Why Software Quality Engineering?

This chapter discusses the cost of quality from two perspectives. The first analyzes the financial ramifications and challenges that the process of engineering quality into the largely understood information technology domain faces in the real, industrial world. The second answers a very important question: what might happen if the quality is not there? The economic ramifications discussed in the chapter represent the point of view related to a development process and effort and as such can be considered as internal. The missing quality cost (MQC) is analyzed applying Eppler and Helfert principles with costs classified in two categories: direct and indirect. Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (SPICE) is an international initiative to support the development of an International Standard for Software Process Assessment. The latest version of Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) is analyzed from the perspective of the core processes constituting the practices of software quality engineering.