Adopting the CMMI ... was it worth it?

Welcome back to Ask the CMMI Appraiser for today’s installment of CMMI User Stories.
As you know by now, in response to the SEI’s announcement about the CMMI, we decided to provide more information about the experiences CMMI users are having.  Below is an excerpt from our brand new study of what CMMI users from 50 companies really think about the CMMI.

The study consisted of calling CMMI users and asking them about their experiences with the CMMI, good and bad. Here’s our third question:

Was adopting the CMMI worth doing?

Why ask this question? Because, in the early years of the CMMI, the US Department of Defense (DoD) and other early adopters of CMMI, like Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, Boeing and Air Force, were known for conducting top-down, document-heavy, “command and control" software projects. This reputation carried over as these same organizations embraced CMMI. As a result, many smaller, nimbler businesses thought that adopting the CMMI was not a "good fit" for them and was not worth it.

Since then, perception of the CMMI model has changed. The CMMI has evolved beyond the "oppressive interpretation."  A more flexible, agile approach to the model is becoming the new standard.

Despite this change, the CMMI is still time-consuming and resource-intensive to adopt (but well worth it).  Change like this can be disruptive to the organization.  And so we wanted to understand if sponsors thought the overall effort was worth it (internally, we referred to this metric as the “hassle factor.”)

90% said the CMMI effort was worth doing.

10% said the CMMI effort was not worth doing.

What can we take away from this response? Most companies did not experience the CMMI as being oppressive. It may have required a concerted effort to adopt the CMMI, but the vast majority of CMMI users said that adopting it was worthwhile.

Be sure to check back regularly as we share results of the CMMI User Story study right here on Ask the CMMI Appraiser.

We’ve also made the information available in an eBook. If you would like to receive the complete set of user stories all at once, simply subscribe at the top of this page to receive eBooks. Provided that you are using a valid company email address (not a Yahoo, AOL or Gmail account), we will be happy to add you to the distribution list, and send you the eBook, along with others, in coming weeks.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!
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 running a successful CMMI program.

After adopting the CMMI, did you experience a decrease in defects?

Welcome back to Ask the CMMI Appraiser for today’s installment of CMMI User Stories.

As you are probably aware by now (especially if you read my post, “What do companies THINK about using the CMMI?”), the SEI’s announcement about the CMMI created tremendous demand for more information about the experiences CMMI users are having. In response, we are sharing our brand new study of what CMMI users from 50 companies really think about the CMMI.

Here’s the second question we asked CMMI users about their experiences with the CMMI:

Did you experience a decrease in defects?

Why this question? Because sometimes problems occur again and again and that leads software engineering organizations to CMMI (or other process model) adoption. For example, when we first start working with companies, we see that they struggle with late projects, over budget projects, unhappy customers and unhappy employees. These problems are usually coupled with excessive defects in the software they are developing.

The CMMI provides guidelines for deploying processes that improve product quality and reduce defects. We wanted to understand whether organizations actually experienced these benefits through their adoption of the CMMI.

Fully half of respondents said that defects had decreased, sometimes dramatically. Fewer than half said, no, defects had not decreased. 12% had no idea (no idea?  Don't get me started on THAT one!),

What can we take away from this response?  In our conversations with those who said, “No, we did not experience a decrease in defects,” we were surprised - but perhaps they were ALREADY doing the very things that the CMMI guides us to do (a common occurrence).  It makes sense though - great companies often do great things without adopting a process model - that's why they're great companies, and that's kind of the point!

Be sure to check back soon here on Ask the CMMI Appraiser for more insight from our CMMI User Stories.

We’ve also made the information available in an eBook. If you would like to receive the complete set of user stories all at once, including the narratives from each interview, simply subscribe at the top of this page to receive eBooks. Provided that you are using a valid company email address (not a Yahoo, AOL or Gmail account), we will be happy to add you to the distribution list, and send you the eBook, along with others, in coming weeks.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

 

After adopting the CMMI, did you experience an increase in quality or performance?

Welcome back to Ask the CMMI Appraiser for today’s installment of CMMI User Stories.

As described in my last post (What Do Companies THINK about the CMMI?), in response to the demand for information created by the SEI’s announcement about the CMMI (in a nutshell, the CMMI is being graduated from "research" status to “mature” status), we are sharing our study of what CMMI users really think about the CMMI.

The study consisted of calling CMMI users and asking them about their experiences with the CMMI, good and bad. Here’s our first question:

Did you experience an increase in quality or performance?

Why do we start with this question? Because different companies have different expectations of the CMMI. Some seek CMMI “levels” for the marketing advantages, or to satisfy customer requirements. Others strive for continuous process and performance improvement; they see the CMMI as the tool they use for guidance.

In both cases, the strength of the CMMI is that it provides organizations with guidelines for increasing performance and improving the quality of products and services. We wanted to know whether organizations actually achieved improvements in performance and quality.

81% of respondents said they improved in these areas.

 

What can we take away from this response? Of those who responded “I don’t know,” many told us that they weren’t tracking quality or performance increases. Many of those who said, “No,” indicated that they were already operating at a high level and the CMMI helped them standardize their excellence in performance and quality.

Most of CMMI Users experienced an increase in quality and performance if they were looking for it.

Be sure to check back regularly as we share results of the CMMI User Story study right here on Ask the CMMI Appraiser.

We’ve also made the information available in an eBook. If you would like to receive the complete set of user stories all at once, simply subscribe at the top of this page to receive eBooks. Provided that you are using a valid company email address (not a Yahoo, AOL or Gmail account), we will be happy to add you to the distribution list, and send you the eBook, along with others, in coming weeks.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

What do companies THINK about the CMMI?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, now that the CMMI is moving to a new business unit within CMU, wouldn’t it be great if we knew what people really thought about using the CMMI? ~ a fellow CMMI Appraiser 

Hey, fellow CMMI Appraiser,

Yes, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? A lot of people are keenly interested in the perception of the CMMI in the market today. Especially now that the SEI has announced that the CMMI constellations (as well as other "mature technologies") will no longer be considered "research" projects, and will be moved to a new business unit within Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

As I’ve said, I interpret this as a good … no, a great thing. The Department of Defense, long a sponsor of the SEI, was very involved (along with CMU) in the decision. The new business unit will be unencumbered by the constraints of the DoD, and will take the CMMI in new, more flexible directions, and to new markets.

And we can’t say no one saw this coming. For the past few years, at SEPG NA conferences, several of my fellow Lead Appraisers and I have been talking about the need for change in the market. We saw CMMI adoption increasing for large and small companies alike. We thought our clients were reaping tremendous rewards. But we had no idea what other CMMI users, those we didn't know, actually thought about using the tool.

In the months leading up to the SEI’s CMMI announcement, I decided to commission a User Story study. My company, Broadsword, selected 50 companies randomly from the SEI’s Published Appraisal Results (PARs). The companies had achieved CMMI Maturity Level 2 or 3 between 2007 and 2010.

The reason we chose this timeframe was to give the CMMI users some period of time with their adoption, allowing for more objectivity.

Next, we retained two call center representatives, who picked up the phone and started calling.

Over several days, we spoke with CEOs, VPs and Quality Assurance Managers of North American companies, large and small. Companies were in the aerospace, defense, finance, transportation, energy and manufacturing industries, and they were all using CMMI-DEV.

We listened to the stories they told about using the CMMI. We captured the data, and analyzed the results.

As far as we know, this is the first study of its kind that builds its case on anecdotal data from actual end users. We gathered stories about what’s working and what’s not working with the CMMI, directly from the users themselves.

I hope the timeliness of this information will prove valuable to you, whatever your role with the CMMI. It was finalized literally days before the SEI announcement.

And so I invite you to check back regularly as we share results of the CMMI User Story study right here on Ask the CMMI Appraiser.

We’ve also made the information available in an eBook. If you would like to receive the complete set of user stories all at once, simply subscribe to reveive eBooks at the top of this page.  Provided that you are using a valid company email address (not a yahoo, aol or gmail account), we will be happy to add you to the distibution list, and send you the eBook, along with others, in coming weeks.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

Reason #1 to attend SEPG Europe 2012 in Madrid!

The #1 Reason to Attend SEPG Europe 2012: To Live Your Passion

Buenos días Amigos!  The grand feria SEPG Europe 2012 of June 5-7 is almost upon us!  But before we don the traditional Castizo dress (Rick Hefner, are you listening?) and gorge ourselves on barquillos (rolled wafers), buñuelos (fritters) and rosquillas (donuts), let’s complete our Top 5 Reasons to be there, shall we?

Here we go with Reason #1.

Drum roll please …

Reason #1: SEPG Europe is where you can live your passion.

This year’s host city for SEPG Europe, Madrid, Spain, is a model for living ones passion.  I really encourage you to experience it.

After reading Suyash Kumar Chopra’s beautiful post Spain:  A Traveler’s Oyssey to Discovery, I was inspired.  What colorful images!  I wanted to go NOW!

Although I had lived in Spain in the early 1980s, I have not returned since then. In those days I was an orchestra musician, playing with the symphony in Sevilla.  A lot has changed since then, but after reading Suyash’s post, do you know what did I did? I changed my plans and now I’m leaving TODAY (May 31st), to spend some extra time taking in the sights.  I’m in a taxi right now on my way to the airport (thanks Verizon 4G).  My son, my business partner, and I will be heading from Madrid to Sevilla via Spain’s famous AVE “Bullet Train” where we will spend the weekend in the former home of the patron of novelist Miguel de Cervantes, and then we’ll take the slow train to Granada, then back to Madrid for the conference.  After the festivities are over it’s on to the plains of la Mancha to tilt at windmills and follow in the footsteps of Don Quixote. Whew!

Living ones passion means different things to different people.  In our world, whether your interest is multi-model, practical process improvement, high maturity, agile and CMMI, or any number of other disciplines, you’ll keep busy with a broad selection of technical sessions, designed to equip you with implementable solutions that can help you make your company better.  But you’ll have some free time, too, and really must do some exploring – I insist!

Here are five memorable experiences awaiting you in Madrid:

Fiestas de San Isidro – Not to distract you too much, but the conference occurs during the month-long holiday honoring the patron saint of Madrid.  With concerts, open-air dances and outdoor celebrations (including bullfights) Fiestas de San Isidro are the liveliest parties in Madrid.

Retiro Park – Parque del Retiro is one of my favorite spots in all of Madrid, and one of the most popular daytime destinations in the city.  The grounds span more than 350 acres of natural beauty.  And there are places to sail, skate, snooze or snack.

Plazas – You’ll find great people-watching at the city squares around Madrid, like the Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol and Plaza de Santa Ana.  I love the plazas’ ornate design and artistic layouts.  I find it exhilarating to stroll among their cafes, bars, restaurants and shops.

Architecture – Madrid, like many cities in Spain, is a swirling realm of architectural contradictions. Modern, post-modern and avant-garde buildings stand beside ancient cathedrals.  Did you know, Madrid even has an ancient Egyptian temple?  It’s the Temple of Debod, built in the second century B.C.

What this means is that you can expect to spend three days in Spain with real life, practical and implementable solutions .  After the sessions you’ll do cool things with cool people in cool places.  And you’ll find your passion for process improvement.

What’s not to love?

Click here to register.

OK, I’m ready.  Please pass the buñuelos.

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board.  He is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser whose blog can be read at www.asktheCMMIAppraiser.com.  He can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com

Reason #2 to Attend SEPG Europe 2012: Promote Your Passion!

The #2 Reason to Attend SEPG Europe 2012: To Promote Your Passion

Buenos días Amigos!!  The matadors are brooding in their cafes.  The crowds are lining the streets and it is almost time for the bulls to start running towards SEPG Europe 2012 on June 5-7.  Yes, the world-renowned CMMI feria is almost here, and that must mean it’s time once again for my Top 5 Reasons to be there.

Come close to the railing.  You won’t want to miss a moment of the action as we get on with our list of Top 5 Reasons to attend SEPG Europe 2012.  And away we go with Reason #2!

Drum roll please …

Reason #2: SEPG Europe is where you can promote what you are passionate about.

What?  Self-promotion?  I can hear the click-click-click as people madly try to x-out of this blog post.  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” they say aloud.

But wait.  I know few things have the power to make an engineer more uncomfortable than self-promotion.  I realize that many of you would rather submit yourself to 100 process mandates, or 50 days without Jolt Cola, than utter a single boastful word.

The good news about SEPG Europe is, you’re among friends here.  We don’t think it’s boastful to share success stories.  Indeed, we are here to find out from each other what’s working.  So if you are doing something with the CMMI that is really helping put your company on the path to greatness, your peers would love to hear about it.

Remember, folks at SEPG Europe are coming from a variety of backgrounds.  Some are Certified Lead Appraisers seeking to get better at guiding their customers.  Some are CMMI program sponsors who are looking for innovative and creative solutions for delivering on-time, high-quality software to their customers back home.  Others are just learning how to spell “CMMI” for the first time.

What we all share is a common interest in process, performance, and organizational improvement.

And here’s a shocker.  Some of the conference attendees are actively looking for a potential SEI Partner.

If you are an SEI Partner, it would probably be a good idea to be at least a little bit visible, would you agree?

One great option is to take advantage of the sponsorship or exhibiting opportunities SEPG Europe offers.

Another option is simply to take the bull by the horns and talk with folks about what you do.  One time at an SEPG conference, when I gave a presentation called “The Agile SCAMPI: Taming the Savage Beast.”  There was a decent crowd (drawn, perhaps, by the free hats and books I was giving away) and I hope they received some good information about making Appraisals simpler and more Agile.

One company in the audience was in the process of tackling a large-scale, multi-site process improvement program.  They needed help with planning, training, and conducting a multi-site SCAMPI Appraisal.  They had already zeroed in on a small set of Partners to choose from but after my presentation they added me to the list.  Just like that!  I ultimately started working with them and it was a win for everyone involved.

You know what I’ve been saying ever since?  Come to SEPG conferences for the technical sessions, but stay for the networking.  You never know when you’re talking with your next big client – or your next Partner.

SEPG Europe 2012 is a great place to promote your passion.  And that’s no bull. Olé!

Click here to register.

Need one more reason to go?  Check back soon for Reason #1!

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board.  He is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiser whose blog can be read at www.asktheCMMIAppraiser.com.  He can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com.www.broadswordsolutions.com

SPaMCast Question #5: Do agile and CMMI conflict philosophically?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.] 

Hey, Jeff, I recently did an agile class. A number of self-styled philosophers in the class would have argued that agile is a philosophy versus the CMMI, which is more a framework construct. Is there a conflict between a philosophy and a framework? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast 

Tom, I suppose if we were trying to evaluate agile and the CMMI as the same thing, we would have a conflict. But it’s like apples and oranges.

I completely agree with your statement that agile is a philosophy and a way of life, whereas the CMMI is not. The CMMI is by definition a framework of best practices that are so detailed, well thought-out and practical that it cannot be thought of as a philosophy. The CMMI isn’t prescriptive, per se – it’s a “what-to-do” not a “how-to-do.” But to call it a philosophy would be a stretch.

Agile, on the other hand, is more of a system of thought. With the agile manifesto, its creators did a fantastic job of laying out the philosophy, saying, “Here are the things that are important and here’s what guides us. And here are the things that are important, too, but not as important.” They did an excellent job of prioritizing the thinking, and setting up what I call the guiding principles of agile.

The SEI never did that with the CMMI. It was never their intent to put out a set of guiding principles. Their intent was to provide a framework. But I think what happened in the 90s, by way of the Department of Defense mandate, was that the intent of that framework got twisted. People started saying, “We need to achieve a Maturity Level in order to win a contract.” Certain CMMI consultants – “box-checkers,” I call them – were willing to do that. They never really understood that the CMMI is a tool to help companies improve what they are already doing.

Agile, by contrast, is really more of a set of views and theories to help us answer, “How do we want to run our business?”

To your point about a conflict, it’s really been interesting to watch, over the last couple of years, as more and more companies around the country adopt agile. As a result, I see a collision brewing between management and engineering, especially finance and engineering. In these organizations, engineering is embracing agile almost whole-heartedly, and that’s a great thing. But this sets up a potential collision as management is scratching their heads and saying, “I’m not getting how this fits into our financial model.” Well, guess what? Agile doesn’t fit into their financial model! This is especially true when you have manufacturers and suppliers working together, and you have contracts based on the waterfall mentality, and you are getting paid based on life cycles and milestones. Unless that changes in the next few years, as agile becomes more and more popular, we’re going to have a real collision on our hands.

Our view is that the CMMI is the perfect tool to bring management and engineering together. With a proper mindset of communications and improvement over “compliance,” the CMMI can be used to improve the performance of agile companies. That's why it makes sense to allow the two frameworks to work together, instead of forcing them to be something they are not. Let apples be apples and oranges be oranges.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #4: Is CMMI compliance getting in the way?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Hey, Jeff, is the word “compliance,” as it relates to the CMMI, getting in the way of these two frameworks (Agile and CMMI) being more than the sum of its parts? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Tom, on the issue of CMMI “compliance,” I have a different perspective than some of my peers.

I believe that people should worry first and foremost about being a great company. That’s what their focus should be, and that’s certainly what our focus is. I am very passionate about shining an uncomfortably hot spotlight on professional level-seekers.  By that, I mean any company or so-called CMMI consultant that is only interested in getting a so-called CMMI certificate. They don’t care about understanding the true spirit of the CMMI or improving as a company. They only care about compliance so they can get a rating. I believe they are doing a disservice to themselves and their clients.

At the same time, unlike some of my peers, I fully acknowledge that the need for achieving CMMI Maturity Levels exists in our industry. It’s a reality. Many small and large businesses must achieve a Maturity Level in order to bid on work. In some cases, we’re talking about millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts.

So the question of so-called CMMI compliance and CMMI certification, while of secondary importance in our view, is still is a reality.  CMMI consultants need to make sure we acknowledge that reality for those clients whose business will rise or fall on whether or not they are both great at what they do and reach the level of CMMI rating.

This perspective is in contrast to some of my CMMI consulting peers who are out there saying, “Forget about Maturity Levels. This isn’t important.” I philosophically agree with that. But at the same time, we have to make sure that companies don’t go out of business because they don’t reach a particular goal that was arbitrarily set for them.

It's a constant mantra for me: I want our clients to worry about being a great company. And I want them to let me worry about helping guide them toward their CMMI goal. We’ll meet at the end.

So, yes, from a philosophical standpoint, I absolutely agree with you. Companies must focus on learning how to be a great company, and not let compliance or anything else get in the way of that. With learning as their goal, they will stay on the path to greatness. Achieving a CMMI Maturity Level and being so-called CMMI compliant are just byproducts of the journey. 

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #3: Can the CMMI improve a Daily Stand-up?

[NOTE: For the last few days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Hey, Jeff, to give us an idea of how these two frameworks (Agile and CMMI) can interact, do you have an example of how the CMMI can help get more value out of a Stand-up? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Tom, as a matter of fact, that is one of the exercises in the Scrum+CMMI training class we offer. We teach the learning experience using Scrum. Here’s how it works:

Just like any Scrum team, we start the day by saying, “Let’s have a 15 minute Daily Stand-up.” Everyone stands up, and we go around the room, using the context of the conference we’re attending. We talk about things going on at the conference. What are the things we have to watch out for? What are some of the risks?

We assemble the comments on a white board. We get five to seven comments before they peter out, just like a typical Daily Stand-up. “Here’s what we’re doing; here’s what we did; here’s what is blocking us,” and so forth.

Then I say, “Hey, let’s pull out the Risk Management process area in the CMMI.”

Everybody groans and says, “Oh boy, here comes the documentation.”

I go forward with a more directed discussion. I ask, “What were some of the technical risks we’re having in this conference this week?”

One guy says, “We were worried we wouldn’t have the right equipment here.”

Another Scrum teammate talks about the HVAC, and someone else makes a comment about the electricity and connectivity.

After we’ve gathered a bunch of technical risks, I direct the discussion to other risks. I say, “What are the logistical risks we’re suffering from today?” And I get a bunch of responses specific to logistical risks. And so on.

Through this conversation, without creating any documents, without incurring any overhead, we create a very robust set of risks, many of which we haven’t thought about.

Then I put the CMMI up on the wall and I say, “This first practice in Risk Management (RSKM), we'll call it ‘categorizing.’ It guides us to have establish categories and sources for your risks.”

This is nothing more than a brain-tease exercise. But it reveals a lot. Participants immediately recognize that, if we come up with some categories, all of a sudden we’re brainstorming in a much more effective and efficient way than before.

I remind them that, in the first Daily Stand-up, we only came up with five to seven things that the Scrum team was worried about. In the second exercise, where we applied just the ‘categories’ practice of the CMMI, we came up with 30 things, about 25 of which were really important.

So, in this workshop, in a five minute period, we demonstrate that just a simple application of one single practice of the CMMI can completely change the way we think about risks.

In this very light and agile way, we’re using the CMMI to help guide us. We’re making sure we are talking about things that are really important, and we’re using the CMMI as a framework to help guide us through the discussion.

This gives us two major advantages. By using the simple Daily Stand-up mechanism, we get a really crisp, robust view of the project, so we can understand what’s going on. We understand it early, and we understand it often.  And by adopting some of the best practices that the CMMI provides, we get more value out of the Daily Stand-up, allowing us to make it even stronger than it already was.

It’s a pretty powerful exercise because it really shows how well agile and CMMI can work together.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #2: Why do folks think CMMI is oppressive?

[NOTE: Over the next few days, the CMMI Appraiser will be sharing snippets from my recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Hey, Jeff, what causes the perception that people think that the CMMI only has one size: oppressive? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Yes, that’s the typical comment that we get from our clients when they first look into a CMMI appraisal or CMMI consulting. “The CMMI is oppressive.” I always tell students at our CMMI trainings that I could write a Psych 103 book about this.

It’s an interesting confluence of events that caused this problem, and it goes way back to when the DoD used to mandate the CMMI as part of the rating they used to select suppliers. The DoD and other early adopters of CMMI, like Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, Boeing and Air Force, indeed had a lot to do with the creation of the model. These organizations were already conducting oppressive software projects. They were already top-down and document heavy. It stands to reason that their interpretation of how this model was satisfied was going to be the same thing they were already doing.

On the other hand, I believe that if the first adopters of the CMMI had been agile, innovative thinkers like Kent Beck and Ron Jeffries, Jeff Sutherland and Chris Sims, we’d see a CMMI that looked agile and light weight. But, instead, because the big, rigid, iron-clad companies adopted the model first, they set the standard.

Now, we often hear from companies who call us and say, “Hey, we need to look at CMMI certification because we’d like to bid on certain government contracts.” We see this as an education process. It starts with asking, “Is that really why you are doing this? I understand that you want to win that business. But the CMMI is so much more valuable and useful than that. Let’s talk about things like how well you are running your software, how well you are delivering, how happy your customers are.”

Once they realize that these are the kinds of questions they should be asking, and that learning should be their goal – not achieving a level or winning new business – that’s when they start to think like a great company.

I’m constantly reminding them of this. I tell them, “You worry about being a great company. I’ll worry about helping guide you toward this CMMI goal. We’ll meet at the end.”

It’s true. If you focus setting the right goals and objectives, and asking the right questions, you are going to be a great company. When the time is right, you are going to get whatever level you are looking for. We can do that using Scrum, waterfall … any method that makes sense for you, as long as it makes sense for you.

What you discover is that the CMMI is not oppressive at all. In fact, it can be a joyful, liberating experience.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #1: Agile and CMMI together? Why?

[NOTE: Over the next few days, the CMMI Appraiser, will be sharing snippets from my recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]


Hey, Jeff - Agile and the CMMI. You say that these two frameworks can function together. Why would a company want them to function together? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

What I find myself asking clients more often is, “Why would you NOT want the two to function well together in your organization?” But before I go into the benefits, first we need to look at what is Agile and what is CMMI.

There’s an awful lot of confusion in our industry about what they are. Those of us who work with agile and the CMMI every day understand the difference, but there are thousands of companies that are adopting agile or CMMI without really knowing what they are asking for. As a result, they say, “We can’t do CMMI because we’re agile.” Or, “We can’t use agile because we’re CMMI.” What they don’t understand is that both agile and the CMMI are frameworks that are intended to help us write better software. They absolutely can work together.

Next we need to look at what Agile and CMMI are not.

Neither agile nor the CMMI are processes. Neither agile nor the CMMI are methods. Both are collections of practices and philosophies that help us write better software. And yet, while there are great things about Scrum, XP and Spiral – and great things about CMMI – those two approaches to writing great software not the same.

The difference between them has to do with intent. The intent of the CMMI, in our view, is to be a tool to take what you are already doing, and make it better. It was never intended to be a method or a process to be followed. There is a perception that people “implement” CMMI. That’s not something that we do. We use the CMMI as a way to improve what companies are already doing.

We stumbled across this idea about eight or nine years ago, when we started working with a company that wanted to adopt agile methods. They took it seriously and were studious about learning about agile. But they struggled with things like Daily Stand-ups, backlog grooming and user stories. They were struggling, not just to get value out of it, but struggling to get their management to understand what they are doing and to see the value in it.

As it turns out, the CMMI has some awesome tools to help add value to things like the Daily Stand-up, managing risk and transforming an epic to a user story. But the CMMI also has great tools for helping management understand what the heck is going on within the project teams. So it helps both Scrum teams and executives.  That's why it makes sense for companies to allow the two frameworks to work together.  It's a win-win.

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

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 running a successful CMMI program.

Why I'm coming to SEPG 2012 (again) this year - Reason #1!

The #1 Reason to Attend SEPGNA: The Social Experience

Howdy Partners.  Land sakes alive, the big event in the ‘ol West is nearly upon us!  Yes, the SEPG North America rodeo is just is a couple of shakes of a lamb’s tail away (March 11 through March 15), and that means it’s time to rope in my Top Ten reasons to be there.  Here’s a round-up of Reason #10, Reason #9, Reason #8, Reason #7, Reason #6, Reason #5, Reason #4, Reason #3 and Reason #2.  So today we’re gonna get down to it and ride this steed into town – together.

So let’s saddle up one last time and finish my list of Top 10 Reasons to attendSEPG North America 2012.

Drum roll, please!  Reason #1 is …

The Social Experience.

That’s right, the people!  People are why we come together.  People are what make us a community.  As I mentioned in other posts, I’ve been coming to the Conference for the last umpteen years, and this is by far the best time of the year for me – due to the people.

We work and live in an amazing community of really sharp, forward-leaning people.  Getting together every year at SEPGNA is a great way to interact and collaborate with them.  We’ll hang out, learn, talk, laugh and raise a glass to everyone’s success.

I’m not just talking about Partners and SEI folks, either.  Customers will be there, real –life adopters of the CMMI.  You’ll mix with a lot of different companies and have a chance to hear their experiences about how they did it, the good, the bad and the ugly.  And if you hang out for happy hour you will REALLY hear some tales!

(Cue the Spaghetti Western whistle tune.)

Here are just a few of the many opportunities we’ll have to socialize at this year’s event:

Monday – the show opens in the afternoon with a big shindig on the conference floor.  This is where many of us will be reunited for the first time since last year.  Come out, meet vendors, meet old and new friends, and enjoy a beverage of your choice!

Also on Monday is the SEI Partner Lunch where Partners will meet old friends and get to know new ones.  You’ll have a chance to hear others’ experiences with what’s going on with the CMMI and the market.  This will also be my first opportunity to speak with the Partner group in my new role as Chairman of the Partner Advisory Board.  But it doesn’t end there.

Tuesday – The good times carry over to the conference  reception on Tuesday evening where you’ll experience the CMMI social event of the century!  OK, sounds pretty geeky, but it’s always a great time.

After the reception stop out at the famous ISD party and its equally famous band – The Model Mappers!  They play at Gecko’s Nob Hill  from 8:30 – 11:30 pm.  It’s just a short ride from the convention center.  Every year, they really go all out for their customers, and everyone talks about it for months!

Wednesday – if you’re one of Broadsword’s customers, you are invited to join us for our annual Client Appreciation Dinner and User Group.  It’s a diverse, eclectic group, and we always meet at one of the finest dining establishments in town.  We’ll eat, drink and be merry, well into the night.  (Locate a Broadsword representative at SEPGNA for more info).

Other Partners put on events throughout the week, so keep your ear to the ground and you might just catch a late-night celebration.

Those are just a few of the formal events.  But there are far more informal occasions to interact, talk and get to know each other better.  Personally, I find these chance meetings to be among the most enjoyable of all.

Last year I had an impromptu discussion with David Greer, Hillel Glazer, and a few others on the need to collect CMMI User Stories, and a new research project was born!  Stay tuned for our results on that one.

So that’s it, my friends.  Those are my Top Ten Reasons to attend the SEPGNA this year.  As you can see, SEPG 2012 is a win-win, and everyone should come to ABQ next week.  Best of all, it’s not too late to register – and we’ll see you in Albuquerque!

Need more reasons to go?  You gotta be kidding me!

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and the incoming Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board.  He is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiserwhose blog can be read at www.asktheCMMIAppraiser.com.  He can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com.