Original Date: 06/02/2003
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

During development and testing, ABC Virtual Communications, Inc. immediately assigns responsibility to a developer to address a software defect after that defect is discovered. The developer immediately repairs the defect or the defect is entered into the issue tracking system. This methodology allows ABC Virtual Communications, Inc. to find and repair software defects earlier in the development process, thereby improving the quality of the software, reducing the labor involved in managing the issue tracking database, and allowing ABC Virtual Communications, Inc. to be more responsive to new software defects as they are discovered.

Previously, ABC Virtual Communications, Inc. (ABCV) utilized a simple method for tracking software defects. As software defects were discovered, they were entered into an issue tracking database. Over time, the issue tracking database became too large and unwieldy to be useful. It was very difficult to prioritize a long list of defects and to fully understand what, if any, relationships existed between defects. As the issue tracking database grew larger, it also became difficult to respond to customer complaints, and overall quality suffered. ABCV defined and implemented a process to find and address any defects early in the development process and to only record defects that were not immediately resolved.

By using this methodology, the development and testing groups work together to resolve all software defects as soon as they are discovered. When a defect is discovered, it is immediately brought to the attention of a developer. Only if the issue is not resolved is it recorded in the issue tracking system. Additionally, the software is developed in stages and goes through a testing phase after each development stage is completed, allowing many software defects to be discovered early in the development process.

Since the introduction of the Search and Destroy methodology of software defect resolution, customer support calls and the cost of resolving software defects have decreased, since this methodology creates fewer issues to manage in the issue tracking database. ABCV is also more responsive to its clients and provides quicker customer issue resolution. Additionally, the quality of the software is higher at release time since more issues have been handled before release.

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