What you may notice in a product or service organization:

• Your manager says he is interested in doing peer reviews.
• Your manager says she wants to detect defects earlier in the development process vs waiting until testing.
• Your manager says she is interested in quality assurance practices.
• Your manager says he is interested in implementing more modern software engineering practices.

We Offer Inspections

What differentiates us is our skill in dealing with the human issues that are inevitable during close examination of individual work products. Our inspection process has built-in protection for the author of a work product under inspection. All defects are recorded as "potential" defects. No debate is permitted about potential defects during an inspection. Therefore the author does not have to defend his/her work product. The author determines whether a potential defect is a real defect. Follow up is necessary for any rework resulting from a defect determined to be real.

Overview: An inspection is a formal facilitated meeting during which a piece of work (a work product) is inspected, and potential defects are documented. The purpose of an inspection is to identify as many potential defects as possible in the work product being inspected. Almost any work product may be inspected. Examples include requirements documents, design documents, project plans, test plans, training plans, etc. An inspection requires preparation before the meeting, a skilled meeting leader, knowledgeable inspectors, and follow up after the meeting to determine that any necessary rework is accomplished. The author of the work product being inspected has final determination of which potential defects are actual defects. Data captured from inspections can be used to identify patterns in defect detection and prevention.

Typical results:
This service typically results in one or more of the following:

• identification and documention of defects in the work product
• the capture of useful data for use in measurement efforts
• identification of areas for further investigation and analysis
• improved understanding and communication about the work product
• improved quality of the work product

1. We confirm that your management understands and supports the work required to integrate inspections into standard development practices.
2. We educate participants on various roles and responsibilities and the inspection process.
3. You provide a meeting room and invite the participants.
4. You prepare and distribute inspection packets prior to the meeting with our guidance.
5. You verify inspectors have all necessary materials and know what is expected.
6. We conduct the inspection; the participants identify and record potential defects.
7. You insure that any necessary rework is accomplished.
8. You capture relevant measurement data.