Quality management framework

Quality Management Framework or QMF is a tool to aid in the successful delivery of products and services across the enterprise.

The QMF standardises processes, allowing for increased efficiencies (faster and less cost) in bringing new products to the market place. These processes strengthen supplier management techniques in addition to robust cost control, thereby improving our overall profit. And by implementing the QMF we ensure PCI and security compliance across a project lifecycle.

First coined by William Hill (bookmaker), it was developed by utilising the benefits of TQM and pre-defined security policies, as defined by IEEE. The project lifecycle was defined and a framework designed that helped to implement the robust security policy. The different stages of the IS project-delivery system were defined and the necessary artefacts created for implementation. The simplest list of artefacts were defined that ensured the QMF could be delivered and the security policy adhered to.

By adopting the QMF and utilising the artefacts designed for a robust security policy it is expected that improvements will be achieved. This report shall show the result of this investigation and the ease of its implementation and will highlight:- •	security improvements; •	ease of implementation; •	resolutions made on security policy; •	the capacity for constant improvement; •	the robustness of the solution to be scaled across IS projects;

Based on the iTQM (integrated total quality management system) which shows that research into this field is “about how to design a top-down orchestrated serviced oriented architecture to integrate TQM element cores into a whole system supported by advanced information technology, data mining, service policies, forced training and governance” (WANG 2008). Focusing heavily on quality and process improvements these systems rely on separate processes to realise a robust security policy. Implementing a robust security policy within the iTQM might prove too cumbersome and time-consuming, holding little academic value. But I believe that by creating a more simple solution such as the QMF we can incorporate the necessary security considerations but continue to allow improvements in quality and delivery.

There is also a large amount of research in the area of security within IS Delivery and in improving security standards within those defined by IEEE that can help to “en-sure that security is analyzed during the early stages of the software development lifecycle” (MCCARTHY 2007). By utilising the research within these areas I believe we can incorporate this into the sQMF for improved IS Project Delivery. For the purpose of this research we shall con-sider IS to incorporate “hardware, software, people and data where the software component consists of: systems software, applications software and specific purpose software.” (AVISON AND SHAH CITED BY LITTLE 2003)