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General Questions

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What is ISO?
The term ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization. You would reasonably assume that it ought to be IOS, but it isn't. Perhaps, the term ISO was chosen (instead of IOS), because 'iso' in Greek means equal (remember Isotopes, isosceles triangles etc!), and ISO wanted to convey the idea of equality - the idea that they develop standards to place organizations on an equal footing.
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What is ISO 9000?
ISO 9000 is a set of rules that companies follow to assure that they have the systems needed to meet their customers' needs. It involves writing procedures, following them, and getting the same audited by an accredited registrar who after satisfying himself (by examining the systems) will certify that the required standards are being followed and will then grant certification.

This is the standard that DSS is in the process of implementing.
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What standards make up the new ISO 9000 2000 series?
So far, ISO has developed three new standards in the ISO 9000 series: ISO 9000:2000, ISO 9001:2000, and ISO 9004:2000.
ISO 9001:2000 contains ISO's new quality management system requirements. This is the standard you need to use if you wish to become certified (registered).
ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9004:2000 contain ISO's new quality management system guidelines. Refer to these standards if you wish to learn more about ISO's approach to quality management. ISO 9000:2000 presents definitions and discusses terminology, while ISO 9004:2000 is a set of guidelines for improving performance. Use ISO 9004:2000 if you wish to develop a quality management system that goes beyond the basic ISO 9001:2000 requirements, or if you wish to continually improve the performance of your quality management system. While these two guideline standards will certainly help you, they are not intended to be used for certification purposes.
ISO is also working on a fourth new standard: ISO 19011. ISO 19011 will replace the old ISO 10011 quality auditing standards. The final version of this new standard is expected in the year 2002 or 2003.
In summary, the new ISO 9000 series of standards will ultimately consist of four primary standards: ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9004, and ISO 19011.
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What are the phases involved in getting ISO 9000 certification?
The phases of ISO 9000 certification consists of two parts i.e., documentation and certification.
The documentation part can be done in house or by the help of a consultant. Normally every company takes the services of an experienced consultant to develop and introduce the system.
The certification is done by an agency accredited in this regard. The certification agency normally divides into activities into two parts documentation review, which may be done with or without visits to your works and compliance audit that is conducted at your site.
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Is a consultant must for implementing ISO systems?

Probably you could buy a copy of the ISO 9000 standards and attempt to do it yourself, but this will probably lead to higher cost and more time to achieve certification since you will also have to employ specialized people for the job who may become workless after certification is achieved. Such people being employees may not enjoy the degree of freedom which a consultant would enjoy. You may achieve certification eventually, but your quality system will probably not be effective and efficient. Finding a good consultant is the key to success in implementing ISO.

DSS will be hiring a consultant in the next phase of achieving ISO.
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How long does it take to get ISO 9000 Certification?
Depending upon the commitment of the owner-managers, the time taken could be 3 months to one year.
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What is the validity period of ISO 9000 Certification?
An ISO certification is granted initially for a period of three years.
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Is there any fine on non-compliance after obtaining ISO 9000 certification?
No there is no provision of any fine in such circumstances.
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Can there be surprise audits to see if the ISO 9000 standards are being adhered to after certification is obtained?
There is no such thing as a spot/ surprise ISO 9000 audit. Once the certification is obtained then only surveillance audits are conducted, usually every six months or so that too with prior information.
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Can the ISO certification be revoked?
Yes, but you will be given every opportunity to correct problems before such drastic action is taken.
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Do we have to keep additional manpower for continuous implementation of ISO standards?
No. While introducing and implementing the standards the consultants must train your personnel as to how the standards are to be implemented on day to day basis. One or more of your staff members are usually trained by consultants to conduct internal audits as per the requirements of ISO 9000. Or you could utilize the services of consultants for a fee.
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What is the ISO 14000 Standard?
ISO 14001 is an emerging standard entitled "Environmental Management Systems - Specification" Although it has no formal relationship to the ISO 9000 family of documents, it is structured much like the ISO 9001 standard. A central element of the ISO 14001 standard is the "Environmental Policy" defined by an organization's top management. A system is then defined that ensures that the environmental policy is carried out by the organization. This involves planning, implementation and operations, checking and corrective action, and management review.
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What are the main benefits to be derived from implementing an ISO 9000 quality management system?

The ISO 9000 standards give organizations an opportunity to increase value to their activities and to improve their performance continually, by focusing on their major processes. The standards place great emphasis on making quality management systems closer to the processes of organizations and on continual improvement. As a result, they direct users to the achievement of business results, including the satisfaction of customers and other interested parties.
The management of an organization should be able to view the adoption of the quality management system standards as a profitable business investment, not just as a required certification issue.

Among the perceived benefits of using the standards are:

  • The connection of quality management systems to organizational processes
  • Passport for International Market.
  • Professional Image.
  • Increased customer confidence.
  • Improved quality cut in costs owing to rejection control.
  • Clarity of responsibility and authority.
  • Better and Defined system.
  • Consistent Quality.
  • Improved Cycle Time
  • The encouragement of a natural progression towards improved organizational performance, via:
    • The use of the Quality Management Principles
    • The adoption of a "process approach"
    • Emphasis of the role of top management
    • Requirements for the establishment of measurable objectives at relevant functions and levels
    • Being orientated toward "continual improvement" and "customer satisfaction", including the monitoring of information on "customer satisfaction" as a measure of system performance.
    • Measurement of the quality management system, processes, and product
    • Consideration of statutory and regulatory requirements.
    • Attention to resource availability
    • Clear and practical guidelines
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What is the difference between Revision History & Approval History?
In Revision History, we provide an indication of changes to this version from the previous version only. They Define the ‘what’ (brief details) and the ‘where’ (section, paragraph etc) of the change. With revision history, previous content is easily identifiable.

Approval History lists out the various approvals done by the Reviewer for the various versions of the document.
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How do we start implementing ISO in a project?
There are two documents that control the overall procedure in a project. These are:

Quality Plan: Since all projects can have some differences in them, each project must have a Quality Plan stating the quality procedures that are being followed in that project. It allows user specific quality controls & can be updated as the project evolves.

Configuration Management Plan (CMP): A CMP is also mandatory for all projects as it is the document you are going to define the project structure for eg. Where you are going to have the customer related documents, where you are going have the project plan, who is going to maintain the directory structure, what file names will be assigned to weekly status report (internal) etc.

Besides the above, all status templates and MOMs are mandatory for all projects in DSS.
In fact every template is required for each project – it is only the periodicity and detail of each document that can be tailored to suit the requirements of different projects.
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Why is weekly status necessary for a project?
  • To track the tasks done in any project at any point of time.
  • To give a clear understanding of work done during the past week.
  • To give a clear understanding of work to be done during the coming week.
  • To call the attention of the Management / Client to any problems.
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Is there any particular reason for the Order in which the SDLC docs are displayed in the templates table?
The SDLC documents are displayed on a basis of the earliest a particular document can generally appear during a process. The normal course of an SDLC process may have some deviations from this.
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Can the Order in which the SDLC docs are used in a project deviate from the flow shown in the ISO section?

The flow chart gives the most likely & ideal scenario but does not rigidly dictate the order that docs have to be brought into use.

For example, the “Customer feedback form” that appears at the end of the Flowchart can be submitted at an earlier stage of the process. This is especially true for longer projects.

Documents may also pass through several iterations thereby causing the order to be changed (eg SRS, Project Plan etc.)

There are also documents that are recurring on either a periodic basis (Task allocation & various status reports) or on an ‘as required’ basis (like Change Logs, Test Plans etc) in every project.

There are also various documents that cause a cascade effect causing other documents to require a change in other documents (eg a change in the CMP or in the PP will require a new release of Quality Plan to reflect these changes).
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Where can I find help on following the SDLC process or using a template?

There are four places where help can be found:

  • Each Document is accompanied by guidelines on how to use it.
  • Most documents are accompanied by Example documents where actual usage can be found.
  • The ‘SDLC’ link in the ISO section has a write-up on each document.
  • The ‘Flow’ link in the ISO section shows an ideal flow of the SDLC process and also gives a fair indication of when to fill out a template.

If the above avenues prove insufficient, you can enquire with the reviewer assigned to your project or contact a member of the ISO Core team.
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If the project is still under discussion & negotiation stage, what documents can be prepared as per ISO?
You could start preparing the Risk Management plan which will help you to identify the potential risk involved in this project. e.g. If we do not get the project contract, the amount of time spent in understanding and prototyping could be a liability.
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Is it required to have a "Client Feedback Form" in ISO format to every time before closing the project?
Actually, Yes. But in certain cases where the client is unwilling to fill the form, an email from the client appraising the project is sufficient. This should be attached with the project closure document. However, every effort must be made to get a client feedback form filled out before using a substitute.
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