Software quality certification: a rational client's perspective
Vern. Bawden · The University of Queensland · 1994
Quality system standards, such as ISO 9001 and AS 3563, have emerged in recent years to address on-going quality problems in the software industry. However, certification against these standards is not yet COIlln10n, so clients are likely to continue dealing with uncertified developers for some time. The aim of this exploratory research, was to identify factors which make developer certification important to the client, and to identify circumstances when certification is not important. The research proposals were based on rational economic theories. This ex post empirical study investigated the effects of the following factors on a client's desire for developer certification: (a) probability of unsuccessful project outcome; (b) project criticality; (c) uncertainty about the developer's quality assurance activities; (d) the client's specificity of assets; (e) the developer's specificity of assets; (f) the likelihood of subsequent projects with the client; (g) the developer's reputation with the client; and (h) the client's ability to influence the developer's reputation. It also investigated the effects of the following factors on a client's ability to demand developer certification: (a) the client's specificity of assets; and (b) the developer's specificity of assets. The research data collected did not reveal significant support for any of the hypotheses above. The small number of observations or the particular organisations surveyed, possibly contributed to the lack of significant results. The strong indication from the questionnaire data and the follow-up interviews, is that certification is of limited value as a reliable indicator of a software developer's performance or the quality of the delivered product. Respondents expressed serious reservations about (a) the content of the quality standards; and (b) the auditing process. Considering that the prevalence of quality system certification is increasing at local, national and international levels, this is a significant finding. Evidence from this study suggests that these standards are not achieving their desired objectives.