Software quality assurance(SQA):A case study of the University of Nairobi

Abstract

The Information Communications Technology (lCT) Center through its Management Information Systems (MIS) section is responsible for: development and support of management information services at the University of Nairobi. The groundwork is undertaken by a team of technical personnel who serve under a manager. The manager (MIS) in turn is responsible to the Director (lCT Center). To gain insight into the process of system development and maintenance: questionnaires were sent out to MIS staff of various institutions of learning. At the ICT Center all members of MIS, twelve in total, were served with questionnaires. Two other questionnaires were served to the manager (MIS) and the Director (ICT Center). At the other institutions sampled, only the head of MIS was served with a questionnaire, which he answered on behalf of the department. This approach was replicated at Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and. Technology, United States International University, Daystar and Catholic Universities. Disproportionate attention was given to the ICT Center for the obvious reason that it formed the main basis for the study. Other institutions, however, provided a good opportunity for comparison. Indeed system use is increasingly being entrenched at the university. Based on past performance, the MIS team is up to the task. Given the length of time that the ICT Center has been involved in systems development for the university, it is clear that it has come of.age, By the time this research was being conducted, they had not embraced the use of policy and standards in: development, process, planning, requirements, design, implementation, review, maintenance of systems. This, however, is set to change with the introduction of the same towards the end of2004. Currently, managers at the ICT Center largely-rely.on informal mechanisms to access information that is subsequently employed to take out decisions. However, proper auditing needs to be carried out on technical activity at all levels. The results obtained then channeled back to the managers by means of a formal structure to . safeguard against misinformation and information loss. To this end formal Software Quality Assurance (SQA) needs to be introduced in the administrative structure of the MIS.