Quality Assurance

With a well-defined software development process and quality management system in place, Syntax’s commitment to quality is absolute. Quality has always been the foundation of Syntax's endeavor to provide technologically advanced services and products that constantly leverage market opportunities to deliver complete customer satisfaction.  Our software management and engineering processes follow the industry-standard specifications and are aligned to the key process areas of the SEI-CMM quality model.

Backed by a team of highly qualified professionals, who put together processes to strengthen all our offerings, we provide a framework for application development that ensures the solution is “to customer specification, on time and within customer budget”.  This framework offers cost benefits without any compromises on value or quality.

Our expertise spanning multiple application domains and technologies complement our quality processes to ensure reliability in product development and large custom application development projects.

We have developed and delivered software applications using customized software development paradigms – beginning with Requirement Analysis to Implementation.  Following are some of the key practices followed to ensure quality and timely delivery.

Requirement Management Practice

Requirement Analysis

The Requirement Analysis framework enables a common and formal understanding of the functionality, features and boundaries of the application. A conceptual model defining the processes and the interpretation of data is developed.  The requirements gathered are integrated and documented in the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document.  This document undergoes a multi-stage formal review process, from the customer and other stakeholders. A formal sign-off from the customer is obtained after incorporating all the changes specified at the review process.  The formally approved Software Requirement Specifications will then be an integral part of the baseline process - as per the software configuration management framework.  A Requirements Management tool is used to baseline all the requirements and track the same throughout the software development lifecycle.

Project Management Practice

The Project Management Practice provides a framework for project execution, operational processes and methodologies for managing the same.  The key objectives of this phase is to have an agreement of project scope, definition of project milestones & priorities, agreement on project standards/procedures, definition of roles and responsibilities and decide on the acceptance criteria. Some of the key elements are as below:

Estimation

The project estimation is carried out using appropriate industry-standard techniques like Function Point Analysis, wherever applicable.  The ultimate conversion of the effort is in terms of person days/months of effort required to execute the project.  The project estimation is based on the scope of the requirements agreed and signed-off during the Requirement Analysis phase.

Project Schedule

The process done during the estimation phase is further decomposed to all phases of the software development lifecycle.  A detailed project schedule with a Work break down Structure (WBS) is created covering low-level activities for all the iterations and project phases.

Software Development Plan

A Software Development Plan is prepared covering key elements like project methodology, project deliverables, risk identification & mitigation, iteration planning, infrastructure requirements, resource requirements and product acceptance criteria.  This plan will be the basis for project execution and will address all the key areas of delivery management.  The software development plan undergoes revisions as driven by the changes to the original project scope.

Project Monitoring and Status Reporting

Projects are monitored and their status is updated on a regular basis.  All project-related meetings including the weekly progress review meetings, management reviews and other project interactions are documented through Minutes of the Meetings (MOMs) covering all the action items and their respective closure dates.
The project effort is captured and tabulated on a weekly basis using the timesheets filled in by the project team members.  A time sheet authorization process ensures validity of the effort captured using the timesheets. The approved timesheets will be used to update the status of all the activities as laid down in the project schedule.

Software Configuration Management Practice

The Software Configuration Management Practice ensures maintenance of integrity for all the work products throughout the project development lifecycle.

Software Configuration Management (SCM) Plan

A SCM plan is prepared containing the procedures for identifying, tracking and reporting of all configurable items in the project.  All the SCM activities covering Version Control, Change Control and Release Control along with the schedules and frequency of these activities, responsibilities and related procedures are also documented in the SCM plan.

Version Control

Version Control process is applied to all the configurable items in the project.  The Version Control process enables strict control of multiple versions generated for all the configurable items during the different phases of the development lifecycle. The control is established using the technique of creating a baseline at different stages of the development lifecycle. The Microsoft Visual SourceSafe is currently used a standard tool for version control throughout the organization.

Change Control

Change Control process is applied to all projects for tracking and controlling requirement changes.  The process comprises of various steps covering Change Initiation, Change Verification, Categorization & Prioritization, Impact Analysis, Change Assignment and Change Closure Tracking.  A Change Control Board (CCB) approves and manages requirement changes throughout the project lifecycle.

Release Control

Release Control process is applied for all the projects to ensure compliance of the project completion criteria as defined in the project management practice. A Release Control document is prepared to capture the release criteria for all the projects.  The Release Certification process ensures that the Software Quality Assurance group formally certifies all the projects before release.

System/Integration Testing Practice

Testing Strategy and Plan

A testing strategy and plan is prepared for every project.  The plan is compiled with test
cases that are mapped to requirement specifications & use cases.  The test plan and
test cases ensure that functionality & business cycle is completely tested for various
scenarios.

The testing strategy consists of the following testing types:
- Data and Database Integrity Testing
- Functional Testing
- User Interface Testing
- Performance Profiling
- Load Testing
- Volume Testing
- Security and Access control Testing
- Configuration Testing

These tests are applied at unit levels, system levels and are also conducted on an
iterative scale based on the project.

Defect Management Practice:

A defect management procedure is defined for all projects. Defect logging and tracking tools are used to capture, manage and track defects.

Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Practice:

The SQA practice provides visibility to the depth of process implementation in the organization. The SQA activities involve reviewing and auditing the software products/activities to verify compliance with applicable standards. The results of the findings are shared with the project teams and the management to focus on continuous process improvement in the organization.

The SQA Plan covers all the projects in the organization and details the involvement of the SQA in the entire software development lifecycle. The involvement covers document reviews, process audits, configuration audits, change control and release certification.