The challenges of strategic management of application quality: The case of a French industrial company

Quality is nowadays acknowledged as a key factor for the competitiveness of enterprises. This is also true at the information systems level. This case study focuses on the importance of information systems quality. It particularly points out the issues and contributions of a quality assurance strategy for the information system's applications, and suggests that the quality of these applications determines the global organizational performance. Our argument is based on the experience of a French industrial company, and supported by the results of a minisurvey conducted with ten information systems directors of major French companies actually practicing the strategic management of applications quality. Few empirical studies and feedbacks are related to the quality of information systems and applications. This case study contributes to the enrichment of the research area by identifying the issues of such projects and the businesses potentially concerned, and by presenting the opportunities provided by current solutions of applications' quality management.