Om Prakash Jain - Head - Quality Consulting Practice, L&T Infotech.

Conventional and Unconventional Dimensions of Metrics in an Outsourced Engagement.

Abstract:

Outsourcing of testing services is happening in a big way today. It goes without saying in all outsourcing activities, metrics form an important instrument to determine and depict the success of the outsourcing. We have well defined metrics for the software development life cycle, but can it be directly applied for the testing-only services. Possibly not, and that’s exactly why we have to think of newer dimensions/parameters for measuring the effectiveness across all aspects of testing. We are aware that the engagement metrics would be around schedule and productivity.

More close to testing would be the various combinations of defect metrics (by severity, category, cause, rejection etc). Through testing we can also give pointers on the effectiveness of the Requirements and development teams from the upstream point of view. From the downstream we can think of some metrics that would be a direct pointer to improving the business efficiency through Straight through processing. This would also be a positive looking dimension that would help add value along with the normal dimensions along people, process and technology. There also needs to be a dimension to measure the innovations that testing service provider adds into the engagement.

Speaker Profile:

Om Prakash Jain

Om has 35+ years of experience in software development for internal, domestic and international customers and R&D in the manufacturing industry. Under his leadership, L&T Infotech has been recertified twice for ISO 9001:2000 and assessed twice at SEI CMM Level 5 & once at CMMI Level 5. In Om’s experience the key element for success of any process improvement initiative in an organization is its cultural readiness. Unlike in industry segments like manufacturing, grass root level readiness is more important in the IT industry domain.

Om is a member of the Advisory Council of NASSCOM Quality Forum and is also on the Board of Studies of MBA (Tech) and Engineering Sciences programs of NMIMS, a deemed university. He represented India/NASSCOM in WG24 of ISO/IEC SC7 and also in EASE project of NAIST, Japan.

He has previously worked in various capacities at various leading organizations like Crompton Greaves, BHEL R&D and HM in addition to working at McGill University, Montreal, Canada during his doctoral degree. He has published several technical research papers in various international journals of repute like IEEE Transactions and frequently speaks on software quality at various seminars and conferences.

Om strongly believes that software engineering and software development processes are green field areas and is a strong advocate of experimental/ empirical software engineering and application of quality management concepts of manufacturing domain in it industry.

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