One of my client organisations works on hardware and software design projects related to locomotive design for a manufacturer. They want to adopt the CMMI-DEV and scope their SCAMPI appraisals only for their software projects. Both, hardware and software design projects are undertaken by the same organisation, under the same management, same company name and at the same location. Is it be proper for the organization to exclude the hardware projects from their CMMI journey and appraisals? I feel it is not proper and it violates the principle of institutionalization of processes across the organization. Moreover, if the Lead Appraiser agrees to conduct an appraisal for software projects only, he or she will violate the principle of randomly selecting the projects for the appraisal.
The way I look at this situation depends upon on how the company is organized. If there are separate hardware and software development groups, departments, or divisions that deliver products to a program office (for example), then the software group could be appraised on its own. The same could be true for the hardware group. In fact, this situation occurs quite frequently in my experience here in the United States.
However, if the hardware and software groups are tightly intertwined in building and delivering a product (meaning you cannot separate the two), then I would say that both the hardware and software groups had to be appraised together.
The correct decision requires the Lead Appraiser to have a very good understanding of the organization and its business, as well as being a function of how the organization defines a project and what its process documentation states.
Showing posts with label software engineering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label software engineering. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, October 20, 2008
CMMI Use in a Non-Software Organization
The CMMI model is used for improving the maturity of company processes, mainly in software organizations. But the model says that CMMI can be used also in other engineering contexts, such as mechanical, electrical etc. Does anyone know about companies that have been evaluated in contexts other than software?
As you have stated, the CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV) is useful for systems engineering, hardware engineering, and software engineering. Over the past 20 to 30 years, it has been primarily software organizations that have been implementing maturity models. But these models do apply in other contexts. In point of fact, I have been working with a client for over a year that just performs systems engineering and we are using the CMMI-DEV. We are currently planning their ML 3 SCAMPI A for early 2009. There is no software development involved in the scope of their appraisal. It has been an interesting experience to think outside of the software realm when interpreting the SPs and GPs, but it does work very nicely.
As you have stated, the CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV) is useful for systems engineering, hardware engineering, and software engineering. Over the past 20 to 30 years, it has been primarily software organizations that have been implementing maturity models. But these models do apply in other contexts. In point of fact, I have been working with a client for over a year that just performs systems engineering and we are using the CMMI-DEV. We are currently planning their ML 3 SCAMPI A for early 2009. There is no software development involved in the scope of their appraisal. It has been an interesting experience to think outside of the software realm when interpreting the SPs and GPs, but it does work very nicely.
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