Cost of Software Quality

It is the cost of not creating quality project. Software failure can cost 100% of project cost.

Cost of defect repair in various stage of development cycle can be as below:

Requirement gathering stage	0%
Design Stage	10%
Development stage	20%
Testing stage	50%
Deployment stage	100%

Cost of quality can be divided in two parts:

a.     Prevention Cost

Costs of all activities specifically designed to prevent poor quality in products or services.

Examples are the costs of:

·         New product review

·         Quality planning

·         Supplier capability surveys

·         Process capability evaluations

·         Quality improvement team meetings

·         Quality improvement projects

·         Quality education and training

b.     Appraisal Costs

The costs associated with measuring, evaluating or auditing products or services to assure conformance to quality standards and performance requirements.

·         These include the costs of:

·         Incoming and source inspection/test of purchased material

·         In-process and final inspection/test

·         Product, process or service audits

·         Calibration of measuring and test equipment

·         Associated supplies and materials

c.      Internal Failure Costs

Failure costs occurring prior to delivery or shipment of the product, or the furnishing of a service, to the customer.

Examples are the costs of:

·         Scrap

·         Rework

·         Re-inspection

·         Re-testing

·         Material review

·         Downgrading

d.     External Failure Costs

Failure costs occurring after delivery or shipment of the product — and during or after furnishing of a service — to the customer.

Examples are the costs of:

·         Processing customer complaints

·         Customer returns

·         Warranty claims

·         Product recalls