By Wibas
Summary
The purpose of Verification (VER) (CMMI-DEV) is to ensure that selected work products meet their specified requirements.
Description
Introductory Notes
The Verification (VER) (CMMI-DEV) process area involves the following: verification preparation, verification performance, and identification of corrective action.
Verification includes verification of the product and intermediate work products against all selected requirements, including customer, product, and product component requirements. For product lines, core assets and their associated product line variation mechanisms should also be verified. Throughout the process areas, where the terms “product” and “product component” are used, their intended meanings also encompass services, service systems, and their components.
Verification is inherently an incremental process because it occurs throughout the development of the product and work products, beginning with verification of requirements, progressing through the verification of evolving work products, and culminating in the verification of the completed product.
The specific practices of this process area build on each other in the following way: ◾The Select Work Products for Verification specific practice enables the identification of work products to be verified, methods to be used to perform the verification, and the requirements to be satisfied by each selected work product.
◾The Establish the Verification Environment specific practice enables the determination of the environment to be used to carry out the verification.
◾The Establish Verification Procedures and Criteria specific practice enables the development of verification procedures and criteria that are aligned with selected work products, requirements, methods, and characteristics of the verification environment.
◾The Perform Verification specific practice conducts the verification according to available methods, procedures, and criteria.
Verification of work products substantially increases the likelihood that the product will meet the customer, product, and product component requirements.
The Verification (VER) (CMMI-DEV) and Validation (VAL) (CMMI-DEV) process areas are similar, but they address different issues. Validation demonstrates that the product, as provided (or as it will be provided), will fulfill its intended use, whereas verification addresses whether the work product properly reflects the specified requirements. In other words, verification ensures that “you built it right”; whereas, validation ensures that “you built the right thing.”
Peer reviews are an important part of verification and are a proven mechanism for effective defect removal. An important corollary is to develop a better understanding of the work products and the processes that produced them so that defects can be prevented and process improvement opportunities can be identified.
Peer reviews involve a methodical examination of work products by the producers’ peers to identify defects and other changes that are needed.
Examples of peer review methods include the following: ◾Inspections
◾Structured walkthroughs
◾Deliberate refactoring
◾Pair programming
In Agile environments, because of customer involvement and frequent releases, verification and validation mutually support each other. For example, a defect can cause a prototype or early release to fail validation prematurely. Conversely, early and continuous validation helps ensure verification is applied to the right product. The Verification and Validation process areas help ensure a systematic approach to selecting the work products to be reviewed and tested, the methods and environments to be used, and the interfaces to be managed, which help ensure that defects are identified and addressed early. The more complex the product, the more systematic the approach needs to be to ensure compatibility among requirements and solutions, and consistency with how the product will be used. (See “Interpreting CMMI When Using Agile Approaches” in Part I.)
References
Refer to the Requirements Development (RD) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about eliciting, analyzing, and establishing customer, product, and product component requirements.
Refer to the Validation (VAL) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about demonstrating that a product or product component fulfills its intended use when placed in its intended environment.
Refer to the Requirements Management (REQM) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about ensuring alignment between project work and requirements.
Contains
VER.SG 1 Prepare for Verification
Preparation for verification is conducted.
VER.SG 2 Perform Peer Reviews
Peer reviews are performed on selected work products.
VER.SG 3 Verify Selected Work Products
Selected work products are verified against their specified requirements.
