Quality Systems in IT Assignment: A Comprehensive Guide

Learning Outcomes

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a Quality Systems in IT assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the need for quality assurance in IT system development.
2. Examine the software development lifecycle and its relationship to quality issues, risks and counter measures.
3. Develop and implement standard quality control documentation for an IT system development.
4. Select, justify and use appropriate project management tools for an IT system development.
5. Apply appropriate ethical considerations to quality management in IT.

You are required to prepare the report following the sections outlined below (and including an introduction and a conclusion) while using the learning materials provided in iLearn, the module textbook, reading materials from peer-reviewed sources (e.g. from Google Scholar, EBSCO), information given in the case-study, and your own research.

1) This section of the report is about your critical understanding of the need for quality assurance for the case study.

a) Define what is meant by quality in terms of the development of a website and explain why a systematic approach to quality assurance and quality control is essential.

b) Identify and briefly discuss the national and international quality standards that are relevant to the development of a web-site as part of a larger IT system.

2) This section of the report will examine the software development lifecycle and its relationship to quality issues, risks and counter measures.

a) Identify and discuss the potential risks and their counter measures associated with the development of an IT system which has a web-site at its centre.

Describe the systems development life-cycle (SDLC) as it applies to web-site development and explain how each phase of the life-cycle is quality assured. Include an annotated diagram of the SDLC.

3) This section will discuss the development and implementation of standard quality control documentation for the case study.

a) Discuss the critical importance of quality control documentation to the establishment and maintenance of a good quality IT system, during its entire life-cycle.

b) Identify and describe one common problem which may be encountered in an IT system which is web-site centred and explain how it can be solved using Cause-and-Effect Analysis using a Fishbone diagram.

4) This section selects, justifies and uses appropriate project management tools for the case study.

a) Explain the role of PRINCE2 in the project management of IT systems developments focusing on web-site development.

b) Explain, with relevant examples, how you would use a Work Breakdown Structure, a Precedence Diagram, and a Gantt chart in the web-site development project.

5) This section discusses the appropriate ethical and legal considerations to quality management for the case study.

a) Discuss the two-main legal and ethical issues faced by the business-advisors in your selected case study and the software development team (4 in total).

b) Comment briefly on each of the above as well as on the reasons for any similarities and/or differences.