COMP3001 Technology Management

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COMP3001 Technology Management Professional
Issues Project Management CMMIand Improving
Process QualityLecture 10Graham Collins, UCL
graham.collins_at_ucl.ac.uk
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Introduction

• To improve the software development process it is
  important to implement measurement programs to
  establish current levels of performance and
  baselines against which improvements can be
  measured.
• Quality can only be built in during the
  development process.
• The widespread use of Capability Maturity Model
  (CMM) for software has created increased
  development as well as confusion in the number of
  models. Started in 1998, the Capability Maturity
  Model Integration (CMMI) was an ongoing project
  to provide a single, integrated framework for
  improving a wider range of engineering
  disciplines.

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CMMI v1.2

• Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a
  process improvement maturity model for the
  development of products and services.
• It consists of best practices that address
  development and maintenance activities that cover
  the product lifecycle from conception through
  delivery and maintenance.
• Purpose of CMMI for development is to help
  organisations improve their development and
  maintenance processes for both products and
  services.
• From CMMI second edition (for details see last
  slide)

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Why adopt CMMI?

• CMMs focus on improving processes in an
  organisation. They contain the essential elements
  of effective processes for one or more
  disciplines and describe an evolutionary path
  from ad hoc, immature processes to disciplined ,
  mature processes with improved quality and
  effectiveness. Chapt 1 Introduction p 8 CMMI
  second edition Chrissis et al (details last
  slide)
• It helps identify a place to start a project,
  develop a framework to prioritise actions and
  define how improvements will benefit the
  organisation. It also measures the benefits of a
  process against those realised from similar
  projects previously undertaken. Eric Cradrow
  Made to Measure Computing 4 January 2007 p 14.

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CMM (Capability Maturity Model)

• Level 1 Initial, ad hoc development, organized
  practices for project management absent.
• Level 2 Repeatable, development process is
  intuitive, rather that codified, procedures for
  project management SCM (software configuration
  management)
• Level 3 Learning and leverage of experience is
  an important aspect of this level.
• Level 4 The organisations ability to monitor
  the success of the project is greatly enhanced if
  the project goals are set in quantitative terms,
  and quantitative data is available about the
  progress of the project. Quantitatively managing
  the process is the focus of level 4.
• Level 5 Process Change Management and Technology
  Change Management. Defect prevention.

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Maturity Levels in the CMM

• Process Change Management
• Technology Change Management
• Defect prevention

Level 5 Optimizing
Software Quality Management Quantitative Process
Management
Level 4 Managed
Integrated Software Management Peer Reviews
Level 3 Defined
Requirements Management Software Configuration
Management Software Project Planning
Level 2 Repeatable
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Project Failure

• Possible reasons for project failure include poor
  estimation (discussed session 4 on Earned Value)
  loose requirements management, inappropriate risk
  management and poorly engineered solutions etc.
  The key point is that these can be labelled as
  process failure.
• For a project to succeed, a key success
  parameter is the set of processes
  followed-Jalote. Although processes are needed
  to satisfy project goals they are essential for
  satisfying the objectives of the client
  organisation. It is essential that there are
  clear processes in developing a business case as
  well as the organizations objectives. These
  should be balanced as indicated by the slides
  Balanced Scorecard.
• Other categories discussed in session one include
  not getting buy-in from stakeholders, including
  not properly communicating with the team.

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Further reading

• Ahern, D.M. et al, CMMI Distilled,
  Addison-Wesley, second edition 2004.
• Manchester, J., All Change, SIGS Application
  Development Advisor, Vol 9, No1,p12-15,Jan/Feb
  2005. This article covers configuration
  management, the drivers and why it is important.
• Druker, P.F.,The Effective Executive,
  Butterworth-Heinemann, 1967. A classic in time
  management, the sections on prioritisation have
  been discussed by numerous authors since,
  noticeably Stephen Coveys book First Things
  First,1994, which has incidentally the same title
  as Peter Druckers chapter 5.
• Jalote, P., CMM in Practice, Addison-Wesley (SEI
  series in software engineering) 2000. Pankaj
  carefully distinguishes between the project
  management and engineering aspects of projects at
  Infosys.
• Kenett, R.S., Baker, E.R., Software Process
  Quality, Marcel Dekker, 1999.
• McGarry et al., Practical Software Measurement
  Objective Information for Decision Makers,
  Addison-Wesley 2002.
• Chrissis, M.B., Konrad,M., Shrum, S. CMMI Second
  Edition Guidelines for Process Integration and
  Product Improvement, Addison-Wesley (SEI Series
  in Software Engineering) 2007.