CMMI for Modeling and Simulation Efforts

I am interested in applying CMMI techniques to modeling and simulation efforts. I do not mean the modeling and simulation of the software engineering process (I have plenty of information, models etc. on that).

We do modeling and simulation work (e.g. growth of the biofuel industry, migration issues, watershed management) to inform policy makers. We have a grassroots 'best practices' movement and are looking for suggestions, ideas, etc. to improve our process. We do not use 'popular' tools and the niche software we do use is not conducive to configuration management tools etc. In addition, we rarely have a requirements document. We are essentially doing research.

Do you have any suggestions?

In my experience, a pure R&D shop has difficulty implementing the CMMI-DEV because of the free form nature of the environment and work. However, what makes more sense for you to investigate is the CMMI-SVC. It sounds like you are performing engineering or research and analysis services for policy makers.

As you may not have a requirements document for your niche software, you most surely have requirements for the research you are performing for your clients. If not, then you run the risk of having your results called into question.

Therefore, I think that you would be better served by the CMMI-SVC than the CMMI-DEV as it sounds like you may not be doing a lot of development, but instead providing research services.

Project Tracking Through Milestones

We have a Project management process defined for covering Project Planning (PP) and Project Monitoring and Control (PMC). It includes a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (task effort size must be about 20 hours), estimation process, assigned resources, etc. We are using MS-Project for tracking the schedule, and each month there is an Excel report with a project status summary.

People think it is very heavy to track the all of the fine-grained tasks in MS-Project. They would prefer tracking the project through milestones in Excel.

I’ve heard about using the burn down chart in Scrum, and I know some organizations use agility within CMMI model.

It is possible to do that? Could we be more “agile”?

The short answer is yes. The CMMI does NOT prescribe any project management tool or level of tracking. These decisions are left up to the organization to make. Sounds like what you need is a process that fits your organization. If people are complaining that the tracking process is too cumbersome to use, then you should definitely examine other methods. Take a top down approach from the business goals and objectives. What project tracking information does a project manager need in order to determine if the business goals and objectives are being met? Once you answer this question, that will help you decide the proper level of project tracking and monitoring. If you are still having difficulty figuring out the best method, work with a CMMI consultant to help you define a process that will be the best fit for your organization.

How Do I Determine Estimates of the Size Attributes?

CMMI-DEV Project Planning (PP) Specific Practice (SP) 1.2 states 'Establish and maintain estimates of the attributes of the work products and tasks.'

During appraisals it has been noted that most of the time we are relying on expert knowledge to determine effort and cost rather than estimating the sizing attributes. Just using expert knowledge makes it difficult to improve our effort estimation, hence having a dedicated set of attributes is essential in order for us to improve our estimations. We have evaluated some comprehensive methods (e.g. Function Points), but these are not considered as beneficial to our projects. We are now looking for an approach that allows us to improve our estimates with a simpler method which could then be refined based on our needs. Would you please give me advice how to tackle this challenge?

What PP SP 1.2 is looking for is the Basis of Estimate for the work product. If you are estimating a document for example, what aspects or attributes of the document can you estimate that when combined with a productivity factor will yield effort and cost? You determine these attributes by analyzing the historical data from your organization’s past projects. So based on the project’s requirements, you could estimate the number of pages that would be written for a document, the number of figures or drawings that need to be created or modified, etc. These items are then sizing parameters.

For source code, you need to analyze historical data from past projects to give an empirical estimate. As you say, function points are comprehensive. A simpler method may be to classify your software requirements in categories such as interface requirements, display requirements, processing requirements, reporting requirements, etc. and then using your historical data determine the correlations between these requirements categories and code size. Many organizations start with this simple kind of estimation/prediction model and continually refine it by incorporating data from each new project until a fairly accurate estimation model emerges. This estimation model is then very specific to the organization and type of software development it performs.

Hope these ideas help.

GP 2.9 in PPQA process area - what do I need?

I'm responsible for coordinating CMMI ML2 implementation in my organization. For PPQA GP 2.9 "Objectively evaluate adherence of the process against its process description, standards, and procedures, and address noncompliance" who can be an internal auditor of my organization?

And about tools and forms for this evaluation: Could I elaborate a checklist for this evaluation? Do you have any examples of this?

An objective evaluation implies some independence from the people performing the process activities. That means the people who perform the PPQA activities do not evaluate their own work. Organizations perform GP 2.9 of PPQA in a variety of ways.

1. Someone else in the organization who is not performing the PPQA audits of REQM, PP, PMC, etc. audits the PPQA activities

2. If the company is large and has several divisions, someone who performs the PPQA activities in another division audits the PPQA activities in your division

3. An external auditor (e.g., ISO 9000) audits the PPQA activities

4. An external consultant audits the PPQA activities

5. If your company is a government supplier, then the government may be auditing the PPQA activities

6. Etc.

So in your case, you could use an internal auditor to audit the PPQA activities as long as that person is not auditing his or her own work.

As far as a checklist, that needs to be developed by the person who is auditing the PPQA activities, just like the PPQA audits develop the checklists for the other Process Areas. The checklists need to cover both a process audit and a work product audit, and it may be easier to have two checklists instead of one. The checklist needs to be based on your documented PPQA process and process assets, not the CMMI.

If you are having difficulty understanding how to write a checklist, then I strongly encourage you and your organization to have someone come and train you how to perform PPQA audits. It is very important to conduct these properly; otherwise you could face difficulties with your process improvement efforts.