5.2 Quality & Performance Management

Reviews, Measures, and Performance Agreements

Quality and performance management asks two questions: are the team’s processes effective, and does the deliverable satisfy the defined need? Use the right review for the decision.

A retrospective or lessons-learned session inspects how the team worked and chooses improvements. A Sprint Review inspects the product outcome with stakeholders and considers adaptations to future work. They are not interchangeable: one emphasizes team effectiveness, while the other emphasizes product value and direction.

A service-level agreement (SLA) states measurable service commitments such as availability, response, or restoration targets and may define remedies. A key performance indicator (KPI) is a critical measure tied to an objective. Objectives and key results (OKRs) pair a qualitative objective with measurable results that indicate progress. Choose measures that drive decisions rather than filling a dashboard.

Cost and Schedule Performance

PK0-005 explicitly names two variance calculations:

• Cost variance (CV) = earned value (EV) − actual cost (AC). Negative means the accomplished work cost more than its budgeted value; positive means it cost less.
• Schedule variance (SV) = earned value (EV) − planned value (PV). Negative means less budgeted work was completed than planned by the status date; positive means more was completed.

These values express budgeted value, not literal days. Pair them with milestone, dependency, and critical-path evidence before claiming how many calendar days a project will gain or lose.

Audits, Inspections, and Test Cycles

An audit checks a process, control, record, or compliance requirement against defined criteria. An inspection examines a deliverable or work result. A test plan defines scope, environments, responsibilities, data, entry and exit criteria, defect handling, and the sequence of tests.

Verification asks whether the result conforms to specifications and documented requirements. Validation asks whether it solves the intended user or business need. A deliverable can pass verification yet fail validation if the specification itself omitted the real need.

Post-Implementation Support and Warranty

Acceptance does not erase operational obligations. Define the warranty or support period, owner, coverage, severity rules, response and resolution expectations, escalation path, handoff records, and exit conditions. Trend defects and service performance after go-live, feed valid lessons into future work, and distinguish warranty correction from a new enhancement that requires separate scope and approval.

Worked Performance and Test Scenario

At the status date, a migration has planned value of $80,000, earned value of $68,000, and actual cost of $74,000. Cost variance is $68,000 − $74,000 = -$6,000, so completed work cost more than its budgeted value. Schedule variance is $68,000 − $80,000 = -$12,000, so less budgeted work is complete than planned. Neither result by itself says the project is exactly a certain number of days late; the project manager also checks remaining dependencies and the critical path.

The release then moves through its test plan. Unit tests check transformation functions. A smoke test confirms the build starts, authenticates, reads a sample record, and writes to the target. Regression testing checks exports and reports that worked before the migration change. Stress and performance tests evaluate peak volume and response targets. Authorized business users perform UAT with representative workflows.

Suppose every specified field maps correctly, but users cannot complete a legally required review because the original requirements omitted a status flag. The build may pass verification against its written mapping specification but fail validation for intended use. The missing need becomes an issue and may require change control; testers should not silently redefine the approved requirement.

After go-live, an SLA may require critical incidents to receive a response within a defined time. That service target is different from a project milestone. Warranty and support records identify whether a defect is corrected under existing obligations or whether a requested enhancement becomes new work.

Decision Habit

When a quality question presents several plausible actions, identify the artifact being evaluated and the governing criteria. A process audit does not accept a deliverable, a smoke test does not replace UAT, and a positive variance does not prove customer acceptance. Record defects, assign owners, retest corrections, and preserve the evidence required for the next decision.