What is Software Quality? A Conversation with Ger Cloudt.

“Quality isn’t just about processes and code. It’s about behavior and mindset. About the culture that gives engineers the space to do their work well. That’s where software quality begins.”

Ger Cloudt has spent decades working in the field of software, people, and organizations. He is now a Software Quality Manager at ASML, but his career began more than forty years ago, with his very first assembler program. “It turned into a spaghetti code I could hardly untangle myself,” he says with a laugh. “But that was the lesson I needed to learn: without structure, there’s no quality.”

That lesson came early. On his second assignment, he was mentored by someone who taught him to use pseudocode and structured design. Since then, quality has been the central theme in his work, from Philips Medical Systems to NXP, Bosch, and now ASML. In 2020, he published his first book, What is Software Quality?, later expanded into a second edition.

What is software quality, really?

The title of Ger’s book poses a question with no single answer.
“Ask a user,” he says, “and they’ll tell you whether the software does what it’s supposed to do. Ask an engineer, and the focus shifts to design, is it well structured? A project manager will talk about deadlines and budgets, while a CFO is more likely to look at return on investment.”

Quality, in other words, is always context-dependent. It’s not just about code, it’s about processes, user experience, security, culture, and ultimately, the values of an organization.

In his book, Ger makes this insight tangible through a framework: the 1+3 Software Quality Model. It consists of four quality types, one of which enables the other three. Organizational Quality forms the foundation: craftsmanship, collaboration, the right mindset, a stable infrastructure, clear goals, the right tools, and mature processes. That’s why, at the center of the model, you’ll find the word enables.

Below that are the three domains encountered daily in software development:

• Design Quality – separation of concerns, modularity, maintainability, efficiency.
• Code Quality – clean code, unit testing, portability, static code analysis.
• Product Quality – functionality, security, usability, reliability.

“If your organizational quality isn’t in order,” says Ger, “you can cross out enables and replace it with disables.” His point: without a culture that gives engineers freedom and trust, the other three dimensions remain empty shells.

That’s why Ger believes software quality doesn’t start with code, it starts with behavior. “You need a culture where people are allowed to make mistakes, where learning and collaboration come first. Without that freedom, you’ll never achieve true quality.” 

From waterfall to agile 

Over four decades, Ger has watched the software world transform. When he started, teams worked in the waterfall model: gather all requirements first, then design, build, and finally test at the very end. Today, agile is the norm.

“That shift brought a lot of good,” he says. “But modern tools also have a downside. Because everything moves faster and you get instant feedback, people tend to think less. In the past, you’d triple-check your code before submitting it; now you just hit F5 and see the result. That convenience can also lead to carelessness.”

Culture and psychological safety

Another key theme in Ger’s vision is psychological safety. In some cultures, fear of losing face plays a big role, leading to risk-avoidant behavior. “But making mistakes is essential to learning,” he explains. “An organization must not only saythat it’s okay to make mistakes, it must show it through its actions, at every management level.”

For Ger, it’s all about consistent behavior. “If a CEO says mistakes are fine, but a middle manager punishes people for them to hit targets, things fall apart. People pay more attention to what leaders do than to what they say.”

In his model, this falls under organizational quality. It’s about the culture and values that form the foundation. That’s where quality begins.

The lesson for newcomers and organizations 

This is where Ger’s vision connects closely with Motopp’s mission.
Motopp supports highly educated newcomers in finding their place in the IT job market. As founder Jan Princen explains:
“Many of the people we work with come from very different contexts. Their work experience is often from countries where speed and cost are the top priorities. That shapes the choices they make. Of course, smart people can learn anything, but the concept of quality can mean something completely different to them. That’s both the challenge and the opportunity.”

Ger agrees. “If you want to succeed as a professional in a new country, start by understanding the culture. Every Dutch company sits somewhere on the spectrum between control and flexibility. It helps to ask yourself: where do I feel at home? And how can I adapt, without losing myself?”

Companies that manage to create that kind of space reap the rewards.
Newcomers often bring creativity, flexibility, and drive. The very qualities that push teams forward, if they’re given the freedom to make mistakes, learn, and grow.

Workshop for the Motoppers

On Thursday, September 18, Ger Cloudt hosted a workshop for the Motoppers.
It was an inspiring and insightful session about software quality — and the many dimensions that shape it.