Challenges with Implementing the CMMI in Small Settings

Facilitating your process journey … Challenges with Implementing the CMMI in Small Settings or The Little Organization That Could Henry Schneider SEPG 2009

Facilitating your process journey … I – Think – I – Can, I – Think – I – Can PPQA Measurement & Analysis Training Documenting Processes 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 5

Facilitating your process journey … Agenda  Observed Trends  Common Challenges with Process Improvement  Small Settings Perspective  Useful Tips and Techniques 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 8

Facilitating your process journey … Observed Trends  Maturity models have been in use for 20+ years  Initial adopters were large organizations  As businesses recognize the benefits of applying maturity models, marketplace demand for appraised organizations increases  Increased emphasis on appraising organizations with 25 or fewer people 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 10

Facilitating your process journey … Trend Data* for Organizations < 25 People 3500 16% % of Appraisals 3000 for Small Orgs Appraisals 14% Total # of 2500 12% 2000 10% 8% 1500 6% 1000 4% 500 2% 0 0% 450 #of Appraisals for 400 The past four years have shown a 350 Small Orgs 300 steady increase in the number of 250 appraisals of small organizations 200 150 100 Increasing % and total # of reported 50 appraisals 0 * Data derived from SEI Maturity Profiles published every March and September 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 11

Facilitating your process journey … What Most Everyone Experiences Limited to no process training Difficulty Measurement provided documenting and Analysis processes and misunderstood process assets Lack of PPQA planning misunderstood CMMI Lack of Unrealistic Implemen- management expectations commitment for an appraisal tation 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 13

Facilitating your process journey … Small Settings Perspective  Though organizations, large and small, share the same obstacles to success, implementing the CMMI in small settings presents unique challenges  Based on recent observations gathered by working with several small organizations 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 15

Facilitating your process journey … Lack of Management Commitment  May be no active involvement  Senior Manager wants it to happen, but doesn’t have time to support  Unrealistic expectations  Process improvement viewed as simply documenting processes  Process improvement is something that can be performed fast and cheap 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 16

Facilitating your process journey … Lack of Planning  Limited resources  No internal people available to provide necessary support  Project and business commitments interfere with process improvement  Process improvement is a part-time activity at best  Have to rely heavily on external help  Basically outsourcing process improvement that could result in a lack of buy-in  Limited to no planning for process improvement  Limited funds for training, tools, facilities, etc. 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 17

Facilitating your process journey … Difficulty Documenting Processes  Lots of synergy between teammates  Heavy reliance on tribal knowledge  Lots of single failure points  No perceived value in documenting processes  Everyone knows what to do; the how is second nature  “We don’t need no stinking procedures.”  Can be at odds with management’s goals to grow the business  New people learn faster by reading the processes than by osmosis 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 18

Facilitating your process journey … Limited Process Training  Process training may be viewed as an unnecessary expense  Everyone already knows what to do 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 19

Facilitating your process journey … Measurement and Analysis Misunderstood  Little to no data are used  Lack of understanding how data can help  Only one Project Manager for all projects with a qualitative understanding  Engineering judgment is considered sufficient 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 20

Facilitating your process journey … Process and Product Quality Assurance Misunderstood  No appreciation for an objective evaluation of processes and work products  Not viewed as an extension of Senior Management, but as an additional, expensive, non- value added cost 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 21

Facilitating your process journey … Unrealistic Expectations for an Appraisal  Limited resources  PIIDs may take longer than expected to prepare • $ Outsource PIID development  May have evidence of only one focus project and limited non-focus project evidence • Potential risk of not providing enough data to successfully achieve target ML  May not have enough internal people to staff the appraisal team • $ Use external team members  May not have space available to house the appraisal team and conduct interviews • $ Lease office space  May require more meetings than usual with the Lead Appraiser to correctly scope and tailor the SCAMPI method • $ Additional unplanned Lead Appraiser time 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 23

Facilitating your process journey … Management Commitment  Senior management should  Attend the Intro to the CMMI training with rest of the staff  Be actively involved in all process improvement activities  Either chair the Process Group or provide strong leadership  Meet regularly with the CMMI consultant and Lead Appraiser  Those small organizations that have been successful exemplify this behavior 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 25

Facilitating your process journey … Planning  Treat process improvement like a project  Write a process improvement plan and use it  Estimate and track the costs  Document the process improvement goals and objectives  Set realistic expectations and dates  Determine which activities and deliverables can be performed internally vs. externally 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 26

Facilitating your process journey … Documenting  Use an experienced CMMI consultant to help document processes and process assets  Using an ISO 9000 consultant can be an additional risk  An ISO 9000 consultant is an additional person to train on the CMMI  ISO 9000 consultants tend to view implementing the CMMI as a documentation exercise and don’t comprehend the Generic Goals and Practices  Should not be performed solely by the consultant; someone from the organization has to be actively involved 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 27

Facilitating your process journey … Training  Train on the different roles and responsibilities  Perhaps formal process training is not the answer  Hold meetings with the team to walk through each process to ensure alignment  Consider OJT or mentored instruction instead of formal training  Could be a source of process improvement suggestions 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 28

Facilitating your process journey … Measurement and Analysis  The Project Manager is probably the logical choice for performing all MA activities  Requires some training and/or mentoring on measurement and analysis  Document the data collection, analysis, and reporting information so someone else will have an understanding of the data and its use  Avoid overkill or “death-by-data”; use a minimal set of measures and indicators 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 29

Facilitating your process journey … Process and Product Quality Assurance  Think outside the box for implementing this Process Area  Perhaps the Senior Manager could perform PPQA or  Embed PPQA within the team (objectivity could be a challenge) or  Outsource PPQA (provides independence, but somewhat risky and requires ongoing contractual management) 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 30

Facilitating your process journey … SCAMPI Preparation  Use the process improvement plan  Hire a reputable Lead Appraiser with prior experience working with small organizations  Work with your Lead Appraiser to properly interpret the CMMI and the SCAMPI method for a small organization 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 31

Facilitating your process journey … PPQC Services Consulting • CMMI • Software Engineering • Systems Engineering • Process Improvement Appraising • SCAMPI A, B, C • Gap Analysis Training • CMMI/Process Improvement • Action Planning Workshops • Measurement and Analysis • Process Area Specific Training 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 34

Facilitating your process journey … Contact Information Address: Henry Schneider President/Senior Principal Consultant Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 2111 Heather Green Houston, TX USA 77062 Phone: 281-218-6682 E-mail: henry@ppqc.net Web Site: www.ppqc.net 4/1/2009 ®2008 ***Proprietary*** All Rights Reserved - Process and Product Quality Consulting, LLC 35

Challenges with Implementing the CMMI in Small Settings

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