Write short notes on 

• Six Sigma
• Software Configuration Managements
• Software project plan

Six Sigma:

Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving toward six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process – from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. It uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical, statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization, who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has specific value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications. A Six Sigma opportunity is then the total quantity of chances for a defect. Process sigma can easily be calculated using a Six Sigma calculator

The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of two Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV. The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement. The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement.

Software Configuration management:

In software engineering, software configuration management (SCM or S/W CM) is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software, part of the larger cross-disciplinary field of configuration management. SCM practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines. Change is inherent and ongoing in any software project. The ability to track control such changes in a proper manner form the basis of a good software project. Software Configuration Management tries to bridge this gap by defining a process for change control.

Change Management defines processes to prevent unauthorized changes, procedures to follow when making changes, required information, possibly workflow management as well. Change management is orders of magnitude more complex than version control of software. SCM is the process that defines how to control and manage change.

The need for an SCM process is acutely felt when there are many developers and many versions of the software. Suffice to say that in a complex scenario where bug fixing should happen on multiple production systems and enhancements must be continued on the main code base, SCM acts as the backbone which can make this happen.

The goals of SCM are generally:

• Configuration identification - Identifying configurations, configuration items and baselines.

• Configuration control - Implementing a controlled change process. This is usually achieved by setting up a change control board whose primary function is to approve or reject all change requests that are sent against any baseline.

• Configuration status accounting - Recording and reporting all the necessary information on the status of the development process.

• Configuration auditing - Ensuring that configurations contain all their intended parts and are sound with respect to their specifying documents, including requirements, architectural specifications and user manuals.

• Build management - Managing the process and tools used for builds.

• Process management&nbsp- Ensuring adherence to the organization's development process.

• Environment management - Managing the software and hardware that host the system.

• Teamwork - Facilitate team interactions related to the process.

• Defect tracking - Making sure every defect has traceability back to the source.

Software project plan:

The project plan documents the planning work necessary to conduct, track and report on the progress of a project. It contains a full description of how the work will be performed. The benefit of using this how to guide is the consistency of presentation,  enabling management to assess the plans, for their merits or limitations, more readily. In particular this how to guide specifies the format and content for a project plan by defining the minimal set of elements that shall appear in all project plans.The project plan includes the:

1) scope and objectives of the project 
2)deliverables the project will produce 

3)process which shall be employed to produce those deliverables 
4)time frame and milestones for the production of the deliverables 
5)organisation and staffing which will be established 
6)responsibilities of those involved 
7)work steps to be undertaken 
8) budget 

How to Write Software Project Plans applies to the medium to large scale software development projects. How to Write Software Project Plans allows the project manager to:

1)consider all relevant aspects of the project, ensuring they will be considered during the project planning stage

2)produce project plans with consistent content and format

3)clarify the objectives, deliverables and manner of execution of the project