Software Validation and Verification

Software Validation and Verification Practices within CMMI

Thesis Plan

June, 2008

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Index

1.        Introduction        

2.        State of the art        

2.1.        CMMI        

2.1.1.        CMMI maturity level 1: Initial        

2.1.2.        CMMI maturity level 2: Managed        

2.1.3.        CMMI maturity level 3: Defined        

2.1.4.        CMMI maturity level 4 and 5        

2.2.        Validation and Verification        

2.2.1.        CMMI Validation key process area        

2.2.2.        CMMI Verification key process area        

2.2.3.        Trends in Validation and Verification        

2.3.        ISO/IEC 29119        

3.        Research objectives and approach        

3.1.        Research objectives        

3.2.        Research methodology        

4.        Current work and preliminary results        

5.        Work Plan        

6.        Conclusions        

7.        References        

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1. Introduction

        CMMI [1] is a software development standard developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). It is composed by a set of software development process guidelines and is used to improve the quality of the software and its delivery. Using CMMI, SEI addresses practices that companies can use as a guideline for process improvement. It can be seen as a collection of best practices that could be followed to improve the quality of the products. The CMMI is divided in 5 maturity levels, and each level of maturity is composed by a set of key process areas (KPAs) that must be improved. To reach a given maturity level, a company must comply with all the requirements, for all of the process areas, which the model determines that must be implemented for that level.

        Software testing is a way to check if the functional requirements of a given system are met in the implemented solution. It is mandatory to demonstrate that the product fulfils its intended use and to ensure that selected work products meet their specified requirements. Instead of using the expression Software testing we use Verification and Validation (V&V) because testing can be considered a part of the V&V and because testing is one of the methods that we can use to perform it. Validation ensures that the product fulfils its intended use and Verification ensures that the product guarantees the specified requirements. It is an important process in the development of software with a given level of quality.

        Companies that develop large-scale software products and want to deliver quality software have a critical activity to perform, the software test. In other words, Validation and Verification are critical activities when designing large-scale software products. V&V are very important for companies that develop large scale software products due to the size of the solutions. So, those companies have to demonstrate that the product or product components fulfil its intended use when placed in its intended environment, as well as ensuring that selected work products meet their specified requirements.

        Companies that develop software at a large scale become aware that implementing CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) [1] can be a good choice for developing and delivering software with a high degree of quality. However, a company that is applying for CMMI maturity level 2 assessment must take into consideration that the Validation and Verification efforts are not considered for that level. This level of maturity is only concerned if an organization ensures that in their projects the requirements are managed and their processes are planned, performed, measured, and controlled. Therefore, it is important for those companies to have the possibility of simultaneously implementing CMMI maturity level 2 and the V&V key practice areas. This urgent need to implement in CMMI level 2 the process areas of Validation and Verification arises with the companies’ need of having software test covering all the lifecycle of the product. A large scale software development company needs a Validation and Verification effort covering the whole product lifecycle and this is not considered within CMMI level 2 at the present.

        A way to help those companies accomplishing the V&V KPAs at an earlier stage of the process improvement is the creation of a roadmap with guidelines to perform these efforts. Using this roadmap companies that are changing to a CMMI maturity level 2 and have in its concerns the Validation and Verification efforts could use as a guide to achieve its implementation.

        At the present, there are very few attempts to address this anticipation of the key process areas of validation and verification within CMMI maturity level 2. We can find several efforts that are concerned with the V&V or with the V&V in some of the existent maturity models. However, Validation and Verification efforts within CMMI maturity level 2 contexts have not yet been documented.