Making each segment of the PDCA cycle configurable as part of a Software Testing as a Service, virtual teams would also have much greater autonomy in meeting reporting requirements and individual programmers could set specific quality management goals for their code. The benchmarking aspects of the PDCA cycle applied to individual code segments, and measured using Six Sigma-based methodologies would reduce design and verification cycles by nearly half or more (Ivanovic, Majstorovic, 2006). Conclusion

Integrating the PDCA cycle into a Software Testing as a Service platform would significantly increase the accountability, auditability and speed of recovery from low QA software levels at the organizational, project and individual level. Results can further be accelerated by the integration of the PDCA cycles into the Software Testing as a Service platforms that while nascent today, show significant potential to streamline software QA (Yang, Onita, Zhang, Dhaliwal, 2010). Each phase of the PDCA cycle varies in its implementation in a Cloud-based architecture, with the Check phase being one unified by a common set of analytics, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics of performance.

The emergence of analytics-based taxonomies and reporting structures including TESTQUAL also show potential for ensuring the alignment of the PDCA cycle delivers significant value and revolutionizing software QA (Yang, Onita, Zhang, Dhaliwal, 2010). The Plan phase of the PDCA cycle matters most in the organizational level of a Software Testing as a Service, as PDCA strategies must align to the specific strategic plans and initiatives of an organization if they are to succeed. At the project level, the coordination across the Do aspect of the PDCA is critical, as orchestration...

Finally at the individual level, the PDCA cycle's integration into Software Testing as a Service can deliver accelerated Q.A. testing and verification for small programming teams and individuals who work as part of a Q.A. function. The full value of the PDCA cycle when applied in a Testing as a Service platform can significantly improve the quality of enterprise software produced, and the speed at which it is coded, testing and released.
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Yang, Y., Onita, C., Zhang, X., & Dhaliwal, J. (2010). TESTQUAL: Conceptualizing Software Testing as a…