Often, software development companies require a suitable ambiance on which it can be operated effectively and efficiently. QCD plays the role here. QCD is nothing but a management approach which stands for Quality, Cost, and Delivery. QCD aids in organizing and prioritizing processes in a software development company. It emphasizes making data-centric decisions. It provides a tool for calculating performance while applying to business processes that are both basic and complex. It also offers a framework for company analysis that eventually works favorably in increasing productivity.
It is recommended to make sure that your attempts to enhance QCD in your software development company make sense. Also, your efforts need to be measurable, attainable, relevant, and process oriented. Although quality is generally the most significant, don’t automatically assume that Q always trumps over the other categories, just because Q comes first. Your actions in each of these areas must balance your business strategy. QCD is a three-dimensional method. If even one dimension has a problem, then the others will eventually suffer. Let’s take a look at these dimensions
1. Quality
Quality is a product or service capable of meeting and exceeding consumer standards. The quality scope is defined by the demands of the customers. Quality benefits from the productivity of the entire process. Even though the quality is now seen as a competitive advantage, in the 1970s US business organizations appeared to focus more on cost and productivity. This strategy has resulted in a large share of the U.S. market being captured by Japanese business organizations, which proves once again that, to be successful, a company must concentrate on all three QCD dimensions together. Quality in a software development company depends on eight characteristics. They are performance, conformance, special features, aesthetics, durability, reliability, serviceability, and perceived quality. Software development companies who cannot maintain the quality in their operations face business loss and productivity threats. Poor quality leads to unsatisfied customers which lead to loss of business. In a setting, where the consumer can quickly turn to a rival company, it can be catastrophic for a company to develop poor-quality software.
2. Cost
Development costs are the biggest cost in a software development company. Production has a direct responsibility to control and reduce development costs. Usually, there are four types of cost; they are, raw material cost, variable overhead, fixed overhead, and direct labor cost. For a software development company, the raw material cost is near zero. This advantage makes it an amazing business model. Some of these costs increase with the quantity while others decrease as the quantity grows. Again, costs like, fixed overheads remain the same regardless of quantity. Salaries of the employees and depreciation costs fall in this category. Software development companies have always been under pressure to bring down their cost structure and be more competitive in the market. Nowadays, there are KPIs that recommend various ways of cutting costs. One approach I found common in top software development companies is, following an agile method in the development process. Nowadays, you will find a lot of companies that use agile methodologies in their operations. This works as a differentiating factor for software development companies as it makes them stand apart from competitors.
3. Delivery
Delivery metrics in a software development company can be divided into three aspects: pre-transaction elements, transaction elements, and post-transaction elements. Basically, it talks about the before, during, and after delivery of the software services. This metric addresses issues like whether the works in progress are within the control of the software divisions or not. The implementation of a defect capture mechanism, mechanical, or manual, which could increase processing costs and delays in supplying the finished service, can be a measure to solve delivery and quality problems. The delivery metrics of QCD is closely connected with quality and cost. Strong management pressure to reduce cost may lead to less qualified, cheaper labor being employed, and/or inferior replacement. Cheaper raw materials that may both result in quality and subsequent delivery issues. The overwhelming pressure to hurry the delivery of the scheduled software which causes the software developers, at the end of the line, to accelerate, shorten or otherwise skip essential tasks, normally bottlenecks, operations, or processes. For this reason, production costs often increase as those issues need to be addressed ultimately.
QCD keep software development companies focused and helps them to prioritize their efforts to improve. Quality and delivery thresholds are set in most short-term planning, based on the customer’s market and voice, and then the remaining resources are committed to cutting costs. Quality should have zero defects as the ultimate target in long-term planning. Cost reductions can end up having negative effects without having strong quality and delivery goals in place. In the worst case, it might affect how the customer perceives the value of service. QCD is widely used because when management knows where the problem lies, they can work to solve it. It helps management to plan and prioritize their efforts.
There are two key techniques to fit into QCD metrics. Firstly, metrics should be used in assessing systems, not persons. Try to have a liaison between your organization process when choosing the metrics for QCD. Second, don’t look at QCD target misses as failures. Think of the metrics as a way to accentuate the need for more services. Be persistent with your leadership team when it comes to getting the resources needed to get the metrics going. But please be mindful that, if you point something out as a problem, there is a fair chance that you will be asked to help solve it.
BJIT believes in operating transparent teams. Our metrics are open to everyone in the organization. We believe that our employees will function well together if their efforts can be converted into concrete results. Productive software development initiatives like QCD are the way to help software developers progress and support the rest of the organization. With this insight, BJIT has been operating for the last 19 years and expanded its operation in 6 countries such as the USA, Japan, Sweden, Finland, Singapore, and Bangladesh. They are currently the best software development company in Bangladesh. They specialize in BIG Data Cloud Service, FinTech & BlockChain, Enterprise Solution, IoT, Mob App, QA & Test Automation, AI Machine Language Deep Learning, Application management services, Embedded & PC VLSI, CAD, and so on. They are the best among all custom software development companies. Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, NTT Data, Rakuten, ARCHECO, Valmet, Metso are some of their notable clients.
