The application of ISO 9001 to agile software development Geir Kjetil Hanssen, NTNU/SINTEF
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Agile development - 2
ISO 9001 is document driven. The Scrum process can generate the following set of documents:
At the start of the project: Process adaptation
Before each iteration: New and changed requirements – the product backlog
After each iteration:
Review of process conformity
Problems and their causes
ISO 9001 requirements - 1
The supplier must have a quality assurance management process to ensure an explicit development process and process conformance
Product quality is the responsibility of the company’s management
The supplier must have one or more documented development processes. The process must produce documents that can be
Reviewed for acceptance by the customer
Used as proof of conformance
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ISO 9001 requirements - 2
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What have we done
To identify the problem areas for ISO 9001 vs Agile development, we combined the results from two processes. We went through:
All available literature
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The problem areas
Problems pertaining to ISOI 9001 and agile development stems from the fact that:
Agile development focus on making code – not documents
ISO 9001 uses documents to establish confidence in
Process conformance
Product quality
The challenge - 1
The main challenge in ISO 9001 certifying an agile development process is to balance two opposing goals:
ISO 9001’s need for documentation of all process steps
Agile development’s reluctance of excessive document production, taking resources and focus away from code development
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The challenge - 2
Agile development is flexible – if a project requires that a certain document should be produced this requirement it can be included in the project
BUT
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For 31 sections no change was necessary.
For 15 sections there was some disagreement between ISO 9001 and agile development.
For 4 sections there was a total disagreement between ISO 9001 and agile development.
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What should be done - 1
Agile development needs to document more. In particular, we will need documents from:
The initial planning activities
High level and low level design
Reviews of each iteration
ISO 9001 must be more flexible in that the standard
Needs to change its interpretation of “document inspection”
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Example – agile development is OK
ISO 9001 – 4.2.1d: “...include documents needed by the organization to ensure the effective planning , operation and control of its process.”
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Example – more documents
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Example – changed definition
ISO 9001 – 7.7.2: “The organization shall review the requirements related to the product. The review shall be conducted prior to the organization’s commitment to supply a product...”
We believe that it is impossible to get a complete overview of all details up front; instead the most important aspects should be documented.
In our opinion, ISO 9001 should be changed accordingly
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Example – expanded definition
ISO 9001 – 7.3.1a: “...the organization shall determine the design and development changes.”
The challenge to agile development is proof of conformance – have we really done this?
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Conclusions
Agile development will be more and more important in a world that is changing faster and faster
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