Do all SCAMPI Appraisal Team Members need to be trained?

Dear Appraiser:

We are currently in the process of going for CMMI L2 & L3 appraisal, my senior management has a question regarding Appraisal Team Members (ATMs) that will under-go the official CMMI training [Introduction to CMMI].

Our consultant proposed 7 ATM’s and will train them. From a sustainability point of view, if some of the ATM’s leave the organization in the future what is the procedure to get additional training  for new members in the future?

Is it mandatory to have ATM’s go through official introduction to CMMI training class?

Thank you in advance for your guidance.  ~Ramesh.

Great question!

Being on a SCAMPI Appraisal Team is serious business, as the ATMs are being asked to gather and evaluate objective evidence, and then develop an inventory of strengths and weaknesses that will be used to improve the performance of the appraised origination.

For obvious reasons, Appraisal Team Members need to be both experienced and trained.  Their experience and domain knowledge helps them understand how the CMMI may be used to improve performance, and "model knowledge" of CMMI helps them understand and apply the practices in a common way that makes sense to everyone on the team.

All prospective Appraisal Team Members must meet basic experience requirements (it's safe to assume no "newbies" or interns will qualify) as defined in the SCAMPI Method Definition Document (MDD), and total team experience must be at least 25 years, not including the Lead Appraiser.

It's not as hard to meet this requirement as you may think.  I'm working on an Appraisal this week with combined team experience of over 130 years!

In addition to experience requirements, there are also training requirements.  Appraisal Team Members must have completed at least one offering of "Introduction to CMMI" (v1.2 or v1.3) in the constellation they are using to appraise their organization (DEV, SVC, of ACQ), and must also have completed a SCAMPI Appraisal Team Training class provided specifically for that appraisal by the Lead Appraiser.

Appraisal Teams that are not well trained, or those with limited experience, will find it difficult to add value to the company during a SCAMPI A Appraisal.  Experienced and well-trained teams usually add significant value - so it's well worth doing!

Good luck - and enjoy your training!

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Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified 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 engineering strategy,performance innovation, software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.