Tuesday, April 3, 2012

When can we share the results of our appraisal in proposals and marketing?


Jeff, we have just finished our CMMI Appraisal and our marketing team want to use the result in our proposal documents to potential clients. Will it be okay to do so even if we're not yet published in SEI PARS? ~EC

EC,

I know how excited you must be!  Congratulations on having a successful appraisal!

When a CMMI Appraisal is complete, there is a documented called the "Appraisal Disclosure Statement" or "ADS" that gets signed by the CMMI appraisal sponsor and the certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser.  This document is a record of the CMMI appraisal, the projects that were appraised, and any other conditions that might affect the outcome.  It  may contain other information, like risks, or maybe the conflict of interest a CMMI Consultant may have (the COI may, or may not, affect the outcome - a conflict is not a corruption in itself).

There is a clause in the document that describes a waiting period to allow the SEI to confirm that the appraisal was conducted with integrity, and that all documentation and signatures have been submitted.  This usually takes about 30 days.  During that period, you agree to not have a press release, a website announcement, or a proposal that discusses the outcome of the appraisal.

However, you ARE Maturity Level "x" during this period, and I would never suggest fibbing to a client (or potential client) if they were to ask you!

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead AppraiserCertified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.






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