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The basic idea underlying this article is that the conventional understanding of the role of a software quality assurance (SQA) engineer is unduly limited. This is because few have asked who the customers of an SQA engineer are. Once one does this, he or she can better define what tasks an SQA engineer should perform, as well as identify the knowledge and skills that such a person should have. The consequence of doing this is that an SQA engineer can provide greater value to his or her customers. It is the position of this article that an SQA engineer providing significant value to his or her customers must not only assume the role of an auditor, but also that of a software and systems engineer. This is because software engineers and their managers particularly value contributions that directly impact products and their development. These ideas are summarized as lessons learned, based on the author's experience at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Key words
assurance job skills, experience, lessons learned, responsibilities
INTRODUCTION
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center managed by the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary mission of JPL is to explore and observe the farthest reaches of the solar system. To do this, it develops numerous spacecraft, each controlled by software that resides on these spacecraft. Several outside suppliers and engineering organizations at JPL develop this software and several people, called software quality assurance (SQA) engineers, assure its quality.
The purpose of this article is to describe the role of an SQA engineer. The specific objectives of this article are to identify the customers of an SQA engineer, the activities an SQA engineer must perform, and the requisite knowledge and skills of an SQA engineer. JPL is the organization that the author uses to illustrate these objectives. A statement of the SQA engineering role for JPL is proposed, as are several lessons that readers can use to tailor this role statement for use within their own organizations.
THE ROLE OF AN SQA ENGINEER
When trying to define the role of an SQA engineer, the author first examined books (Chrissis, Konrad, and Shrum 2007; Schulmeyer 2008) and the...