It seems that many people have doubts about this issue. Since the project manager is the direct owner of the project, he is responsible for TQC of the entire project. So why do we need dedicated SQA to ensure the quality of the project? To answer this question, let's take a look at the institutional and cultural differences between the East and the West. Western culture emphasizes decentralization and quantification, which is also closely related to western systems. In their management philosophy, they stressed that it is not to trust the parties, but to ensure that an independent third party checks and verifies the work. Both CMM and ISO9001 are Western management models and standards we have introduced, so we have to consider the differences in management culture behind these models and standards. The role SQA is the most typical example. In software projects, SQA plays such a role as the leader of the standardized process and the supervisor of process execution. It is the third eye independent of the project. It examines project issues from different perspectives and reports the issue to the senior manager or project owner through separate channels. In the organizational process, especially for enterprises that implement the CMM System, they have a clearer and deeper understanding of the role of SQA. The following is a comparison of the responsibilities of PM, PMO, and SQA:
Role |
Responsibilities |
PMO |
Pay more attention to the establishment, maintenance and improvement of the organization-level system; be concerned about the success of all projects of the entire organization, rather than the success of a project; supervise and monitor all projects of the Organization; provides technical and tool support for PM and SQA in the project, and cares about the maturity of the project management capability of the Organization. |
PM |
Focus more on the progress, cost, development and technology aspects; PM provides support for SQA's work; PM is more concerned about the success of the current project, PM is directly responsible; direct leadership of the project team members. |
SQA |
Focus on process management, review the process to ensure proper implementation of the process; Assist PM to accumulate the wealth of the project process; SQA helps pm to discover and solve problems in the project, report unsolved problems in a timely manner. SQA not only cares about the success of the current project, but also the process capability of the entire Organization. SQA does not directly lead the project team members. |