PEP is licensed by the Software Engineering Institute to deliver the Introduction to CMMI for Services v1.2 course.  Please note that PEP does not offer this course in a public setting. We limit this course to client site offerings.

The course description from the SEI states:

This three-day course is the definitive introductory course about the CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) model. The course provides the knowledge you need to take your first steps with CMMI-SVC and is a prerequisite for any certification or subsequent course that calls for an Introduction to CMMI requirement.

CMMI-SVC is a comprehensive set of guidelines that helps organizations to establish and improve processes for delivering service. By adapting and extending proven standards and best practices to reflect the unique challenges faced in service industries, CMMI-SVC offers service providers a practical framework for achieving higher levels of service quality, controlling costs, improving schedule performance, and ensuring customer satisfaction.

The course is composed of exercises, discussion, and presentations with ample opportunity for participation. After attending the course, you will understand the concepts and issues related to CMMI-SVC.

Who should attend?

• Service providers and customers
• Process improvement practitioners and champions
• Appraisal team members
• Instructors and lead appraisers
• Professionals interested in service management concepts

What will you learn?

This course will help participants to:

• determine whether CMMI-SVC applies to your business context
• learn effective practices for defining, establishing, and managing service.
• sustain your improvement
• prepare for next steps, such as an appraisal or certification

I am seeking individuals or groups interested in providing online training in the areas of  Six Sigma and CMMI (DEV and SVC most particularly). I have built a small ‘initial’ prototype for viewing at: http://ambientwebs.org/moodle It is not an address that I intend to use when the site goes into production; but for now ‘any port in a storm’- address-wise.

Should you or your organization be interested in collaborating with me in this endeavor please use my ProcessTeam  contact form to let me know.

…mark (Rabideau)

PEP is pleased to announce that both Judah Mogilensky and Mark Rabideau are now SEI Certified Lead Appraisers for Services and also SEI Certified Instructors for the SEI Services Supplement for CMMI v1.2. To quote the SEI:

SEI-Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraisers for Services can use the SCAMPI appraisal materials, including appraisal team training materials, only to train appraisal teams and to lead appraisals on behalf of an SEI CMMI for Services Partner. SEI-Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraisers cannot use the materials to conduct appraisals independently or on behalf of organizations that are not licensed by CMU/SEI to conduct CMMI for Services appraisals. SEI-Authorized SCAMPI Lead Appraisers using CMMI for Services are not authorized to complete a SCAMPI A appraisal until 6 months after the release of the CMMI-Services Model.

As for the Services Supplement offering the SEI states:

This one-day course introduces service providers, appraisal team members, and process group members to CMMI® fundamental concepts related to service delivery. The CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) model defines effective practices that ensure quality services are delivered to customers and end users. Some types of services that would benefit from using CMMI-SVC include operations, logistics, maintenance, IT, and many other services in other government and industry.

As of 20 March 2009, both Judah Mogilensky and Mark Rabideau have been certified by the SEI (Software Engineering Institute) as High Maturity SCAMPI Lead Appraisers (HMLA) for CMMI for Development. This role now appears under Process Enhancement Partners listing on the SEI Partner Directory. To quote the SEI:

SEI-Certified SCAMPI High Maturity Lead Appraisers (SCAMPI HM LAs) lead trained teams of professionals in the appraisal[...]  determine an organization’s process capability and/or maturity level.

Before [...] become[ing] a SCAMPI HM LA, you must

• Be a current SEI-Authorized SCAMPI Lead Appraiser in good standing
• Present evidence of having led at least two CMMI SCAMPI A Appraisals. (Note: CMM appraisal experience will not be accepted to this requirement.)
• Present successful completion of at least one course relevant to CMMI high maturity concepts and practices, (e.g., High Maturity with Statistics, Statistical Measurement, and Statistical Process Control). Qualifying courses must have been completed within the last five years.
• Show experience working in a high maturity process improvement environment in one of the following three areas:
  • Building/implementing HM practices or participation on at least one CMMI SCAMPI A Capability Level/Maturity Level 4 and/or 5 Appraisal as a team member or mini-team member
  • Developing/facilitating  HM training
  • Statistical/quantitative management or modeling & simulation experience in support of managing/building products.

On February 26, 2009, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) announced the release of its much anticipated CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC). Just as the CMMI model extended the coverage of the original Software CMM to also include development of hardware and systems products, this new CMMI model covers the establishment, management, and delivery of services. Services may include Information Technology support services, field installation and maintenance services, training services, transportation services, and even areas far removed from typical CMMI engineering domains, such as health care, landscaping, and delivery services. More details, and access to the full text of the model, can be found at: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/09.reports/09tr001.html

The SEI has recognized PEP, Inc. as an early adopter of the CMMI-SVC model, as a result of our work in support of training and use case development. Both PEP partners are now authorized by the SEI to provide the following services:

• Teach the one-day CMMI for Services supplement, designed to provide background on the new model to people who have already completed the three-day Introduction to the CMMI-DEV course, Version 1.2. (This training qualifies a person to be a Team Member on a CMMI-SVC SCAMPI team.)
• Lead SCAMPI appraisals (classes A, B, and C) using the CMMI-SVC model. (Note that, since the model is newly released, the SEI will not be accepting SCAMPI-A appraisal results against the CMMI-SVC model until September, 2009.)

(Please also note that a new three-day Introduction to the CMMI-SVC course, one that will not address the Development model, is now under development at the SEI. PEP is supporting the development of this course, and plans to make it available to clients once it is released by the SEI.)

This new model will be especially valuable for organizations that perform both engineering development and services delivery. These organizations will now be able to expand the coverage of their CMMI-based process improvement activities to include their service delivery activities. It will also allow new organizations, ones that provide services but perform little or no engineering development, to gain the benefits of CMMI-based process improvement. The increases in delivered quality, in work efficiency, and in effort predictability that have been realized by development groups for many years will now be available to service delivery groups as well.

For more information on the CMMI-SVC model, and how it can help improve the performance of your organization, please contact PEP.

Happy 75th Jerry! A new book celebrating Gerald (Jerry) M. Weinberg for the time that he has given to the Information Technology world. Has just been published by Dorset House.

A good friend of the entire PEP team, but more importantly internationally respected for his innovative thinking on both human and technical issues, Jerry Weinberg is recognized as a pioneer of software testing, starting with Project Mercury in 1958. A highly influential author, lecturer, and consultant, he draws on experiences gained in all three roles, as well as from a long technical career as a software developer and researcher. Jerry has written on topics ranging from computer systems and programming to education,problem solving, and writing.

Judah Mogilensky was one of the book’s contributing authors.  Congratulations to Jerry & Judah!

You may purchase the book at Dorset House.

Of late I have spent a great deal of time working on the following premise:

Can you use Six Sigma to achieve CMMI ML3 and higher?

The answer I have arrived at is an unequivocal, YES. To prove my point I just completed a Master Black Belt project that precisely attends to this assumption.

to read more…

…mark

Effective 1 June 2008, Mark Rabideau completed and is now a 6 Sigma Master Black Belt.

Mark’s final project involved the creation of a detailed program to assist engineering organizations attain CMMI version 1.2 Maturity Level 3 using 6 Sigma Techniques

Read the official announcement

MBTI® and Myers Briggs Type® Indicator are trademarks of CAPT.

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University holds the following marks:

Any other product names named are copyright of their respective organizations

PEP’s Approach to Process Improvement

Process Enhancement Partners, Inc. (PEP) is a professional services organization devoted exclusively to helping software development and maintenance organizations improve:

• business performance (in terms of project predictability, product quality, productivity, and decreased project cycle time, etc.) and
• quality of life for the software developers (in terms of reduced pressure, reduced overtime, more reasonable demands and schedules, enhanced teamwork, etc.).

We do this through the use of numerous process improvement models, e.g., the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model® for Integration- CMMI® ; and our understanding of the human dynamics of process improvement (PI). As a full-service organization supporting software process improvement, PEP performs a variety of discrete services in such areas as:

• appraisals (determination of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses relative to the CMMI®, either informally or through means of formal maturity level rating),
• training (in such areas as the CMMI, change management, process improvement action planning, etc.), and
• consulting (in support of process group members or executive change sponsors).

PEP Value Added

Most of our clients find that we add the greatest value when we enter into a long-term relationship, providing an integrated collection of services over time.We refer to this long-term relationship and integrated set of services as a PEP Continuous Improvement Method program (P-CIM). Special challenges arise with clients where there are a number of geographically or functionally diverse software organizations.In such cases, it is critical to identify and respond to the unique needs and special circumstances of each individual business unit, while at the same time maintaining corporate-level consistency in such areas as process improvement policies, resource allocation, reporting requirements, and goal setting. PEP’s approach under these circumstances is to work with both the corporate-level process body and directly with the individual software units.Our objective is to help the corporate body become a vehicle for exchanging experiences and best practices among the software units, while allowing each unit to adopt improvements in a manner, in a sequence, and at a pace that fits for that unit. In other words, PEP makes every effort to insure our clients achieve Process Improvement (PI) autonomy , self-sufficiency and financial benefits.

Summary of Roles and Responsibilities

In is important to distinguish between PEP’s support role and the role in the internal client change agents and sponsors, both at the corporate level and at the operating unit level. PEP’s role is to:

• bring our experience and expertise regarding the CMMI® and the human dynamics of organizational change;
• grow and develop the skills and knowledge of the change agents and sponsors with whom we work;
• act as a sounding board and external experts to validate, mentor, and comment on ‘local’ SPI efforts and ideas
• work with our clients to leverage the effective use and implementation of ‘improvement techniques and models’ for both financial and human advantage.

The organization’s own personnel must ultimately be responsible for

• making the key strategic decisions involved in planning the changes,
• preparing the standards and procedures to be adopted by the organization, and
• enacting improved processes and providing feedback regarding their effectiveness.