The Impact of Quality Assurance Certification on Australian Software Developers

This paper draws on existing literature and research on software development process improvement, and related fields, to explore the impact of quality assurance (QA) certification on the Australian software development industry. Recently, many developers have committed resources to achieve certification in response to government purchasing policies favouring standards-certified suppliers, but cynics suggest the ‘piece of paper’ does little to improve the processes and subsequent product. This paper details a research project undertaken to assess the extent of Australian software developers’ adoption of QA certification, their capability maturity and perceptions regarding certification costs and benefits.