SQA assures Verification and Validation (V&V) activities by monitoring technical reviews, inspections, and walkthroughs.
The SQA role in reviews, inspections, andwalkthroughs is to observe, participate as needed, andverify that they were properly conducted and documented.SQA also ensures that any actions required are assigned,documented, scheduled, and updated. Formal software reviews should be conducted at the end of each phase of the life cycle to identify problems and determine whether the interim product meets all applicable requirements.
Examples of formal reviews are thePreliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review(CDR), and Test Readiness Review (TRR). A review looks atthe overall picture of the product being developed to see if it satisfies its requirements. Reviews are part of the development process, designed to provide a ready/not-readydecision to begin the next phase. In formal reviews, actual work done is compared with established standards. SQA's main objective in reviews is to assure that the Managementand Development Plans have been followed, and that the product is ready to proceed with the next phase ofdevelopment. Although the decision to proceed is a management decision, SQA is responsible for advisingmanagement and participating in the decision. An inspection or walkthrough is a detailed examination of a product on a step-by-step or line-of-code by line-of-code basis to find errors. For inspections and walkthroughs, SQAassures, at a minimum, that the process is properlycompleted and that needed follow-up is done. The inspection process may be used to measure compliance to standards.
