182

 Profile Answers by kurtz182 Questions by kurtz182

• Nov 22nd, 2009

 

It is far easier to implement Six Sigma principles in a product manufacturing facility because the statistical nature of its process control lends itself more readily to the quality improvement of 'widgets' than it does software.  The primary reasons that the principles of Six Sigma do not lend themselves to sustained improvements in the software industry are:

1) Process variation can never be eliminated or even reduced below a moderate level because no two modules are alike.  Consequently, in software applications, process performance always include a high degree of variability.

2) Specifications are not based on tolerances.  In software, systems don't fail because they are assembled from components that do not meet tolerances.  Instead, a single, well-placed defect can bring down a software application.

I am not saying Six Sigma can't be successfully applied to the software development
process, but a great deal more imagination and thinking must be devoted to its processes in order to achieve continuous and sustained process improvements in software development.