Software development in developing countries: Framework for analysis of quality initiatives

A number of software quality enhancement approaches have been suggested and implemented. Over the last decade, software (SW) companies in developed countries have reported significant enhancements in productivity and quality by using various quality approaches. Software companies operating in developing countries have also undertaken quality initiatives in the recent years. This paper presents a framework for analysis of qualify initiatives. The need for considering customer and market aspects in assessing an organization's qualify initiatives has been established. The notion of a market quality indicator (Mel) has been introduced for this purpose. Information on the quality and process improvement initiatives at some of the leading software companies of Pakistan has been collected. The proposed framework is applied to analyze the quality initiatives of these companies. Based on the insights obtained from this analysis, some recommendations for companies interested in launching quality and process improvement initiatives are also presented.