Bryan and Siegel define software product assurance (SPA) as a management support discipline that helps to ensure on-time within-budget delivery of software that satisfies real customer needs. The stated purposes of their book are (1) to convince managers that product assurance is needed, and (2) to explain how to use SPA. The authors have attempted to develop a single presentation of their SPA philosophy that is appropriate for managers, SPA practitioners, and students.

Chapter 1 discusses the problems of software cost, schedules, and customer satisfaction. It offers SPA as at least part of the solution. The next two chapters reiterate this theme while introducing some new material. Chapter 2 provides a vocabulary of basic terms and concepts. Chapter 3 explains a conceptual model of SPA. The model defines four processes (quality assurance, configuration management, verification and validation, and testing and evaluation) and three functions (control, auditing, and bookkeeping). The next three chapters describe the functions in more detail. Chapter 4 is on control of baselines and changes; chapter 5 discusses auditing of products (document reviews and software testing); chapter 6 is concerned with bookkeeping and SPA records. Finally, chapter 7 describes some real examples of SPA use. It shows how SPA improves the odds but does not guarantee project success. Each chapter is followed by problems and annotated references. The book includes an author index (to the references) and a detailed subject index.

The authors succeed overwhelmingly in their first objective. The demonstration of the need for SPA is a continuing theme not just confined to chapter 1. The book provides a lot of arguments SPA personnel can use with their managers. (Curiously, the authors fail to cite any of the numerical evidence supporting SPA’s effectiveness.) On the other hand, Bryan and Siegel do not do as well at their second objective, showing how to use SPA. The book’s organization stresses what is to be achieved (functions) rather than how to achieve it (processes). Consequently, basic SPA mechanics like design inspections and test case selection receive vague treatment. The authors say little about standards and nothing about measurement.

Bryan and Siegel’s book has many good features. It presents an integrated view of the roles of managers, product assurers, developers, and customers on a software project. The sample problems, stories, and scenarios help the reader relate directly to the material being presented. The authors’ effort to summarize and critique each reference provides a valuable addition to the text. While weak in the areas of quality assurance and testing, the book does give a detailed treatment of configuration management and configuration control boards. It even offers suggestions for how to deal with the potential paperwork avalanche resulting from SPA activities.

Overall, the book is too long. As the authors note in the preface, the strategy of using a progressive elaboration through the first three chapters leads to redundancy. The wide page margins, extensive problems, and document organization all contribute to an overlong and expensive book. Busy managers are likely to be too intimidated by the size to even open it. Some practitioners will find the book useful--especially those trying to start a new SPA program. However, active SPA personnel will want a more methods-oriented reference like the Handbook to which Bryan and Siegel contributed [1]. While this book may be useful in the classroom as a supplement, it cannot stand alone as a reference on SPA methods. Moreover, because most exercises require the student to draw on practical experience that he or she probably does not have, they are of limited value.