# Presentation: 335294

## Starting Your CMMI Implementation—How to Effectively Prioritize Improvements Based on an Analysis of Your Business Needs  

***Presented by***
***Sandra L. Cepeda, President and CEO*****Cepeda Systems & Software Analysis, Inc.**
**November 8, 2005**

## Agenda

- What is CMMI?
- Benefits Realized from CMMI Adoption
- CMMI in a Nutshell
- Using the CMMI Correctly
- Using Business Analysis to Prioritize Your CMMI Implementation
- Purpose
- Approach
- Benefits
- Applicability
- Critical Success Factors
- Summary

## What is CMMI?

**“****The Purpose of CMM Integration is to provide guidance for improving your organization’s processes and your ability to manage the development, acquisition and maintenance of products and services.”**
**                                       **
**                                              ****- CMMI Version 1.1, *****December 2001*****                                                          **

## CMMI Provides a Path to a Better Way

- CMMI Is a Process-Improvement Model That Provides a Set of Best Practices That Address Productivity, Performance, Costs, and Stakeholder Satisfaction.
- CMMI Is *NOT* a Set of “Bolt-On Processes” That Last Only As Long As the Wheel Is Squeaking. CMMI Provides a Consistent, Enduring Framework That Accommodates New Initiatives.
- CMMI Focuses on the Total-System Problem, Unlike the SW-CMM or SE-CMM.
- CMMI Facilitates Enterprise-Wide Process Improvement, Unlike Single-Discipline Models That Can Result in Confusion and Higher Costs.

## Benefits Realized from CMMI Adoption (SEI, March 2005)

**Benefits Realized from CMMI Adoption (SEI, March 2005)**

**Percentage Improvement**

**Annual Medians**

**-50%**

**0**

**5**

**10**

**15**

**20**

**25**

**30**

**35**

**40**

***Significant Improvements and Return On Investment From CMMI Adoption***

**50**

**45**

**+50%**

**-38%**

**Cost**

**+14%**

**Customer**
** ****Satisfaction**

**Productivity**

**+50%**

**Quality**

**Schedule**

**ROI**
**3:1 Median**
**2:1 Low**
**13:1 High **

## CMMI in a Nutshell

**Staged**

**Staged**

**Continuous**

**Continuous**

**PA****1**

**PA****3**

**0   1   2   3   4   5**

**PA****4**

**PA****2**

**Capability Level**

**Process Area**

**ML 1**

**ML2**

**ML3**

**ML4**

**ML5**

**Organization**

***Maturity Level 5   ***

- OID, CAR

***Maturity Level 5   ***

- OID, CAR

***Maturity Level 4   ***

- OPP, QPM

***Maturity Level 4   ***

- OPP, QPM

***Maturity Level 3   ***

- RD, TS, PI,

- VER, VAL, OPF, OPD, OT, IPM,

- RSKM, DAR, OEI, IT, ISM

***Maturity Level 3   ***

- RD, TS, PI,

- VER, VAL, OPF, OPD, OT, IPM,

- RSKM, DAR, OEI, IT, ISM

***Maturity Level 2   ***

- REQM,

- PP, PMC, MA, PPQA, CM, SAM

***Maturity Level 2   ***

- REQM,

- PP, PMC, MA, PPQA, CM, SAM

**Process Areas **

**(SE/SW/IPPD/SS)**

**Organizational Process Performance (OPP)**

**Quantitative Project Management (QPM)**

***Support***

- CM, PPQA, MA,

- CAR, DAR, OEI

***Support***

***Support***

- CM, PPQA, MA,

- CAR, DAR, OEI

***Engineering***

- REQM, RD, TS,

- PI, VER, VAL

***Engineering***

***Engineering***

- REQM, RD, TS,

- PI, VER, VAL

***Project ***

***Management***

- PP, PMC, SAM,

- ISM, IPM, RSKM,

- QPM, IT

***Project ***

***Project ***

***Management***

***Management***

- PP, PMC, SAM,

- ISM, IPM, RSKM,

- QPM, IT

***Process ***

***Management***

- OPF, OPD, OT,

- OPP, OID

***Process ***

***Process ***

***Management***

***Management***

- OPF, OPD, OT,

- OPP, OID

**PA****5**

***Two Representations per CMMI Model -  ***
***essentially the same content but organized in a different way***

** ****Process Areas (SE/SW/IPPD/SS)**

## Using CMMI Correctly

- Correct Use of the CMMI Implies ...
- Reflecting the Reality of Your ***Business*** Environment
- Tailoring (Interpreting) the CMMI to Suit Your Context and Needs
- Allowing for Professional Judgment
***Identifying Problems*** As Objectively As Possible
***Thinking*** and Analyzing How the CMMI Applies
- Doing and Not Just Thinking!
- Not Forcing Foolish Decisions
- Supporting ***Worker Participation*** and ***Empowerment***

***Use the Model As a Guide, Not a Dictate***
***Tie Process Improvement to Business Goals***

## Using Business Analysis to Prioritize Your CMMI Implementation 

**Adapted from **
***“******CMMI in Small Settings Toolkit Repository from AMRDEC SED Pilot Sites; DRAFT 14”***
*Authors:*
*Suzanne Garcia, SEI*
*Sandra Cepeda, AMRDEC SED/CSSA*
*Gene Miluk, SEI*
*Mary Jo Staley, AMRDEC SED/CSC*
***Sponsored by AMRDEC Software Engineering Directorate in Huntsville, AL***

## CMMI-based Business Analysis

*Purpose:* Provide those considering adoption of CMMI with enough information to:
- Tie the organization’s business issues to CMMI Process Areas that can be used to address them
- Make a reasonable first guess as to which Process Areas would be most helpful to the organization
*Assumption: * The organization is looking for areas that will have early, visible, positive effects on the business’ performance, regardless of “level” designations.
*Approach:* Two-pronged approach:
- Model overview augmented with Symptoms Charts for each Process Area
- Hands-on Session to map organization’s issues to CMMI Process Areas

## Two-Pronged Approach-1

- Incorporate symptoms that are often seen when practices for a particular Process Area (PA) are missing into the Process Area education portion of an orientation session
- Get a 1st level reading for each PA using “thumb votes” that are recorded on a flip chart:
- Do the practices of this PA have High/Medium/Low impact on your business if they aren’t done well?
- What level of problem are you experiencing in this topic/Process Area? High/Medium/Low

## Example Process Area Materials

- We used basic information about each Process Area, supplemented by a discussion of what tends to happen if that process isn’t performed well, something NOT currently included in introductory training materials
- The Requirements Management Process Area is shown here...

## Engineering (ML 2)

**Requirements Management**

**Purpose: Manage the Requirements of the Project's Products and Product Components and Identify Inconsistencies Between Those Requirements and the Project's Plans and Work Products.**

**Engineering (ML 2)**

**Notes:**
1. Need the full purpose as follows:
manage the
requirements of the project's products and product components and
identify inconsistencies between those requirements and the project's
plans and work products.

## Engineering (ML 2)

**Requirements Management**

**Obtain an Understanding of Requirements**

**Identify Inconsistencies Between Project Work and Requirements**

**Maintain Bidirectional Traceability of Requirements**

**Manage Requirements Changes**

**Obtain Commitment to Requirements**

-  **List of Criteria for Distinguishing Appropriate Requirements Providers                                                                                             **• **Criteria for Evaluation and Acceptance of Requirements                            **                                                    • **Results of Analysis Against Criteria**

-  **Requirements Impact Assessments                                   **• **Documented Commitments to Requirements and Requirements Changes**

-  **Requirements Status                                    **• **Requirements Database                            **                                                    • **Requirements Decision Database**

-  **Requirements Traceability Matrix                                   **• **Requirements Tracking System**

-  **Documentation of Inconsistencies Including Sources, Conditions, and Rationale                                                   **• **Corrective Actions   **

**Engineering (ML 2)**

**Notes:**
1. Need the full purpose as follows:
manage the
requirements of the project's products and product components and
identify inconsistencies between those requirements and the project's
plans and work products.

## When Requirements Management isn’t done well....

**Symptoms:**
- High levels of re-work throughout the project
- Requirements accepted by staff from any source they deem to be authoritative
- “Galloping” requirements creep
- Inability to “prove” that the product meets the approved requirements
**Why Should You Care? Because....**
- Lack of agreement among stakeholders as to what are the “real” requirements increases time and cost to complete the project
- You’re highly likely to deliver an incorrect or incomplete product
- Revisiting requirements changes over and over is a waste of resources highly visible to the customer

## Two-Pronged Approach-2

- After education session is over, go back through the PAs, asking participants to write specific problems they are experiencing in their work related to each PA, one per sticky note.
- Post these sticky notes with the correct PA on flip charts, one PA per flip chart (consultant can help to allocate a particular to a CMMI issues, if needed)
- Review the types/volume of problems posted for each PA and use dot voting, dialogue, or other prioritization technique to finalize the list of PAs that will be worked on first.

## Benefits of this Approach

- Participants in the implementation process have a chance to advocate to help get their problems solved
- Participants who have been involved in selecting the PAs tend to have more commitment to working with them
- Instructor/facilitator gets a strong sense of how much of the overview education is “sticking” with students
- Many of the problems posted via sticky notes give a starting point for more in-depth gap analysis
- Tie between implementing CMMI and business goals and issues is much clearer to participants after this exercise

## When to Use This Approach

- At the beginning of an improvement effort:
- Very effective when business analysis is integrated into CMMI education
- Could be done separately
- At the beginning of a new cycle of improvement:
- Redo the business analysis
- Compare against most recent appraisal results/recommendations
- Use business analysis to help prioritize the recommendations from the appraisal

## Critical Success Factors

- Participants need to be selected from relevant parts of the organization in terms of the intended improvement scope
- If participants are asked to identify business problems but know they won’t have even a chance of addressing them, great frustration results!
- Choices made by the group need to be verified with senior sponsorship for the effort:
- If there is a big mismatch between the group priorities and senior management priorities, this conflict needs to be immediately addressed.
- Facilitator needs to have in-depth model knowledge and have good skills in adapting the model to different organizational contexts.

## Summary

- Including business analysis with CMMI education provides a strong motivator for small (and possibly larger?) organizations getting started in improvement
- Focusing on areas where CMMI *explicitly *could help them with business problems provides immediate, visible benefit.
- Pilot companies who performed the business analysis followed through on their improvements to reach tangible benefits as well as achieving desired appraisal results.
- A detailed description of this approach can be downloaded free of charge from:
-  http://www.sei.cmu.edu/ttp/publications/toolkit/