The sheer utility of development models' planning features offers other avenues toward improving quality. With insight into your project, as Figure 4 suggests, you are much closer to engineering quality into your development process. Staffing profile for a large project. All too often, quality slips when staffing requirements are poorly anticipated. Knowing the optimal staffing profile for a project improves planning, lessens staffing-related volatility, and therefore permits the timely application of testing activities.
Development models simulate reality by incorporating known development dynamics.
For instance, it is less expensive to do good work first than to apply more stringent testing later. Notice how there is a disproportionate return on improvements in the development team, whereas there is only a linear return on improvements in testing. Although parametric models have long been used to establish cost targets, they can be used for much more. Modern software development models have years of analysis support invested in them so that they can address such dynamic management issues as quality. If your organization uses parametric modeling for its estimates, see your estimators to see what they and their tools can do for you.