Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Is there a simple book with a set of steps for achieving CMMI ML2?

We are a small business that provides federal government contractors and  staffing augmentation to various state and local government agencies. We are finding that more of the federal work we are going after requires at least CMM Level 2.  I am trying to understand the easiest way that we can get to the level 2 benchmark. Can we simply document our backoffice processes. Do we need to also document our CRM & HRM process? Where do we start? I think our situation is much simplier than documenting a full SDLC methodology. Is there a simply book that says follow these steps? Please advise.
The CMMI for Services, which sounds like the "flavor" (or constellation) of CMMI that you would use, has 25 Process Areas.  In Maturity Level Two there are eight process areas that must be satisfied and appraiser using an external SCAMPI Lead Appraiser.
Those eight process areas are: Project Planning, Project Monitoring and Control, Measurement and Analysis, Configuration Management, Process and Product Quality Assurance, Supplier Agreement Management, Requirements Management, and Service Delivery.
In order to achieve Maturity Level Two you must demonstrate sustained, consistent processes performance in all the Process Areas, with the POSSIBLE exception of Supplier Agreement Management.  You demonstrate this by defining, using, and then being appraised on your company's standard processes.
You probably have less work to do in the CRM/HR area than in the area that focuses on the development, maintenance, delivery, and monitoring of your company's services.
These processes don't come out of a book - they are YOUR processes, so it would be difficult to write a book that was specific to your company.
Your best bet is to get smart about the CMMI by taking the CMMI Intro class from an SEI Partner, download the CMMI-SVC specification from www.sei.cmu.edu/CMMI (only read Part 2 for now!), and then engage a professional to help you navigate the roadmap.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

HI Jeff,

your reply says "You demonstrate this by defining, using, and then being appraised on your company's standard processes".

how is there a companys standard process in L2..I thought you explained in one of your posts that standard process is something that happens at L3?

Pl clarify..

regards
M

Anonymous said...

M,

Sorry, I was speaking generically and should have been more clear.

Even in ML2 you have processes - but there is no expectation that you have an organizational process architecture, supported by a formal process plan. I should have been more precise and said your "project's processes" or "organizational set of processes."
What I meant to say is that, project's have processes, and you must use them to achieve ML2 - of course at ML2 you don't need to have a single process architecture though.