What is the significance of Software and Systems Quality for our Young Generation and Our Nation?

CMMI FAQ 0

16th June, 2014

When the talk of quality in software and systems is the buzzword today, how are we prepared to handle this as a nation. Our Prime Minister, Mr. Modi, has highlighted the point that we have to be a nation “with skills”. Historically, software and systems quality is not being addressed in the Indian education system as a specific specialized subject or subject matter expertise. Many times it is just confined to “software or systems testing”. There are not very substantial courses or university curricula that are available that are producing highly competent software or systems quality professionals out of college. The situation is worsened by the fact that young students when they come out of the university or college, they select the “discipline of quality” more as a “second choice” and not as “a priority discipline”. The reason for this is obvious. The young students have never heard of a famous CEO of a global IT firm who has been a “software or systems quality professional”. Simply said, the young students do not see a career in the field of “quality” which will lead them to the top. Hence the “brilliant lot” considers it to be the “choice of average”. Another detrimental factor is the fact that young students when they start their career – they always hear the CEOs and CTOs talking eloquently about the product and systems quality at all fora .. on TV .. on all types of media .. but when they see within their own company .. they see the quality-function as one of the most fledgling of functions – someone’s whose existence is just a necessary evil (or at best an ornament) with minimum authority … existing for the sake of pretences. This may not be true for all, but coming to the brass-tacks and shorn of the glib-talk, this is what it is. To build our nation’s future, we have to work on the culture of quality more as a life-style idea transcending to our work-place. Work can never be fun, work is quality. “Work is fun” as a notion… has been rejected by all the growing nations. Look at China, Vietnam, Philippines and the software professionals of these countries. They are young. They are dedicated and disciplined. They are stickler to quality. They may not be imaginative – they may not be brilliant at “Indian Jugaad” – but we do not need it all the time. It is time we realized as a notion that quality is walking the talk and not “walking and talking and attending to social media and informing your “like” friends about what you had for lunch”. It is time to realize that we use platforms like ISO 26262 on Functional Safety, ISO 12207 on software development best practices, CMMI Model Frameworks like CMMI-DEV, CMMI-SVC and CMMI-ACQ, etc.. (well, there is a long list of such useful and excellence frameworks) and integrate them as specialized courses in our Elementary, Intermediate, University and Post-Doctoral Educational Programs so that we have a generation which believes in quality. It is hard work – as hard as the toughest discipline – that could be. The earlier we realize, better it is.