Keeping in mind the philosophies and goals developed in QAI research report number 8, Mosaic Inc. developed a multi-step approach to defect management. The major steps involved in the process are:
Defect Management Process
Defect Prevention -- Implementation of techniques, methodology and standard processes to reduce the risk of defects.
Deliverable Baseline -- Establishment of milestones where deliverables will be considered complete and ready for further development work. When a deliverable is baselined, any further changes are controlled. Errors in a deliverable are not considered defects until after the deliverable is baselined.
Defect Discovery -- Identification and reporting of defects for development team acknowledgment. A defect is only termed discovered when it has been documented and acknowledged as a valid defect by the development team member(s) responsible for the component(s) in error.
Defect Resolution -- Work by the development team to prioritize, schedule and fix a defect, and document the resolution. This also includes notification back to the tester to ensure that the resolution is verified.
Process Improvement -- Identification and analysis of the process in which a defect originated to identify ways to improve the process to prevent future occurrences of similar defects. Also the validation process that should have identified the defect earlier is analyzed to determine ways to strengthen that process.
Management Reporting -- Analysis and reporting of defect information to assist management with risk management, process improvement and project management.
For more detail on any of the steps in the process, click on one of the above links.