Abstract :
Considers questions of what software process assessment should concern itself with, how it contributes to software quality improvement, how software metrics will feature and what work is needed before process assessment can become a reality. This paper looks firstly at the direction in which schemes such as ISO 9001, TickIT and ImproveIT are taking us. It then analyses the relationships between product quality, process quality, process improvement, process analysis and metrics, in order to understand what process assessment should do if it is really to help an organisation improve the quality of its software. It concludes that a change in emphasis away from conformance testing and towards process assessment is to be welcomed and liable to lead to better quality management systems that take into account the process improvement and customer-orientation of total quality management.<>
