2.1 Five levels of (CMM)
CMM has five maturity levels that lay successive foundations for continuous process improvement. Looking at figure1 in 2.2, we can see that each maturity level comprises a set of process goals that when satisfied, stabilize an important component at the software process. (9).
The Capability maturity model is organized in to five levels. Below is a description of each one:
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Initial (Level 1): At this level the software process is ad hoc and projects succeed through ‘individual heroism. ( 8)
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Repeatable (Level 2): At this level basic project management processes are established to track schedule, cost, and functionality. (9)
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Defined (Level 3): At this level the software process for both management and engineering activities is documented, standardized and integrated into a standard software process for the organisation. (9) Even though the Organization has a well defined process, it does not necessarily support it with quantitative measurements. (8)
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Managed (Level 4): At this level detailed measures of the software process and product quality are collected and both the software process and product are quantitatively controlled and understood. (9)
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Optimizing (Level 5): At this last level the organization makes quantitative measurements of its projects and makes use of those measurements to tune the process. (8)
2.2 Diagram of the five levels
Figure 1. CMM model (2)
3. Important of the model in relation to the SQM
A lot of attention has been given to improving the process of designing, developing, and delivering software applications. The Software Engineering Institute's CMM Model is designed to help us evaluate the maturity of our Software development processes. The Capability Maturity Model recognizes that there are tools and processes that, while not directly involved in the production of code, aid in the overall Software Quality Management process. (1)
The CMM is now popular and has been effective in emphasizing the importance of process improvement. Process improvement is an important Total Quality Management concept and significant research has focused on the design and evolution of the software development processes with the intent to enhance their capability and maturity. The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has developed specific models to evaluate, diagnose, and evolve the capabilities of the software development process. (4)
As mentioned in 2.1, the SEI's Capability Maturity Model (CMM) defines an evolutionary path from ad hoc, chaotic processes to mature, disciplined processes. Process maturation, as assessed by the predictability of development outcomes in terms of quality, budget, and schedules is enhanced when feedback is meaningfully generated and utilized to recalibrate and fine tune the software process design. (4)
Report evidence have suggested that organizations implementing a Capability Maturity Model-based software process improvement have realized gains in development cycle time and programmer productivity. (4) However Reports also suggest that organizations face difficulties in adhering to the sequence, as recommended by CMM, in which changes to the development process needs to be implemented. (4)
In conclusion lack of theory informing the conceptualization of the Capability Maturing Model stages raises questions about the rationale for the suggested sequencing to develop process capabilities. Limited attention has been devoted to define process management, identify and define its constitutive dimensions, and develop reliable and valid measurement instruments for each of these dimensions. (4)
Process improvement is one aspect of Total Quality Management that needs to be integrated with other core Total Quality Management principles, such as customer focus and viewing the organization with an integrated systems perspective. These essential aspects of Total Quality Management are currently missing in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). (4) “Integrative theory development is required to understand the relationships between process management practices and other elements of the development organization, which enable or constrain effective process management.”(4)
Generally the Capability Maturity Model recognizes that moving from a craft approach, where performance is largely a function of individual skills, to a factory approach, where the process plays a dominant role, is necessary to improve software development performance). Many Information System developers could perceive process-based approaches such as the CMM as deskilling their job and increasing managerial control over systems development tasks. Such a change is likely to be resisted by IS developers and could be a cause for failure of these approach. (4)
PART B
4. Benefit of Gaining Accreditation against CMM for software companies
There are a lot of benefits of gaining accreditation against the CMM for software companies, they are as followed:
- Gaining a competitive edge allows software companies to gain competitive edge e.g.outsourcing companies that want to gain access to new markets such as the US
- Organization should expect Greater responsibility (7)
- Accountability and quality consciousness among their staff(7)
- Better use of time and resources.(7)
- Accreditation can provide competitive advantage (7)
- Customers may include the need for accreditation as part of the tendering process for new companies e.g. basis for evaluation (7)
- Greater consistency and traceability of product of service.(7)
- Less wastage through product or service failure.(7)
- Continual improved profit.(7)
- New business opportunities can be achieved (7)
- Wider market opportunities44 (7)
- Improve brand reputation, competitive advantage in advertising and marketing etc. (7)
- Accreditation for SQM systems demonstrates that a potential supplier has achieved a certain standard (7)
5. Importance of CMM to Indian outsourcing organisation.
Information technology (IT) production is being outsourced internationally in a manner that resembles the integrated, international manufacturing, which is the current trend in many other industries. (3) The software industry is growing at an explosive rate in developing countries like India. India's annual software sales are growing at a rate in excess of 125 percent. (3) India has emerged as a preferred location for U.S. and European organizations planning to outsource a variety of services ranging from call centers and other customer interaction services, payroll processing, insurance claims processing, and medical transcription to back-office operations such as data processing, accounting, and data mining. (6)
India has become one of the primary locations for information system outsourcing because of its lower labor and operating costs and its high quality engineers and programmers. (3) "Customer support is one area where India is expected to be the biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of 2004,"(6) “Mphasis BFL, a software services company in Bangalore has set up a subsidiary, MsourceE, based in Santa Monica, Calif., that delivers remote help desk and call-centre services out of India.” (6)
San Francisco-based Bigstep.com, which helps small companies move their businesses online, is also outsourcing most of its customer support services to Daksh eServices, who are a customer care services provider in India, near Delhi. Bigstep.com, supports its customers via e-mail and has 19 customer support representatives in India compared to seven in-house. (6)
The CMM is important for Indian outsourcing organisation. Many of them aim to enter the US market so they need to gain accreditation, without it they will find it very difficult if not impossible to do so.
Indian Companies have come to realize that in order to expand globally and profitably, they must have quality products and services. A 1991 Software Engineering Institute (SEI) assessment indicated that 93 percent of the companies assessed did not have a well-defined software development process.(3) Among them, 81 percent did not have quality management systems.(3) Although global sourcing potentially complicates software quality management, international standard and framework like the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) exists, which can provide the software industry with the means to build quality systems into their processes. (3)
6. CMM and the ticketIT scheme
6.1 The CMM model
The idea of the CMM model is to improve the quality of the software development process by documenting the way work is performed, by measuring its performance, by using data for controlling the performance, by planning based on historical performance and by training people (8).
6.1.1 Strength of Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
∙ Οne of the strength of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is that it summarizes the best practices for software development, and represents the mainstream in software engineering. (2)
∙ “The CMM principles seem to generally apply to all organizations” (2)
6.1.2 Weakness of Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
The CMM faces challenges and has a few problems:
∙ The main problem with CMM lies with having incomplete improvement directions for general application. (2)
∙ Risk management is a process area of higher maturity levels in CMM and it requires the collection of adequate data that may not be available in an organization with lower maturity. (2)
- Even though CMM principles seem to generally apply to all organizations, in reality, small companies are difficult to categorize. (2)
∙ In some cases, CMM is blamed for engineering failures. (2)
- CMM has been accused of having a lightweight methodology. (2)
- Lack of theory informing the conceptualization of the CMM stages raises questions about the rationale for the suggested sequencing to develop process capabilities.(4)
- It does not directly address expertise in a particular application domain. (7)
- It does not advacate specific tools, methods or software technologies. (7)
- It does not address issues related to human resources, such as how to select, hire, motivate, and retain competent people). (7)
- It does not address issues related to concurrent engineering, teamwork, change management, or system engineering. (7)
6.2 TickIt
"The TickIt scheme arises from the International Standards Organisation's (ISO) 9000 which offers a definition of quality assurance systems." (5) The ISO 9000 requires that a company formally documents its processes and acts according. Under this scheme every 3 years a software company contracts with an approved certification board to assess its software quality system. By passing this external audit entitles the software company to TickIT certification. (5)TickIT has two objectives. The first is to stimulate developers to think about what quality really is and the second is to show them how quality can be achieved. (5)
6.2.1 Strength of TickIT scheme
- For a firm to receive TickIT certification they must define and document its software processes in detail and convince an external auditor that it follows these processes.(5)
- TickIt does not require a company to collect standard metrics regarding either its products or processes.(5)
- By getting a quality certification such as TickIT, an organization can increase its confidence that its quality control is adequate (8)
- The TickIT guidance provides a suitable baseline for software quality control.(5)
6.2.2 Weakness of TickIT scheme
- Even though the tickIT guide discusses the need for process improvement, it gives no guidance on how this is to be achieved.
- It’s been Identified by some researchers that failure to enforce process improvement explicitly is a serious weakness in this standard. (5)
- TickIT does not encourage further improvement in its processes once a company obtains certification and as a result to this most companies focus on product quality and largely ignore process quality.(5)
The CMM model provides a better means of differentiating companies' capabilities than any TickIT mechanisms. The CMM is simpler to apply, so it was chosen as an evaluation tool. (5)
7. Report summary
- The Capability Maturing Model focuses on quality control with the aim of improving productivity.
- Companies have come to realize that in order to expand globally and profitably, they must have quality products and services. A 1991 Software Engineering Institute (SEI) assessment indicated that 93 percent of the companies assessed did not have a well-defined software development process.(3) Among them, 81 percent did not have quality management systems.(3) Although global sourcing potentially complicates software quality management, international standards and frameworks like the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) exists, which can provide the software industry with the means to build quality systems into their processes. (3)
- The CMM is important for Indian outsourcing organization. Many of them aim to enter the US market so they need to gain accreditation, without it they will find it very difficult if not impossible to do so.
- "The TickIt scheme arises from the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) 9000 which offers a definition of quality assurance systems." (5)
- TickIT has two objectives. The first is to stimulate developers to think about what quality really is and the second is to show them how quality can be achieved. (5)
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By getting a quality certification such as TickIT, an organization can increase its confidence that its quality control is adequate (8)
- TickIT does not encourage further improvement in its processes once a company obtains certification and as a result to this most companies focus on product quality and largely ignore process quality.(5)
Reference
Journals
(1) vol.9, no.10, Oct. 1996. p. 8-11. ISSN: 10485600 SICI: 1048-5600(199610)9:10L.8:BSDI;1-5
Publisher: Cutter Inf. Corp Place of Publication: USA
(2) Communications of the ACM
Volume 46, Number 8 (2003), Pages 115-119
CMM in uncertain environments
Zhou Zhiying
(3) Title: Industrial Management & Data Systems
Volume 101 Number 7 2001 pp. 329-338
Copyright © MCB University Press ISSN 0263-5577
(4) Title: QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: AN ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE.
Authors: Ravichandran, T.Rai, Arun
Source: MIS Quarterly; Sep2000, Vol. 24 Issue 3, p381, 35p, 4 diagrams
Document Type: Article
(5) Title: Patterns of software quality management in TickIT certified firms, European journal of Information systems (2002)11, 62-73
(6) Title: The back office moves to India, Authors: Ribeiro, John, Source: InfoWorld; 8/20/2001, Vol. 23 Issue 34, p26, 3p, Document Type: Article
(7) Title: ISO 9000 Certification benefits, reality or myth?, Gsvin P.M. Dick, The TQM Magazine, Volume 12 - Number 6-2000 - p 365-371
Books
(8) Title: Using UML, Software engineering with objects and components, Author: Perdita Stevens with rob pooley, Year: Person Education Limited 2000, Booch Jacobson rumbaugh series edition, p 245
(9) Title: Quality Software Project Management., Author: Robert T. Futrell, Donald F. Shafer, Linda I. Shafer, Year: 2002 Prentice hall PTR, page110
Software Quality Institute series
