Dirk Malzahn / Christian KrasowskiHow much CMMI do you need to keep your customer happy? Matching supplier maturity with customer capabilitySEPG China 2008Suzhou, 3rd December2008
Introduction•Many organizations strive for ML5•ML5 is an indicator of a superior maturity and of a very disciplined culture throughout an organization•The effort that is required to reach Maturity Level 5 is quite high, however ML5 organizations are aware of that and see the benefit they gain in spending that extra effort•As an organization learns, how much high maturity helps on the mission of delivering superior products by living in superior processes, the confidence in engaging this superiority with customers is very high•But what happens, if the customersdo not meet that confidence?
Characteristics of ML5 organizations•High maturity and commitment to process improvement is part of the core businessTypically Providing IT services is outsourcing/offshoringcore businessservice providerHigh commitment Well-educated towards process technical staffmaturity in ITSophisticated end-to-end processes that deliver competitive advantage
But who are your customers?•The focus of the customer differs considerably from the supplier‘sOften large or medium-Focus is on business sized organizationsand product, not on ITExperienced staff in little experience with management and process maturity in project rolesthis sectorHigh chance to meet a customer, that is right Mixed emotions in the middle of a concerning CMMIlearning process regarding maturity!
Whatmeanslearningin thiscontext?•During our Process Improvement projects with numerous customers in Europe, a typical learning curve was traceable•Customers were very ambitious, however, complying to the standard proved to be a windy road•The following examples showcase a typical development cycle for those organizations. We monitored four phases of development, which represent subsequent projects with teams that have approximately the same size and experience•Showcase masterdata:–Project size: approx. 35 FTE–Industry: Software Development–Team skill: very skilled team with high level of technical experience–CMMI goal: Maturity Level 3–Geography: Europe with locations in three countries–CMMI Appraisal at least once for each project during its lifecycle
Where does this learning take place? the number of “Rated“ with the number of “Fully Satisfied“ organizations on the picture on the left –This is the area, where the learning process takes placeProcess Maturity Profiles. CMMI®SCAMPISM Class A Appraisal Results 2007 Year-End Update. Carnegie Mellon University. 2008.
Phases 1 & 21 –Starting out2 –Trying to establish•Top management introduces CMMI •The management still believes in the as a top-down approach for improving standard –the teams however think process and product qualitythat the CMMI delivers no benefit and •The teams are fairly motivated but burdens them with additional workalso precarious on what to expect and •Practitioners take the lead when it what “the extra effort“ will becomes to project and product delivery •Skeptical concerning the benefits of a meaning that there is no or only small quality standard the teams change to the way daily work is nevertheless show a certain amount good-will and early praise towards •Team motivation towards the CMMI is the CMMIat its lowest point!•However, there is barely any effect on •Especially in the last third of the daily work, except for some project, nearly everyone falls back to documents that are prepared in order old habits on how to run projectsto satisfy the management and the appraiser
Phases 3 & 43 –building up on things learned4 –playing it safely •For the management, it is “make it or •The teams have learned over the break it”, as there has been course of the last three projectsconsiderable effort being put in the •There are established standardsestablishment of the standard•The majority of team members •For the first time, a holistic approach believe that having the CMMI adds at is started, guidelines from the last two least some value to the projectprojects are there (even though they might have some flaws) and they are pushed towards the teams•The effort in pushing teams to adhering to the processes is •High pressure on the team leaders to deliver resulsignificantly less than in the other ts!projects•During this project, the teams discover first benefits (. in CM or VER & VAL)Phase 3 is the turning point!
Level of compliance to CMMI •During the regular appraisals of the projects, typical “success curve” was evident•In most customer projects we worked on, the second out of the four showcase phases had the lowest level of compliance to the original CMMI requirements•Once project teams are on the right track, the step from comparatively high CMMI compliance to fulfilling a certain Maturity Level is quite easy•The challenge is to bring the teams that far!
Effects for the supplier•For the ML5 organization, this holds a certain risk:–Depending on the phase they are currently in, the customer organization might not be ready for the impact of a ML5 supplier–The interfaces that ML5 expects require a certain maturity. If the customer cannot connect there, the high maturity processes get interrupted
The supplier needs to evaluate the the customer already have a Maturity Level? If the answer is no, evaluate which of the four phases applies to the customer‘s current statusIf the customer is in Phase 1 or Phase 2, the high maturity approach of the supplier might be challengedIf the customer is in Phase 3 or Phase 4, the supplier can actively engage in certain areas of work in order to help establishing the target
First •Expects customer maturity•Is immature•In certain areas, the supplier •Cannot fulfill some of the needs to execute customer supplier‘s demands (. in tasks (in PP, PMC, IPM, SAM)SAM)•If the customer does not engage, the supplier‘s maturity is at stake, . IPM (defined process for the project), +IPPD (common vision)
Possible a Cannot interlink, because reconciled planningplanning changes quicklyTries to track Is not able to deliver progressadequate dataExpects baselinedHasmovingtargetsrequirements
Indicators for the phasesPhase 1Phase 2Phase 3Phase4CMNobaselinesNo baselinesBaselines for central Baselines are monitoredStart using templatesSome team members deliverables exist; within the teams; CM use templatestemplatesare being process is in placeusedPPProjectplan exists; Projectplan exists; Project plan‘s timeline Project plan based on estimating by rule of estimating by rule of verified by estimatesestimatesthumb; numerous thumb; team tries to changes to the planhave the plan in a stable versionREQMNo TraceablityEach subteamTraceability is Traceability process fromdevelops their solution established for most requirements elicitation based on their requirementsthrough to test casesassigned requirementsVER & VALTestscarried out by Testsplanned in early Tests planned;test Tests planned; test individualsphase of project; test status monitored; status monitored; Test execution like in phase results validated against 1initial requirementsPPQANo QANo QA or only on QA coaches team; QA coaches team; OrgChart, not real lifeRegularQA reviewsRegular QA reviews
How to assess these •The 6 Process Areas for the indicators are assessed using the GG3 and GG2 (in that order!):–Is there a defined process?–If yes, is it applied?–Are there improvement collections being collected?–Is there a policy?–...•The goal is not to go for a full-size appraisal, but to get an impression of the customer‘s current phase (1-4)•These indicators can be used when looking at typical work products from the projects (. contracts, supplier agreement, initial project plan, initial requirements)•A real CMMI appraisal could easily intimidate the customer!
CMMI PAs that assist•Obviously, the 6 PAs, that are used for the indicators, are required here: CM, PP, REQM, VER, VAL, PPQA•Additional benefit is derived from:SAM SG2: help the IPM+IPPD SG3: establish customer to satisfy the a Shared Vision with the Supplier Agreementcustomer;Empower integrated teamsIPM SG1 & SG2PMC: in case the customer : Use the dehas still improvements in fined process for the common project and PP, apply the PMC PA to manage stakeholdeadjust possible impactsrs
Conclusion•It is a huge benefit for an organization, when it reaches Maturity Level 5•However, a customer, that is still struggling with their own process improvement framework will need help in order to be able to interact •The solution can be an assessment of the current phase of process improvement of the customers without causing irritations with them (. no formal appraisal on behalf of the supplier!)•This can be done using certain CMMI Process Areas by skillfully knitting work products of the customers to certain Process Areas and Generic Goals•At the end of the day, a customer will not only feel comfortable with a supplier by getting state-of-the –art services but also by general conditions in interactions with the supplier. And this means in first place, that the supplier needs to take the state of the customer organization into account when a common operating model is set-up.
18ThankyouforyourattentionOrgaTech GmbHZum Pier 7344536 LuenenGermanyfon: +49-231-39995-550fax: +49-231-39995-111e-mailDirk Malzahn: dm@-mailChristian Krasowski: ck@:
