Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Challenges with Implementing the CMMI in Small Settings
At the 2009 North American SEPG Conference in San Jose last week, I was the first presenter in the Small Settings track. This was a well attended presentation and I wanted to share it on my blog with those of you who were not able to attend this year. I also wrote a companion article published by ExecutiveBrief that you can read at Small Business and the CMMI: Sink or Swim.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Small Business and CMMI: Sink or Swim?
For the past two decades, the number of organizations implementing maturity models has steadily increased. While the initial adopters were the large defense, aerospace, and telecommunications corporations, as the benefits of using models like the CMM and now the CMMI were demonstrated and recognized by industry, other smaller organizations followed suit. Of course, with this increased demand, there is also an increased emphasis in implementing the models and appraising organizations with fewer than twenty-six people.
ExecutiveBrief just published this article I wrote about the challenges faced by small organizations trying to implement the CMMI. You read the entire article at http://www.executivebrief.com/article/small-business-and-cmmi-sink-or-swim/
ExecutiveBrief just published this article I wrote about the challenges faced by small organizations trying to implement the CMMI. You read the entire article at http://www.executivebrief.com/article/small-business-and-cmmi-sink-or-swim/
Monday, April 7, 2008
Process Improvement in Small Organizations
On the final day of the 2008 SEPG Conference in Tampa this year there was a very interesting practitioner discussion by two small companies on their experiences in implementing CMMI Maturity Level 2. Their biggest challenge was funding the effort. Fortunately for them, they had three funding streams to draw on:
1. Internal funding
2. Contract funds
3. Funding from their mentor/protege partner
What was significant for these two companies was their levels of senior management commitment. The President of one of the companies was actively engaged with their efforts. He sat in the same office with the team and reviewed the documentation. He had a very hands-on approach that led to rapid implementation. This type of approach won't always work. Senior management has to have the proper attitude towards process improvement and be very supportive.
Other steps these companies took to rapidly improve were to establish a Management Steering Group (MSG) and Engineering Process Group (EPG) very early on as well as provide detailed training on a Process Area (PA) by PA basis, about every two weeks. They had discovered that the Introduction to CMMI class was a great introduction, as indicated by the course title, but the information did not sink in at first. They needed more in-depth discussions, which then led the teams to become more proficient in their PA roles. They also engaged with their mentor/protege (in other words, their CMMI consultant) early on as well who provided guidance and how to implement the model and avoid known pitfalls.
It was interesting to note that the lessons learned by these two small companies are the same lessons learned by much larger organizations and align with what we CMMI consultants and Lead Appraisers always tell our clients. But these lessons are much harder to "sell" to small companies that are seriously resource constrained.
1. Internal funding
2. Contract funds
3. Funding from their mentor/protege partner
What was significant for these two companies was their levels of senior management commitment. The President of one of the companies was actively engaged with their efforts. He sat in the same office with the team and reviewed the documentation. He had a very hands-on approach that led to rapid implementation. This type of approach won't always work. Senior management has to have the proper attitude towards process improvement and be very supportive.
Other steps these companies took to rapidly improve were to establish a Management Steering Group (MSG) and Engineering Process Group (EPG) very early on as well as provide detailed training on a Process Area (PA) by PA basis, about every two weeks. They had discovered that the Introduction to CMMI class was a great introduction, as indicated by the course title, but the information did not sink in at first. They needed more in-depth discussions, which then led the teams to become more proficient in their PA roles. They also engaged with their mentor/protege (in other words, their CMMI consultant) early on as well who provided guidance and how to implement the model and avoid known pitfalls.
It was interesting to note that the lessons learned by these two small companies are the same lessons learned by much larger organizations and align with what we CMMI consultants and Lead Appraisers always tell our clients. But these lessons are much harder to "sell" to small companies that are seriously resource constrained.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)