The SEI Capability Maturity Model™

How Insight consulting can help you improve
We have a strong software process improvement background and considerable practical experience of improvement programmes, many of which are CMM(I)-based. This experience covers everything from the overall management of the improvement program to the analysis of process problems in a workshop setting to the detailed documentation and implementation of processes. Fran O’Hara, Insight’s Principal Consultant is a trained SEI CMM Lead Assessor.

In addition to providing an overall CMMI service, we also provide training and consultancy on specific Process Areas (PA’s) such as Project Planning, Project Monitoring and Control, Peer Reviews/Inspections, Requirements Management, etc.. This PA expertise is essential as we can not only provide knowledge of what to improve but also how to improve it and can interpret the CMMI appropriately.

CMM^I® Appraisals
Insight can provide both formal and informal appraisals of an organisation to determine strengths and weaknesses using the CMMI model.

Formal assessments can use the SCAMPI Class A, B or C appraisal methods.

A typical internal appraisal involves:

• agreeing the assessment approach
• distributing questionnaires,
• conducting on-site staff interviews and group sessions
• reviewing documentation
• validating the findings with the group – thereby obtaining further consensus and buy-in
• presenting results and producing the appraisal report
• action planning (optional)

Consulting Services
The nature of our consulting services are to:

• provide practical support
• maximise the staff buy-in and help create momentum for improvement
• maximise the transfer of skills to internal staff
• above all, support the business goals and objectives

CMM Training Workshops
Insight offer a choice of CMM training workshops including:

• A comprehensive overview – 1day
• "Understanding and using the CMM" – 3 day
• "Understanding and using the CMMI" – 3 day
• Management Briefings – ˝ -1day (outlining the business case, costs and benefits)
• Staff Seminars – ˝ - 1 day (communicating the SPI message, maximising staff buy-in, helping create the momentum for change)

These workshops are intended for anyone interested in applying the concepts of continuous process improvement as defined in the CMM. This includes IT Managers, Software Development Managers, Quality Managers, IT Project Managers, Software development staff and members of Improvement Teams. However, anyone with an interest in quality and process improvement will derive great benefit from these workshops.

The workshops can be customised as appropriate to the level and orientation of the audience as per an organisation’s specific requirements.

It is assumed that attendees will have some experience in software development.

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^TM Capability Maturity Model is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University

Introduction to the SEI CMM (1-day course)
This is a shortened version of the three-day course.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this workshop you will be able to: Understand how the CMM is used as a practical framework for internal process improvement.

• Interpret how the Key Process Areas apply to your organisation / role
• Participate in CMM based assessment
• Understand how your Software Process Improvement project is managed using an SPI lifecycle approach
• Apply process improvements and process management concepts to your software development
• Estimate where your organisation lies on the maturity scale Level and Orientation of Audience

This workshop is intended for anyone who wants a short overview of the SEI CMM. It is assumed that attendees will have some experience in software development.

Topics Covered:

• Introduction
• The CMM background and concepts /definitions
• Maturity Levels
• The CMM structure
• Key Process Area introduction
• A sample of the KPAs are analysed through exercises
• Case Study
• The SPI lifecycle (IDEAL)

Understanding and using the SEI CMM (3-day course)

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this workshop you will be able to:

• Identify the benefits of process management and improving the software process
• Explain fundamental CMM Concepts
• Explore the structure and organisation of the CMM
• Interpret the meaning and requirements of the CMM and its Key Process Areas as applied to your organisation / role
• Apply the CMM as a practical framework for internal process improvement
• Develop a practical Action Plan for your software process improvement programme focusing on key improvements to support your business needs and involving the right people
• Successfully manage your Software Process Improvement (SPI) project using a lifecycle approach
• Define your processes in a practical and usable way
• Apply process improvements and process management concepts to your software development
• Participate in CMM based assessments
• Estimate where your organisation lies on the maturity scale
• Apply lessons learnt from real world case studies

Level and Orientation of Audience
This workshop is intended for anyone interested in applying the concepts of continuous process improvement using the CMM as a framework (it will be of special interest to those who want to adopt a very practical approach). This includes IT Managers, Software Development Managers, Quality Managers, IT Project Managers and members of Improvement Teams. However, anyone with an interest in quality and process improvement will derive great benefit from this workshop.

It is assumed that attendees will have some experience in software development.

Workshop topics

Introduction
The introduction establishes a common understanding of course objectives and explores student expectations.

The CMM - Background and concepts/definitions
Process Improvement/Management Concepts
Characteristics of mature and immature organisations
History and motivation for the CMM

Maturity levels
Philosophy behind levels
Level characteristics
Overview of associated KPA's

Exercises
Identification of participants's current process issues
Initial analysis in a CMM context

The CMM Structure
Locating information on the CMM
KPAs, goals, common features, key practices etc
Practical prioritisation of key practice implementation
Exercise on structure

Understanding the Key Process Areas

• Level 2 KPA's (plus exercise)
  
• Level 3 KPA's (plus exercise)
  
• Overview of Level 4 and 5 KPA's
  

Exercise : KPA interrelationships
Understanding how the KPA's relate and depend upon one another

How to scale and interpret the CMM according to your organisation
CMM light
Interpreting the terminology and practices of the CMM
How to apply the KPA's in different organisational contexts
Practical process definition techniques

CMM in context
Using models in the real world
How does the CMM model compare to other models?
Limitations of CMM
CMMI - CMM Integrated overview

Case studies
Costs and benefits of SPI
Irish case studies - from level 2 to level 4
Why many SPI initiatives fail
Examples of practical value of the CMM to the organisation and the individual

Planning Effective SPI Implementation
How to improve the software process using CMM
Issues involved e.g. business needs, cultural change
Prioritisation of improvement actions
Selection of suitable pilot projects
Process support tools
Steps in improving - The SPI Lifecycle (IDEAL)
· Initiate Phase - getting buy-in, role of the 'SEPG', CSFs and pitfalls
· Diagnose Phase - Conducting Successful Assessments
· Establish Phase - Effective Action Planning and Improvement Infrastructure
· Acting Phase - Process Improvements which work- key techniques
· Leverage Phase - Maintain ownership

Lessons Learnt
Critical success factors

Workshop
This workshop section of the course provides some guidelines, templates and checklists but the focus is on participants actually doing key tasks such as outline planning and process definition for their organisational situation. This helps ensure participants know how to implement process improvement in a practical manner. The format is facilitated team exercises in the application of CMM to solve specific issues raised by participants. Each team works on a different chosen task.

Suggested examples include:

• Developing an outline action plan for your SPI programme - covering KPA prioritisation based on business drivers, assessment results, 'low hanging fruit', etc. - identifying, estimating and scheduling the activities, roles/responsibilities, risks, metrics, piloting, communication activities, etc.
• Defining your processes/procedures/templates/checklists so they are concise and usable - workshop-based process definition techniques to ensure the resulting documents are in a checklist format and kept to a couple of pages (use training to address the temporary knowledge gap when deploying a new process rather than verbose unusable process documents) - practicing this approach to practical process definition on some relevant participant chosen process elements

Implementation
Exercise- Participants identify workshop highlights, identify obstacles to implementation and plan their next steps

Understanding and Using the CMMI