IV&V (independent verification and validation) is all about quality control. The process can identify issues and reduce costs. Ensuring the development of products, services, and software within the bounds of compliance and desired functionality is the goal.
…But what projects stand to benefit from IV&V?
While a host of different industries can (and do) utilize IV&V in various forms, the most common instances involve software systems. Other IV&V projects may evaluate manufacturing, infrastructure, security systems, and beyond.
Let’s dive in!
Software IV&V
Developing software is no small undertaking, especially when it connects to (and often controls) other systems within an organization. Many businesses begin to implement IV&V from the earliest stages of development.
Beginning this process as early in the software’s life cycle achieves two primary goals. First, the software is verified as meeting the specifications necessary (regulation, company restrictions, etc.). Second, the team validates the software as serving the operational goals of the business.
This is an ongoing process. It will practiced incrementally throughout the software’s development. At each stage, the process reevaluates the software to ensure both compliance and functionality. This can include tests, evaluating the actual code of the software, and projected risks of errors found.
Data Management
Software that focuses on large-scale data management is a prime candidate for IV&V. Evaluation is necessary for system architecture, namely to ensure that the actions for search, storage, and organization are operating effectively. Validation testing will also show if queries return bad data, the wrong information, or if any parts of the system are nonfunctional.
Reliability is a key factor here.
Security
Many software systems rely on secure data to meet company or user needs. IV&V for security will focus on compliance with national and international standards, as well as rigorous testing for risks. The team performs tests throughout development to make sure all components of the software adhere to the same security standard, and that all aspects are truly secure.
System Control
When software controls physical systems, IV&V is integral to an organization’s success. The process will include code evaluation, best practice standards, an examination of proposed automation, and assessment of case scenarios to test the system’s capabilities. Specialists create error logs, and will continue with periodic reevaluation.
This is but a sample of the range of software components that can be improved through IV&V. Each aspect of a large software system can be validated and verified individually as part of a larger IV&V plan. Developers, company leaders, managers, and contracted specialists will all be important pieces of the process. Communication between the company and the third party performing the IV&V will be of the utmost importance.
To learn more about what IV&V can do you for your software development, or to see if this process is the right fit for your company, contact us today!
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