About the Book
Proven techniques for improving software and process quality with Six Sigma This practical, in-depth guide explains how to apply Six Sigma to solve common product and process improvement challenges in the software and IT industry. Six Sigma Software Quality Improvement covers Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC), Lean Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), and Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify (DMADV). Featuring more than 20 success stories from Motorola, IBM, Cisco, Seagate, Xerox, Thomson Reuters, TCS, EMC, Infosys, and Convergys, the book offers first-hand accounts of corporate Six Sigma programs and explains how these companies are successfully leveraging Six Sigma for software process and quality improvement.
The success stories reveal how:
Motorola minimized business risk before changing business-critical applications
TCS improved fraud detection for a global bank
Infosys improved software development productivity for a large multinational bank
IBM reduced help desk escalations and overhead activities
EMC improved development productivity
Motorola realized significant cost avoidance by streamlining processes and project documentation
Xerox achieved high-speed product development
Seagate reduced application downtime and improved availability to 99.99%
Cisco successfully reinvented its Six Sigma program
Convergys injected Six Sigma into the company's DNA
Thomson Reuters' Six Sigma program gathered significant momentum in a short time
Six Sigma was successfully applied in many other projects for defect reduction, cycle time reduction, productivity improvement, and more
About the Author :
Author Profiles
Vic Nanda leads the Process Improvement organization in Enterprise Mobility Solutions & Networks IT at Motorola. He has over 15 years experience in the software and IT industry, including various roles in software quality assurance, system testing, and software development. Vic has extensive experience with Six Sigma, SEI Capability Maturity Model (CMMi), IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), TL 9000, and ISO 9000. He is the author of the books Quality Management System Handbook for Product Development Companies (CRC Press, 2005), and ISO 9001 - Achieving Compliance and Continuous Improvement in Software Development Companies (Quality Press, 2003; Spanish Translation by AENOR, 2005).
He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Software Quality Professional Journal and the International Journal of Performability Engineering, member of the reviewer board for IEEE Software magazine, member of the Standing Review Board of ASQ Quality Press, and a member of the ASQ National Awards Committee. He is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (by Motorola), Certified Manager of Quality/Organization Excellence (CMQ/OE), Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE), ITIL Foundations Certified, and Certified ISO 9000 Lead Auditor.
Vic was awarded the prestigious Feigenbaum Medal by the ASQ for the year 2006 for "displaying outstanding characteristics of leadership, professionalism, and potential in the field of quality and also whose work has been or will become of distinct benefit to humankind". Vic had previously been awarded ASQ's Golden Quill Award in 2003. He was profiled in the Face of Quality in the Quality Progress magazine in November 2003.
Vic is a member of the Steering Committee of the Philadelphia Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN), and a Senior Member of ASQ. He has a MS in Computer Science from McGill University, Canada and Bachelors in Computer Engineering from the University of Pune, India.
Jeffrey Robinson, Ph.D. is an IT technologist, project and program manager who has worked in Software Development, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, and Process and Quality for more than 25 years. He has been a CMM/CMMi assessor and Malcolm Baldrige Quality Assessor and is a certified IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) practitioner as well.
Dr. Robinson has been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses for over 21 years and has developed and taught numerous technology courses in computer science, programming, operating systems, quantitative statistics, database design, decision theory, project management, risk management, organizational design, networking, database administration, business intelligence, data mining, and multimedia graphics. He is a frequent lecturer and an author of more than forty technical papers and holds four software patents in manufacturing control theory, as well.
As a certified Master Black Belt, he has been applying and teaching Six Sigma techniques for more than fifteen years in a broad range of environments from semiconductor manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, IT, automotive, and financial management systems. As a consultant, he has worked with numerous companies, developing and delivering Six Sigma courses to improve process and quality programs.
He is currently a Principal Consultant at Altran Solutions performing Verification and Validation (V&V) on digital control systems of nuclear power plants, and is serving on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Subcommittee on Software V&V for NQA (Nuclear Quality Assurance)
He has a B.A. in Physics from Monmouth College, a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, an MBA from Central Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University.
