Bi-directional Traceability

Our organization is in the process of preparing for a CMMI Maturity Level 2 SCAMPI A appraisal. We are concerned about our approach for bi-directional traceability REQM SP 1.4. We maintain traceability is follows:

1. High Level Requirements <--> Use Cases (Includes GUIs and Database Interactions) <--> Test Cases

2. Use Cases <--> Source Code

Note: One can trace from Test Cases to Source Code through the Use Cases and Vice Versa, but the traceability is not direct. The reason behind this is, test cases are generated from use cases and are tested against the application (black box testing). Source code does not have associated test cases.

Is this kind of traceability considered bi-directional and is satisfactory for Maturity Level 2?

What you describe is one of many ways to implement bi-directional traceability and meet the intent of the CMMI. If your method supports your business goals and objectives and there are no quality issues, your approach should be acceptable for a Maturity Level 2 appraisal.

It is interesting that you think tracing from Test Cases to Source Code via Use Cases may not be acceptable. Traceability is a multi-dimensional mapping that can have one-to-many and many-to-one relationships. As long as you trace from the top all the way to the bottom and vice versa, you should be fine no matter how many links there are in the chain, and the chain can have branches as well.

Please note that bi-directional traceability does not mean tracing one whole document to another whole document. What it means is that a given item in one document (a specific requirement for example) can trace to multiple items in another document, multiple items in one document can trace to one item in another document, one item can trace to one item, etc.

Some Appraisal Questions

1. Why does the SEI ask for focus projects instead of all the projects done by the company?
2. Usually companies can select consultants and the Lead Appraiser (LA). Why is the SEI giving the right to chose the LA by the company or consultant?
3. Why do the appraisal results expire after 3 years?
4. Why doesn't the SEI have compliance appraisals every 6 months or 1 year similar to ISO?

1. The SCAMPI method is a sampling method to determine the degree of institutionalization of the processes on the projects. Therefore the use of focus projects. For organizations where there are only 1 or 2 projects, then all of the projects are usually included in the appraisal scope. But for organizations with many projects, it would be prohibitive to evaluate all of the projects. That is why it is the responsibility of the Lead Appraiser to select the focus projects, along with input from the organization. The principle here is that if the processes are truly institutionalized throughout the organization, then it doesn’t matter which projects are selected for the appraisal. Any set of selected projects should be representative of how all projects in the organization behave.
   
   
2. If I understand your statement, you are incorrect. The organization does select the CMMI consultant and Lead Appraiser. However, only SEI-certified Lead Appraisers are allowed to lead and report SCAMPI appraisal results. If a Lead Appraiser is NOT SEI-certified and he or she leads a SCAMPI appraisal, then the appraisal results are NOT valid.
   
   
3. The appraisal results expire after three years because in the past many organizations tended to backslide in their process maturity after having their appraisal. The three year period is long enough to address the findings from the SCAMPI A appraisal and prepare for a re-appraisal at the same or higher Maturity Level. If there is no expiration date, then there could be less motivation to continue with Process Improvement.
   
   
4. In addition, there is no such thing as a compliance appraisal at this time. There has been some discussion along these lines, but nothing has been settled. There is a fundamental difference between ISO audits and CMMI appraisals. ISO is a standard and the result of the audit is certification. CMMI is a set of guidelines for process improvement and the result is Maturity Level or Capability Level that is valid for three years.

Is Going Directly for a CMMI ML 5 Appraisal Allowed?

Is a CMMI v1.2 ML 5 appraisal allowed in the following situation?

One of my company's divisions was successfully appraised to CMMI v1.1 ML 5 but the appraisal results expired in 2009. Now my company wants all three divisions, which are located in different cities, appraised to ML 5. Though skipping levels is not recommended, however, is it allowed to go for the appraisal?

There is nothing from the SEI that prevents a company from being appraised to whatever Capability Level or Maturity Level that it chooses. That being said, what does drive the CL or ML is the organization being able to collect, analyze, and correctly use data for statistical and quantitative analysis, as well as being able to institutionalize the behaviors and practices. You should hire an SEI-Certified High Maturity Lead Appraiser and have him or her perform a Class C or Class B appraisal to determine the risks with your current approach and implementation of ML 5. The outcome of this exercise will determine if it is feasible to achieve ML 5 at all three sites.

How Do I Become A Lead Appraiser?

Would you please tell me step by step the procedure to become a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser (LA)? I am currently working with a Maturity Level 5, company in India with 5.5 years of relevant experience in Process and Quality Consulting. It would be really great if you could provide me with some references, emails, and sites as a roadmap.

Here are the steps and requirements for becoming a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser. This information is directly from the SEI’s web site.

To become an instructor or Lead Appraiser, you must successfully complete authentic SEI courses. The first prerequisite course for becoming either an instructor or Lead Appraiser is the Introduction to CMMI Version 1.2 course. This courses is available from SEI Partners (see SEI Partner Network Directory and Guide to Services) or from the SEI. The second prerequisite is the Intermediate Concepts of CMMI Version 1.2 course that is available only from the SEI.

CMMI Version 1.2 Instructor Training is the final course leading to candidacy as an Introduction to CMMI Instructor. After successfully completing this course, the candidate instructor must also be observed, by an authorized SEI Observer, teaching the SEI's Introduction to CMMI V1.2 course. Upon successful completion of the observation, the instructor is then authorized as an Introduction to CMMI Instructor.

SCAMPI Lead Appraiser Training is the final course leading to candidacy as a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser. After successfully completing this course, the candidate Lead Appraiser must be observed leading a SCAMPI A appraisal using a CMMI model and be approved by an authorized SEI Observer.

You can find more information on the SEI’s site by searching for SCAMPI Lead Appraiser. Of course you will have to either upgrade to v1.3 or take the v1.3 classes when the new versions are released later this year.

Query on CMMI for Development v1.3

Our organization was appraised at CMMI ML3 in Oct, 2009 and we'll be going for ML5 in Q1 2011. Although we have been preparing ourselves for CMMI for Development v1.2, we are also aware that the CMMI for Development v1.3 will be out in January, 2011. We wish to get appraised for CMMI for Development v1.3. I have gone through some of the PPTs and PDFs on web but none of them give a clear insight into the changed expectations from the existing PAs or expectations from new PAs to be added.

It'll be a great help if anyone can provide me the draft version of v1.3 or any detailed document about the same.

One item that you may not be aware of is that the SEI would like to see at least 18 months between an ML 3 appraisal and a High Maturity appraisal. If you are planning for an appraisal in Q1 2011, that would be less than 18 months. Therefore you would have a very high probability of your appraisal results being audited by the SEI, which could take a long time before being accepted. I would encourage you to hire a High Maturity Lead Appraiser as soon as possible, if you haven’t already done so, and move your plans for your ML 5 appraisal at least 3 months or more into the future to ensure that you have enough data for performing the High Maturity practices and enough time for institutionalization of HM.

You will have to wait for the v1.3 release in November 2010. The problem with using drafts is that things can change before the release.

REQM and RD in the CMMI

Why is REQM Management at Maturity Level 2 and Requirement Development at Maturity Level 3? We develop the requirements first and then manage them in the project.

There reason for the placement is due to the meaning of ML 2 vs. ML 3. ML 2 is all about stabilizing projects and gaining control over project estimates. Once the organization has achieved this, then it can begin to evaluate how to improve the engineering areas.

Since you need to have a baseline upon which to plan a project and the other ML 2 Process Areas, that is why REQM is the first Process Area in ML 2. The intent is to manage the collection of project requirements: good, bad, or indifferent. And use this collection to plan the project, etc. Then when you have achieved ML 2 and move to ML 3, then you can address how to improve the Requirements Elicitation to obtain better requirements.

Please keep in mind that the CMMI is a collection of guidelines and best practices for doing process improvement. The CMMI is not a roadmap for how to do software engineering.

Implementing CMMI Along With ISO 9001

Suppose a company already has an ISO 9001 certification. Then they decide to achieve an appraisal at level 3. Suppose further that their plan is to add additional process assets according to their gap analysis. But then they discover that certain ISO 9001 work instructions or templates require changes to meet the requirements of CMMI level 3. If these assets are changed, would that necessarily invalidate the ISO 9001 certification? Under what conditions would the certification be invalidated, and what needs to be done under those circumstances? Is there a way to avoid this issue?

Without having any details as to your situation, I find it hard to believe that if you are ISO 9001 certified that the CMMI is causing you to make changes to your quality system that would invalidate your ISO 9001 certification. The ISO 9001 standard and the CMMI-DEV model are compatible. Are you working with an SEI-certified Lead Appraiser/consultant? If not, you may be making some decisions to change processes and process assets that are not necessary.

To properly address your concerns, you should have a Lead Appraiser conduct a gap analysis of your organization to determine what you currently have in place that is compatible with the CMMI and identify those gaps that need to be addressed in order for your organization to achieve Maturity Level 3. And any updates to existing processes and process assets should be compatible with both the ISO standard and the CMMI-DEV.