Views expressed are entirely from the Founder’s perspective

Indradeb P. Pal, the Founder of BSPIN presenting at the 6th Annual BSPIN Conference on 9th Oct 2012 at Vivanta by Taj, Bangalore during the occasion of celebration of 20 years of BSPIN. The views are entirely from the Founder’s perspective.

BSPIN Founder’s Perspective – 20 years and beyond

- By Indradeb P. Pal, at the 6th Annual BSPIN conference, celebrating 20 years of IMPACT of BSPIN

Views expressed are entirely from the Founder’s perspective


Evolution of BSPINRelevant History• Birth of the idea of SPINs in India – May90 to Dec90• What it took to get SIG-SQA started? – Jan91 to May92• The Launch of SIG-SQA (then name of BSPIN) – 15Jun1992• The First (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Jun92 to Mar95• The Second (Education, Awareness) Phase of SPIN – 1994 to 1998• The Third (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Benchmarking Initiation – 1999 - 2002• The Fourth (Growth) of BSPIN – Scaling up the IMPACT – 2002 till date

Social Impact of BSPIN• Contribution to the Industry• Impact on and by the BSPINNERS• Imagine for a moment if there was no BSPIN

Future Vision for BSPIN – Founder’s Inputs• Current Challenges and Scenario• How can BSPIN further contribute• Further institutionalization of BSPIN


History – Birth of the idea of SPINs in India – May90 – Dec90

• 1950s to 1990s - Japan did the manufacturing & economic revolution• India missed the Manufacturing opportunity to Grow its economy

• Saw functioning of SPINs in the US and realized such mobilization could help

• The Analogy between JUSE and 1950s to 1980s – to what SPINs could do to Software Industry

• Inputs from Roger Bate (close colleague of Watts S Humphrey) and realization that S/w Process Improvement is impossible to do in a single company (Dec90)

• Development of Core Concepts and Ethos of SPIN• Must be Neutral,• Must be Learning, Sharing, Collaboration,• Must be driven selflessly – by selfless professionals• Preferably a Non-Profit body• Participation, participation, participation …….


What it took to get SIG-SQA started? – Jan91 to May92

• The message of advances in S/w Engg was taken to multiple forums:• IISc – CSA dept• Presentations to several companies at Bangalore• Some of the IITs• Dept. of Electronics organized events• Professional Bodies – CSI, IEEE, IETE

• It took Indradeb in all SEVEN attempts – before a proper `Neutral’ host was found. The search ended in May 1992 with DoE’s STQC.

• S. Haridas of DoE’s STQC helped out by providing a platform for getting SIG-SQA started.

• Very difficult to find a body which would meet all the requirements for a successful replication of “JUSE” for India’s S/w Industry.

• It took great patience and perseverance to `Even Agree to Get Started’.


The Launch of SIG-SQA (then name of BSPIN) – 15Jun1992

• Why SIG-SQA? - Because the SQA community which was very new did not have any identity - Most of them were largely given almost no importance within their

company- Mobilizing this group would help `Penetrate’ into more organizations for a

common cause- Sharing amongst this group would help making each of them competent

and would eventually earn respect which was so much missing for SQAs at that time

- In India – no one would have understood the term SPIN at that time.

• 15th June 1992 History was made at DoE STQC office on Peenya Road near Yeshwanthpura, where 9 people met and the 1st SIG-SQA meeting was held. The topic of the presentation was CMM and its Impact. The presentation was done by me. It was titled – “Software Crisis is Dead”.


The First (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Jun92 to Mar95

• Get visibility to the Senior Management of various companies about Software Quality Issues

• How to get attention of the PMs which is so fundamental to make improvements happen?

• Like the JUSE got Deming to Japan – WE SHALL GET WATTS S HUMPHREY to India in the next 3 years.

I made this statement in the 1st SIG-SQA meeting when one attendee in this meeting pressed me for a purpose or a goal to shoot for.

In Jun1994 We rebranded SIG-SQA as SEI SPIN Bangalore. Work on getting SPINs started in other cities of India was taken up.

• We truly arrived as an INFLUENTIAL FORCE when in Jan 1995, Watts S Humphrey addressed SPIN Bangalore and 200 people attended it at Hotel Holiday Inn (as it was called then).

Watts S Humphrey’s impression about SEI SPIN Bangalore Let-from-Watts-to-Indradeb


The Second (Education, Awareness) Phase of SPIN – 1994 to 1998

• Sponsorship in the form of Technical Literature, SEI design of BS CS and MS CS course curriculum, advances in Software Engineering, provided by Texas Instruments.

• Indradeb worked closely with SEI’s SPIN coordinator and got about a dozen SPINs started all over India. As of today, about half of these SPINs are active and functional. (e.g., SPINs at Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai)

• Big push led by C Rama Rao and Sreeshaila to educate more than 1000 people on CMM L2 and L3 practices

• Roping in `Who’s who’ of S/w Engg across the world to present at SEI SPIN Bangalore

• Companies at Bangalore – queuing up to Sponsor the monthly SPIN talk

• Bangalore SPINNERs getting opportunity to present at other SPINs – in India as well as abroad

• Recognition from various quarters of the world that Bangalore SPIN is the most active SPIN and one of the best run SPINs.

• More PMs were SPINNERS than QA people + CXOs learnt about Bangalore SPIN.


The Third (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Benchmarking Initiation – 1999 - 2002

• Climbing up the Maturity ladder would be aided if there are Metrics Benchmarks which makes sense for the Outsourcing industry.

• Benchmarks did exists – however, none served the way the CMM model looked at as applied to outsourcing and offshoring.

• We decided to initiate Metrics Benchmarking and SIG-BEN was formed in 1999.

• The idea was to “Help/ Facilitate 100+ High Mature Software Organizations in India’ in the next 3 to 4 years.”

• NDA was a crucial point to get started. Vishu Hegde was a great pivot to get this going. At least 20+ die hard BSPINNERS worked for about 3 to 4 years to see through the 1st and the 2nd round of BSPIN Benchmarking study.

IMPACT: Almost all companies in the Asia Pacific region started using the BSPIN Benchmarking reports to get guidance and comparison when targeting L3, L4 and L5.

BSPIN decided to continue with rounds of Benchmarking – roughly one cycle in a two year period and we did the 6th one in 2012.


The Fourth (Growth) of BSPIN – Scaling up the IMPACT – 2002 till date

• Scaling up the BSPIN, how to make a greater impact was seen as key

• Increased participation in related conferences or events

• Set up multiple chapters in various parts of the city

• Reaching out to CXOs and CXOs presenting at BSPIN

• BSPIN Membership composition: • PMs, Delivery people - 70%• QA profile - 23%, • Senior Mgmt - 7%

• More institutionalized way of functioning

• Got registered as a society

• Initiated the annual BSPIN conference


Evolution of BSPINRelevant History• Birth of the idea of SPINs in India – May90 to Dec90• What it took to get SIG-SQA started? – Jan91 to May92• The Launch of SIG-SQA (then name of BSPIN) – 15Jun1992• The First (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Jun92 to Mar95• The Second (Education, Awareness) Phase of SPIN – 1994 to 1998• The Third (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Benchmarking Initiation – 1999 - 2002• The Fourth (Growth) of BSPIN – Scaling up the IMPACT – 2002 till date




Social Impact of BSPIN - Contribution to the Industry

• Many more people took to the SPI profession,• BSPIN – a forum where people got guidance,• Fostered and supported Process Maturity development across the Software Industry,• Impact tangible and visible in cities where SPINs are not active or weak,• Capture of `Sticky knowledge’ which is so important for Productivity improvements,• India seen as a High Quality and Value player – while being cost competitive,• Provided people opportunity to be leaders – by contributing to BSPIN activities,• Recognition of BSPIN forums by many other professional bodies – including Big4

consulting• Other bodies – emulating BSPIN

• PM’s network – with support from PMI• Society of Technical Writers• Knowledge Management Forum, and several more …..

• People (proudly) write about their association with BSPIN in their RESUMEs:• E.g., Attends BSPIN meets, was part of Benchmarking SIG, was a presenter at

BSPIN, was a panelist at BSPIN, etc., etc.


Social Impact of BSPIN - Impact on and by the BSPINNERS

• When the cause is NOT Humanitarian, Hunger Alleviation, Religious, or a Temple trust Very few societies survive actively beyond 2 to 3 years

• The Ethos of Collaboration, Learning, Sharing, Innovation and serving Selflessly has been key to the Sustenance and Energy of BSPIN.

• A large number of professionals got the opportunity to perform team work across company, a good number of professionals developed them as leaders, thousands learnt from BSPIN talks, presentations and reports

• BSPIN helped develop an image of the Indian IT Industry and has been a key facilitator for a large number of companies to achieve High Process Maturity


Social Impact of BSPIN - Imagine for a moment if there was no BSPIN

• Perhaps – we would not have had any Benchmarking report comparing projects from relatively High Mature companies

• People from Bangalore/ India would not have got opportunity to learn or share from other SPINs

• SPINs in other cities may not have formed• Many eminent people when visiting Bangalore – would not have presented at BSPIN

and hence a lot of sharing that they have done – would not have been done• People from the Big4 who are sometimes panelist at BSPIN discussions would have

had to find other forums to do the same• Many professionals who developed Leadership while contributing to BSPIN may not

have got a similar opportunity• The positioning of India’s Software Industry could have been different that what it is

today, ………

• And this list can go on and on ……..


Future Vision for BSPINRelevant History• Birth of the idea of SPINs in India – May90 to Dec90• What it took to get SIG-SQA started? – Jan91 to May92• The Launch of SIG-SQA (then name of BSPIN) – 15Jun1992• The First (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Jun92 to Mar95• The Second (Education, Awareness) Phase of SPIN – 1994 to 1998• The Third (Practical) Vision of BSPIN – Benchmarking Initiation – 1999 - 2002• The Fourth (Growth) of BSPIN – Scaling up the IMPACT – 2002 till date




Future Vision for BSPIN - Current Challenges and Scenario

• Today’s scenario – very different from that in 1992 time frame as well as 2003 time frame

• The cost arbitrage advantage is almost gone/ going away

• Quantitative way to show benefits and value addition is even more important today than ever before

• Value and Cost Expectations have changed• Business models have changed


Value creation and value realization for the Indian IT industry structure

Product Business Model

Custom Solution Services Model

IT Outsourcing ServicesModel

• Already commoditized• High Process Maturity

contributes to competitiveness• Quality• Predictability & • Cost

• Business Model - `Value Creation’ sold only once

• Companies trying to do the same thing in more niche areas

• About 5 years away from becoming commoditized

• High Process Maturity must be leveraged for systematic Re-Use, Architectural & Design services, Innovation

• Business Model - `Value Creation’ sold few (2 to 10) times

• Companies realize this – but find it hard to afford or develop skills to get there. Those who are there have challenge sustaining it.

• Due to specialization, High Process Maturity is relatively less important.

• Depending on what Product, avoid being commoditized for longer time

• Needs focus on People, Process, Technology, Domain knowledge, Entrepreneurship, VC funding/ nurturing, Design skills, Innovation

• Business Model - `Value Creation’ sold many times

• There MUST be an institutionalized way to incubate companies to get into this mode

• Can be Managed with a L3 Process Maturity. Often, High Process Maturity seen as overhead.


Future Vision for BSPIN - How can BSPIN further contribute

• Promote proven Best Practices to improve by type of Business Model

• Utilize the strength of the Quantitative Management knowledge to help organizations Quantify the Benefits which can be input to business case

• How can we dramatically reduce the cost of Testing?• Why can’t proven methods like ODC be popularized by

BSPIN?• Why can’t we institute a Prestigious Award for Proven

Quantitative Improvement for the industry?


Future Vision for BSPIN - Further institutionalization of BSPIN

• Form BSPIN Foundation• Augment ways to earn revenue for BSPIN• Rich Web Site to increase impact of BSPIN• Leverage Presentations at BSPIN to share the same

thoughts via Webinar• BSPIN collaborates with other organizations to gain

further leverage and mindshare• License BSPIN developed webinars via effective

models• Continue to be on the path of Ethics and Integrity

which is bedrock of this great organization


Dedication

• This presentation is dedicated to the BSPINNERS & their immediate Family – for Past, Present and Future BSPINNERs

• With thanks to all who have presented and supported BSPIN, SEI SPIN Bangalore, or SIG-SQA

• With thanks for Corporates, association and bodies who have sponsored and/or supported BSPIN at various times.

Documents

Views expressed are entirely from the Founder’s perspective