Soft audit practice・Audit day 1: 3 Realism is important for soft auditing

We will introduce the confirmation points on the day of the software development audit.

Software development audits are divided into three stages: (1) advance preparation by the day, (2) on-site audit work on the day of the audit, and (3) follow-up (utilization of audit results). In the following articles, I will introduce how to proceed with the audit work in the field and the points.　

How to proceed with software development audit is the outline and method of software audit Part 1: Software audit is process audit + technical ability audit introduced in the article of , modeled on the method of ISO9001 audit, so prepare in advance and on-site. Work in the order of audit and follow-up. In this article, I will introduce the most important points to be noted in the on-site audit work, which is the most important in auditing, based on the points to be noted in the software development audit that Father Gutara has done so far. ..　

In addition, 　please refer to the articles after the practice / process audit for the specific contents of the audit checklist used when conducting an audit . In this article, the overall work flow and cautions. I will introduce the points.

The day of the audit starts with the opening and proceeds according to the scheduled time

The work flow on the day of the audit is passed to the person to be audited in advance as a soft audit plan, so basically all you have to do is proceed according to the schedule of the audit plan . However, since the software development audit was made by Gutara’s father and is not a general one, it will be the first work for the auditee. Therefore, always keep in mind that you will proceed while explaining the purpose and procedure of the audit to the other party .

Also, not limited to software development audits, audits are of course important for work on the day of the audit, but follow-up after that is more important. The purpose of the audit can only be achieved by steadily improving the problems found during the work on the day of the audit through the work of four-up.　

On-site audits should be conducted on time to maintain motivation for the person in charge of the other party for follow-up work. is good . In other words, when the time comes, even if there are confirmation items left, they will be rounded up there without extending the time. There is a demerit of overlooking the problem if the confirmation items remain, but the demerit that the motivation of the person in charge of the other party is lowered due to having been in contact with the audit for a long time over time is often greater. , I think it is better to proceed with punctuality.

For software development audits , use the opening meeting, introduction of the organization and software development process by the other party, and the audit checklist according to the schedule of the audit plan introduced in the article on Soft Audit Practice / Preparation Part 1: Explanation of Audit Plan. We will proceed in the order of confirmation, preparation of audit report, and closing meeting. In the following articles, I will introduce each work in detail, but before that, I will explain one important thing in proceeding with the audit work.

3 Realism is important for software development audit

Not limited to software development audits, when working to find problems and think about solutions, 3 realism　is very important. The software itself cannot be seen or touched, and design, implementation, and testing all work in a virtual world in the human mind. Even so, the work done by humans has not changed, and the three-actualism is still important for finding and solving problems in the work done by humans.

By the way, what is 3 realism? Many people who have experience in quality assurance related work will remember it with ear octopus, but it may be a word that is unfamiliar to those who have few such opportunities. When I looked it up on the net, I found the following explanation.

3 Realism

Emphasis is placed on the three realities of the field, the actual thing, and the reality . On the desk when a problem occurs , instead of making a judgment on the , we try to solve it by looking at the actual product in which the problem occurred and confirming the state (reality).

source　“Business Glossary" by Wisdom (NEC)Information about Wisdom Business Glossary　

To put it simply, (1) go to the site where the problem occurred and feel with your own skin what kind of environment the problem is occurring in, and (2) see, touch, and smell the actual thing that caused the problem with your own eyes. Smell ③ Check the facts of what happened one by one and solve the problem. That is the three-actualism. In a criminal drama, a criminal person goes to the crime scene, listens to the surroundings, looks at the situation at the scene, collects the residue, and proceeds with the investigation, isn’t it?

What is the site / actual / reality in software development?

So what should we do with the three-pronged principle in software development ? The development site is a virtual space in the minds of designers and implementers, how do you get into it? The easiest thing to do is to go to the work area where the designer or implementer is working , see the same screen they are looking at, and have them explain what they are doing.　

If you show the actual requirements, design documents, and source code through the same screen ( site ) that they are looking at, you can see the actual site and the actual product. If there is a system that manages work progress and quality, that screen show the , it is the actual site of development management.

Since this information is usually confidential and prohibited from being taken out, in order to show it, we go to the development base where the designers and implementers are working and prepare an environment to refer to the information in a room of their office. I will have you show it there.

Of course, even if you look at a large amount of design documents and source code vaguely, you will not know anything in a short time. What kind of work does the software engineer do by looking at the actual software while having the design leader or test leader who has the best understanding of the software design content and test content explain the content? By looking at the existence ( reality ), we will understand the contents and check if there are any problems.

This way of proceeding is a software development audit that is in line with the three-pronged principle. Well, to put it simply, ask the design leader or test leader who is in charge of the business to explain it, and then show you the actual design document, test plan, or bug tracking system.

In software development audits, unlike factory manufacturing audits, it is difficult to see the site and the actual product, but if you pay attention to the above, you can proceed with effective audits in line with the 3 actual principles.

From the next article, let’s introduce the specific contents of the audit work and points to be noted according to the local audit schedule.