Defektmanagements

Defektmanagements is a systematic discipline for handling defects or non-conformities in products and services to improve quality and reliability. It is applied in software development, hardware manufacturing, and IT services, among others. The goal is to establish a traceable lifecycle from defect detection to resolution and verification, ensuring that issues are properly documented, prioritized, and closed.

Core activities include defect reporting (capturing steps to reproduce, environment, screenshots), triage and prioritization (assess impact and urgency), assignment to a responsible owner, reproduction and diagnosis, fixing, verification and validation (regression tests), and closure. In some contexts a root-cause analysis is performed to prevent recurrence. Defect states often include New/Open, In Progress, Resolved, Verified, Closed, with transitions defined in the workflow. Defect management is closely linked to configuration management, change management, and release planning.

Tools and data: defect-tracking systems (e.g., JIRA, Bugzilla, HP ALM) help store defect records, attach artifacts, and generate metrics. Key roles: testers, developers, QA managers, product owners, customer support, and operations. Benefits: improved product quality, risk reduction, regulatory compliance, better visibility into quality, and improved planning. Challenges: incomplete reports, duplicates, mis-prioritization, and coordinating across distributed teams; success depends on standardized processes, clear criteria for severity and priority, and integration with testing, version control, and CI/CD pipelines.