Can Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) be too rigorous?
Each proposal you receive for Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) of a software project will state the vendor’s approach is “rigorous”. Vendors fight to explain how their methodology is more “rigorous” than a competitor. This is what you want right? Isn’t rigor a good thing? Maybe, but not when rigor: Takes over for experience. Vendors will try and bury you in details about how rigorous their process is so you’ll hopefully overlook the fact they are staffing your project with individuals that have barely used software let alone written it, performed quality assurance on it, or managed it’s development. The truth is effective and efficient IV&V is art as much as science. You need qualified consultants as much as rigorous process. Make sure you examine who will staff your project very closely, asked to see the results of each individual’s previous IV&V efforts. Is used as marketing hype. Vendors will try and convince you they are “scientists” or “engineers” performing science
