Our Appraisal expires in December. Can we get an extension?

Dear Appraiser,


Our CMMI Maturity Level Three appraisal expires on December 21st, 2011.  We're not going to be ready to conduct our re-appraisal by that date.  Can we request an 'extension' on the appraisal expiration date from the SEI? ~ Bill.


Bill, first of all, who the heck was your appraisal sponsor, the GRINCH?  A December 21st appraisal?  What's he going to do next, steal your laptops and make you all use slide rules?  Bah Hambug!


Your holiday-ruining boss aside, there is unfortunately no way you can "extend" your appraisal.  If you don't complete it by December 21st, it will be over - kaput, nada, disappear....like it never happened! (well, not really that bad . . . ).  But it will disappear from the SEI's PARS system on that day.


If you were my client I would start by asking you why you are conducting the appraisal to begin with.  If you're using CMMI to make your company a great company, then conducting a CMMI appraisal when you're not ready is just counter-productive.  Focus on being great, and the maturity level will come.


If you "need the rating" to bid on work for your company, then you'll have a short period where you will not be able to do that - good incentive to get your act together!


If you need to keep the rating to keep business you already have - well, I would advise to get moving and bring in some industrial strength help from someone like Broadsword.


Amazing as it sounds, I've had good luck just "talking" to customers about the delay.  "Talking" is something we used to do in my youth, where it was more difficult for people to avoid accountability and make ridiculous demands because they had to interact with the person who knows they're full of it - instead of an impersonal email.    Call them and tell them what's going on - you'll probably be surprised with their willingness to work with you.


But if not - it's time to get moving!  Good luck!

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

If you need an appraiser, you can contact Jeff at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com

Learn more about CMMI maturity levels at www.broadswordsolutions.com

When can we advertise that we have achieved CMMI Certification?

Dear Jeff,


Our company just went through the CMMI Certification process and achieved Maturity Level Three.  Our Lead Appraiser said we have to wait before we can announce our CMMI Certification for at least a month. What the heck?  Why can't we announce it now?  ~Paul


Paul,


hmmm . . . . you can never announce that you have achieved "CMMI Certification!"  Why?  Because "CMMI Certification" doesn't exist!  That's right. All that hard work and "poof!" no certification.  Sounds like a real bummer!


What you can say is that you have been "Appraised at CMMI Maturity Level Three" or that you have "achieved CMMI ML3."


The reason you have to wait +- 30 days to announce the results is that the SEI is busy trying to uncover defects and problems with the appraisal results - and this is more about Lead Appraiser performance than it is about your performance.  Once they have "ok'd" the results, you can go ahead and announce it.


The longest I have ever waited for approval is 27 days.  So they're pretty much right on target.


The CMMI has no provision for a certification, and the SEI doesn't certify companies.  They do, however, certify SCAMPI Lead Appraisers and CMMI Instructors (yours truly is both of these).


As a matter of fact, there are a number of things you "can't do" related to announcing your appraisal results.  This is from the SEI's recently released guideline on this subject:


Do not announce your appraisal result

before it has been accepted by the SEI.

(http://sas.sei.cmu.edu/pars/)

Do not name Carnegie Mellon University

as your appraiser.

If your appraisal covers only a subgroup

within your organization, do not

announce that your entire organization

was appraised.

Do not use the following words to refer

to your appraisal: certified, certification,

accredited, or accreditation.

And be prepared for 50 lashes with a wet-noodle if you violate these rules! More likely you'll get a friendly call from SEI Legal asking you to change your behavior.....


You can read the entire document here


So, don't forget: no "CMMI Certification" and wait until the SEI has approved it!

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

Learn more about CMMI Training at www.broadswordsolutions.com

www.broadswordsolutions.com