A process for failure modes and effects analysis of computer software

Software FMEA is a means to determine whether any single failure in computer software can cause catastrophic system effects, and additionally identifies other possible consequences of unexpected software behavior. The procedure described here was developed and used to analyze mission- and safety-critical software systems. The procedure includes using a structured approach to understanding the subject software, developing rules and tools for doing the analysis as a group effort with minimal data entry and human error, and generating a final report. Software FMEA is a kind of implementation analysis that is an intrinsically tedious process but database tools make the process reasonably painless, highly accurate, and very thorough. The main focus here is on development and use of these database tools.