Software Process Improvement Laboratory

Looking for a roadmap for software process improvement beyond that provided in the CMMI®? Take advantage of the range of process improvement models and methods provided in the rich portfolio of ISO standards.

While the CMMI has provided a roadmap for software process improvement that has been helpful to many software producing organisations, the CMMI is intentionally limited in scope to project related activities. In order to sustain process improvement gains achieved by applying the CMMI, the application of other standards is required to consolidate these gains. Such standards include: a) ISO 9001 (Requirements - quality management systems) which is needed to provide and sustain the process infrastructure at the organisational level; b) standards that help to identify the appropriate degree of process formality to apply to each development project (ISO/IEC 15026 Software and systems assurance); and c) process specific standards (e.g. ISO/IEC 29148 Requirements engineering) that address technical areas of software development practice that are not addressed in significant detail in the CMMI.

Objectives

This course:

• Reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the CMMI.
• Explains the role and contribution of management systems standards (e.g. ISO 9001) and the role of certification to such standards.
• Examines the contribution of selected ISO standards to consolidating and extending the process improvement gains provided by CMMI adoption.

Benefits

After attending this course you will be able to:

• Understand the role of management system standards in supporting CMMI initiated process improvement.
• Understand the relationship of the CMMI to the ISO lifecycle process standards.

Course format

Due to the limited time available, a presentation format is followed.

Course contact time

The course contact time is 16 hours, typically offered over two days.

Pre-requisites to attending

None.

Who should attend?

This course will be especially beneficial to individuals who are:

• Executives and managers responsible for product development and services who are seeking to optimise their processes.
• Project managers and process owners tasked to deploy the process improvement to achieve business or compliance goals.

Course topics

• The strengths and weaknesses of the CMMI.
• The role of management systems standards and the contribution that the application of such standards can provide towards consolidating process improvement initiatives.
• The role of ISO 9001 as a management systems standard in relation to third party certification.
• Examination of the contributions of selected lifecycle process specific standards and how they support the intent of the CMMI.