We use several quality approaches in our day by day consultancy work. These approaches are all focusing on similar issues, -  namely: to give an aid in ensuring the high quality of the software development and of the software developed - but from different quality points of view. Approaches like ISO 9001, CMMI, SPICE , Automotive SPICE etc. focus on the quality of the software process, some approaches (like ISO 9126) are about software product quality, some (eg. GQM) describe measurement techniques used in software development, while others (eg. PSP, TSP) emphasize the importance of human resources and personal processes used by software development. Nowadays ITIL, COBIT and SoX are becoming more and more popular, and other approaches (like Six Sigma) sometimes are also present in the same environment.

Software developers face the need to use more software quality models / approaches at the same time. This can result in an increased volume of work and significant redundancy, if the approaches are not used in an integrated, synergic way.

For having a real integration, synergy and harmonization of the software quality approaches it would be good to understand some basic elements of software quality, and to position the existing approaches against these elements.

The problems and ideas briefly shown here are being subject of the research done by our team members together with Budapest University of Technology and specialists from Technical University of Eindhoven.

Some recent publications in this topic:

• Dr. Katalin Balla: Practical steps in using multiple software quality models in a synergic way - presentation at CEE-SPI 2008 (1 mb, pps)
• Dr. Katalin Balla, Zádor Dániel Kelemen, Gábor Bóka: Support for synergic use of multiple quality models - presentation at SEPG Europe, 2008 (2,8 mb, pdf)
• Dr. Katalin Balla: Synergic Use of Software Quality Models - paper in Ravi Kumar Jain B (editor): Software Quality Measurement: Concepts and Approaches. Icfai University Press, 2008. pp. 154-173. (180 kb, pdf)
• Zádor Dániel Kelemen, Katalin Balla, Jos Trienekens, Rob Kusters: TOWARDS SUPPORTING SIMULTANEOUS USE OF PROCESS-BASED QUALITY APPROACHES - paper and presentation at ICCC 2008 (paper - 153 kb, pdf; presentation - 1,9 mb, pps)
• Zádor Dániel Kelemen: Structure of Process-Based Quality Approaches - paper and presentation at EuroSPI 2008 (paper - 364 kb, pdf; presentation - 3,9 mb, ppt)
• Zádor Dániel Kelemen, Dr. Katalin Balla, Gábor Bóka: QMIM Quality Organizer:A Support Tool In Using Multiple Quality Approaches - paper and presentation at ICCC 2007 (paper - 314 kb, pdf; presentation - 4,16 mb, pps)
• Zádor Dániel Kelemen: Comparison of ISO 9001:2000 and CMMI-DEV v1.2 - presentation at Hungarian Quality Week (2,18 mb, pps)
• Gábor Bóka, Katalin Balla, Jos Trienekens, Rob Kusters: Towards Tool Support for Situation-Dependent Software Process Improvement - paper and presentation at EuroSPI 2006 (paper - 315 kb, pdf; presentation - 2,1 mb, pps)
• Dr. Katalin Balla: Software Process Improvement in a Changing Environment - presentation at SQM 2005 (670 kb, pps)
• Balla Katalin: Software Process Improvement and Organizational Change - paper in: Capaciteitsgroep Infomation Systems Faculteit Technologie Management (ed.) 50 jaar informatiesystemen 1978-2028: Liber Amicorum voor Theo Bemelmans. Eindhoven: Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, 2004. pp. 181-198. (189 kb, pdf)
• Balla Katalin: The Complex Quality World: Developing Quality Management Systems for Software Companies - PhD Thesis,  Eindhoven: 2001. 182 p. (Beta Books) (1,76 mb, pdf)
• Katalin Balla, Theo Bemelmans, Rob Kusters, Jos Trienekens: Quality through Managed Improvement and Measurement (QMIM): Towards a Phased Development and Implementation of a Quality Management System for a Software Company - paper in SOFTWARE QUALITY JOURNAL 9:(3) pp. 177-193. (2001) (487 kb, pdf)