Process Improvement through Reduction in Software Defects using Six Sigma Methods

Abstract

Many companies have tried and successfully implemented Six-Sigma methods in the software development, design and testing processes in software engineering. However, there is still a lot of skepticism regarding the application of the Six Sigma process in software industry. The goal of this research is to reduce the defect rate in software by using the six-sigma methodologies. Questionnaire was developed to find out the most important reasons for software defects. 11 different projects were analyzed based on these reasons. The results have shown that after doing analysis via six sigma methodologies (DMAIC Approach) the defect rates were reduced thus improving the overall software development process. Out of these 22 reasons, top 8 were selected which acted as a source of software defects. 11 projects were analyzed with average defect rate of 156 and average delay of 70%. After applying six sigma techniques the defect rate was reduced to 84 defects and 54% improvement was observed in the defect rate. By reduction of defects and improvement in defect rate, this study helps in saving cost of rework and provides financial benefits for product.