Defect Attribution Guidelines (Definition for Causes in IPMS)

Defect Attribution Guidelines- Shankar KN

April 7, 2023

Contents

1 Causal Analysis and its purpose

List of Causes present in IPMS

3 Definition for Causes

4 References

2

April 7, 2023

Causal Analysis and its purpose

Purpose To analyze defects and problems relating to quality in a systematic manner and to

initiate corrective as well as preventive measures with a view to avoid/minimize recurrence of the same in future phases/projects

April 7, 2023

List of Causes present in IPMS IPMS Causes

Inadequate Input Inadequate Environment/Infrastructure

Inadequate Standards Inadequate Planning

Inadequate Skill Inappropriate use of DP checklist

Inadequate Training/Induction Inappropriate use of Standards

Inadequate Documentation Lack of Business/Application Knowledge

Inadequate Communication Inadequate test plan or cases

Inapplicable/Inappropriate Method/Process Inadequate Checklist

Inadequacy of Tool Inadequate Self Reviews

Inherited Defects Inadequate V&V of CSP or Reusable Components

Reviewer's Misunderstanding/Misconception Suggestions

April 7, 2023

Definition for Causes

Inadequate Input

• Ambiguous/ Incorrect/ Erroneous Inputs from Client • Incomplete Inputs for the activity from the project team • Inadequate test data or test specifications • Incomplete/ Inadequate Inputs from Clients • Test Specifications do not exist • The input required to complete review was not sufficient

Inadequate Skill

• The person is not technically skilled • Lack of technical knowledge • Skill does not meet the requirement • Not skilled in analysis / design techniques

April 7, 2023

Definition for Causes contd…

Inadequate Documentation

• Adequate documentation not available for the process/work

• Implicit requirements not being documented • Defects were introduced because impact analysis of

change was not documented properly • Templates do not specify what needs to be documented • Insufficient comments are used to describe the purpose • Insufficient discrimination between defined items • Item definition inconsistent and distributed. • Incomplete/Incorrect Traceability Document • Explanation not proper/incomplete in the work item which

is used as input to the subsequent phases

April 7, 2023

Definition for Causes contd…

Inadequate Training/Induction

• Ineffective training • Untrained Resources • Ineffective project induction • Training not imparted at the right time

Inadequacy of Tool

• Problem with the tool used • Limitation of the tool • Defect was introduced due to a change made in a reusable

component • Incompatibility of a tool being used in the project with other

tools being used

April 7, 2023

Definition for Causes contd…

Inadequate Planning

• Not Enough time allocated to complete the activity and hence error occurred

• Inadequate Testing by the programmer • Inability to identify functional experts in team. • Improper handling of changes. • Inadequacy of tool used for planning. • Tendency to give too many features. • Improper selection/omission of optional processes.

Inadequate Standards

• Standards document is not complete and there are missing coding or documentation standards

• Project Standards for the phase are incorrect or incomplete • Project standards are so generic, that it is difficult to follow

them • Non-existent project standards

April 7, 2023

Inadequate Communication

• Lack of effective communication within the offshore team or between onsite-offshore team. (For example: Change in Standards not being communicated within the team)

• Obsolete standards or input document used • No minutes of meeting prepared • Misinterpretation of information • Issues not tracked / resolved • Inadequate Communication Skills • No proper communication between developer and end

user • Different perspective of the situation / problem /

requirement • Lack of feedback mechanism • Inadequate coordination among the team • Improper coordination between relevant groups

Definition for Causes contd…

April 7, 2023

Inadequate V&V of CSP

or Reusable Components

• A defect has occurred because the review of other items was not complete

Lack of Business/ Application Knowledge

• The person is inexperienced in the Business Application

Inadequate Self Reviews

• All the defects, which are caused due to oversight, will be attributed to this cause

• No self reviews

Definition for Causes contd…

April 7, 2023

Inadequate Checklist

• Checklist is incorrect/incomplete • Non-existent Checklist

Inapplicable/ inappropriate

methodology or process

• A defect occurred because the project followed a process not defined in iQMS or OSSP

Inappropriate use of DP checklist

• Checklist is not used OR not followed in appropriate places • Schedule pressure leads to bypass examining product against

checklist

Definition for Causes contd…

April 7, 2023

Inadequate test plan or case

• Test Plan or Test Cases are incomplete in the earlier phases

Inappropriate use of Standards

• Standards Document is not used OR Standards are not followed in appropriate places

Inherited Defects

• Typically used in Maintenance / Conversion / Migration / Reengineering projects where we get the application to be worked upon. The existing application has some bugs, which were detected during the code walkthrough or testing.

Definition for Causes contd…

April 7, 2023

Reviewer's Misunderstanding/

Misconception

• Reviewer is not aware of the functionality, Reviewer's perception was different from author, in case where the defect is a misunderstanding on reviewer's part and it is to be rejected.

• Reviewer does not have domain knowledge for the same • Misunderstanding of module function/Program segment

function • Misunderstanding concerning the module function and

their relationship to system function • Improper co-ordination between reviewer and developer

Inadequate Environment/ Infrastructure

• When the right kind of hardware or software is not available (server issues etc) which has given rise to a defect

• Coding / Testing environment incomplete • Testing environment not in sync with production / client

Acceptance environment • Inadequate/Incorrect/Incomplete Software Upgrade

Definition for Causes contd…

April 7, 2023

Suggestions

• This is to take care of those changes suggested by the reviewer, which cannot be classified under any other defect category. These changes may include change in format of an error message, colour/size of any UI element etc. Cause to be used only for severity "Suggestion"

Definition for Causes contd…

April 7, 2023

References

TCS-iQMS-052(PPM-Project Procedures Manual) - PP3090 : CAUSAL ANALYSIS; Appendix A

URL:https://iqmskm.ultimatix.net/km/index.php/PPM_A

April 7, 2023

Thank You