Group 7 - Chapter 3

Steven Shroyer - Introduction, ad hoc, level 2

Xiao Jingshan - Levels 3 and 4

Dusting Marker - Level 5 and example companies

Definintions - Maturity Level and Key Process Area CMM structure Basics of ad hoc and levels 2 through 5

Definitions Maturity Level - A well defined evolutionary plateau

toward achieving a mature software process

Indicates a level of process capability

Key Process Area - Identify areas which companies should concentrate on in order to improve its software process

A cluster of activities that achieve an important goal when performed together

Structure of the MMC

Indicate Contain Achieve Organized by Address Contain Describe

Maturity Levels

Key Process Areas

Common Features

Key Practices

Process Capability

Goals

Implementation or Institutionalization

Activities or Infrastructure

Level 1 - ad hoc Ad Hoc -

Characterized by a lack of definite processes

Results Vary Can create very good projects, followed by poor ones All areas of quality can vary drastically

Key process areas at Level 2

OverviewFocuses on basic project management controls

Requirements management Software project planning Software project tracking and oversight Software subcontract management Software quality assurance Software confiuration management

Key process areas at Level 2(cont.)

Requirements managementPurpose : to establish an understanding between the customer and the project development team.

Reviewing requirement and interacting with the client is absolutely necessary to establishing the understanding of the requirements in order to produce a product that satisfies that customer

Key process areas at Level 2(cont.)

Software project planningPurpose : to establish reasonable plans for engineering the software and for managing the software project.

Defining the scope and size of the project and allocating the necessary resources to accomplish the project according to a realistic schedule.

This plan needs to be documented and treated as a part of the software engineering process. Changes should be kept to a minimum.

Key process areas at Level 2(cont.)

Software project tracking and oversightPurpose : To establish adequate visibility into actual

progress so that management cdan take effective actions when the project’s progress deviates significantly from the schedule

Management should be based on the software development plan and corrective action should be taken if actual results vary too widely from that plan

Actions may include, restructuring the development plan, replanning remaining work, or taking actions to improve performance

Key process areas at Level 2(cont.)

Software subcontract managementPurpose : To select qualified software subcontractors

and manage them efficiently.

Subcontractor selection should be based on the ability to perform the work. The selection may also be based on strategic business alliances, process capability, and technical considerations. All of these tie into the ability to perform the work, however

Key process areas at Level 2(cont.)

Software quality assurancePurpose : To provide management with appropriate

visibility into the process being used by the software project and the products being built.

This visibility is given by reviews and audits to verify that the progress and processes comply with applicable standards and procedures.

If the audits or reviews turn up compliance issues, these should be taken care of within the project and only referred higher as absolutely neccessary

Key process areas at Level 2(cont.)

Software configuration managementPurpose : To establish and maintain the integrity of the

products of the software project throughtout their life cycle

Integrity can be maintained by identifying and documenting the configuration of the various products and controlling and documenting changes to that configuration.

Key process areas at Level 3

Overview It address both project & organizational issues

Organization process focus Organization process definition Training program Integrated software management Software product engineering Intergroup coordination Peer views

Definitions Organization’s standard software process: The operational definition of

the basic process that guides the establishment of a common software process across the software projects in an organization.It’s describe a)the fundamental software process elements)the relationships between them.

Process tailoring:The activity if creating a process description by elaborate adapting , and /or completing the details of process elements or other incomplete specifications of a process.

Mentor: Providing opinions, recommendations and counsel online.

Integrated software management:The unification and integration of the software engineering and management activities into a coherent defined software process .

Peer review: A review of a software work product,following defined procedures, by peers of the producers of the product for the purpose of identifying defects and improvements.

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Organization process focusPurpose : to establish the organizational responsibility for software process activities that improve the organization's overall software process capability.

Developing & maintaining an understanding of the organization’s and project’s software processes and coordinating the activities

People implementing the process must be intimately involved with its definition and improvement.

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Organization process definitionPurpose: to develop and maintain a usable set of software process assets

It involves developing and maintaining the organization’s standard software process, along with related process assets, along with related process assets.

such as:

descriptions of software life cycles

process tailoring guidelines and criteria

the organization’s software process database

a library of software process-related documentationE.g The description of the software life cycle

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Training program Purpose : to develop the skills and knowledge of

individuals so they can perform their roles effectively and efficiently.

Identifying training need developing or procuring training.

E.g :mentoring

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Integrated software managementPurpose: integrate the software engineering and

management activities into a coherent, defined software process that is tailor from the organization’s standard software process and related process assets.

It is the evolution of Software Project Planning and Software Project Tracing and Oversight at Level 2.

Satisfying means a software project is planned and managed according to a well-defined process based on organizational software process assets.

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Software product engineeringPurpose : to perform consistently a well-defined engineering process:

integrates all the software engineering activities to produce correct

consistent software products effectively and efficiently

DocumentingMaintaining trace ability and consistency

E.g requirements analysis ,design .code and test

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Intergroup coordinationPurpose : to establish a means for the software engineering group to participate actively with the other engineering groups.

To address system-level requirements, objects, and issues.

The technical working interfaces and interactions between groups need to be planned and managed.

All engineering groups should know the status and plans of all the groups

Key process areas at Level 3(cont.)

Peer reviewsPurpose : to remove defects from the software work

products early and efficiently.

Effects : to develop a better understanding of the software work products and of the defects that can be prevented .

It is a engineering method implemental via inspections, structured walkthroughs a number of other collegial review method

Key process areas at Level 4

Overviewfocus on establishing a quantitative understanding of both the software process and the software products being built.

Managed: Quantitative process management Software quality management

Quantitative process managementPurpose : to control the process performance of the

software project quantitatively.

Key process areas at Level 4(cont.)

Software process

Perform-ance

Correct

process

outbound

stable

Software quality managementPurposes:to develop a quantitative understanding of the quality of the project’s software products and achieve specific quality goals.

quantitative goals are established based on the needs of the organization, the customer, and the end users.

E.g product focused.

Key process areas at Level 4(cont.)

Key process areas at Level 5 - Optimizing

OverviewFocuses on the issues that must be addressed so that the company and the project show continued and measureable software process improvement.

Defect prevention Technology change management Process change management

Key process areas at Level 5(cont.)

Defect preventionPurpose : To identify causes of defects and to prevent

them from reoccuring

Usually requires changes to the process

Changes are incremental and evolutionary

Key process areas at Level 5(cont.)

Technology Change ManagementPurpose : to identify new technologies which could be

beneficial, and transfer them into the organization Beneficial factors could include

Tools Methods Processes

Objectives Increase Productivity Improve Software Quality Reduce cycle time for product development

Changes can be large and revolutionary

Key process areas at Level 5(cont.)

Process Change ManagementPurpose : The continual improvement of the software

process to improve software quality, increase productivity, and reduce cycle time.

Involves defining of process improvement goals, and implementation of improvements to the standard, and project processes.

Basically Process Change Management deals with implementing both evolutionary and revolutionary changes to the standard process.

Key Practices

Key Practices

The activities and infrastructure which contribute most to the implementation and institutionalization of the Key Process Area.

These describe what is to be done, now how to do it

Common Features

Commitment to Perform Ability to Perform Activities to Perform Measurement and Analysis Verification of Implementation

Companies at each level

Source: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sema/published./

Companies at Level 2 -

AT&T Network Systems - Advanced Software Construction Center

CIGNA Corporation - Production Application Center

Fuji-Xerox

Hewlett Packard

Companies at each level (cont.)

Companies at Level 3 -

United States Air Force - Standard Systems Group

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maryland

Boeing - Wichita Information Systems

GTE - Government Systems

Companies at each level (cont.)

Companies at Level 4 -

Citibank, - Citicorp Overseas Software Ltd. Division

Honeywell - India Software Operation

Siemen's Information Systems

Companies at each level (cont.)

Companies at Level 5 -

Boeing Company - Reusable Space Systems

IBM Federal Systems Company