CMMI 100 Success Secrets Capability Maturity Model Integration 100 Success Secrets - 100 Most Asked Questions: The Missing CMMI-DEV, CMMI-ACQ Project Management and Process Guide. Lance Batten

is eliminated.

      The CMM inspections tend to reduce cost, development

      time, quality improvement, and productivity improvement.

      Further, it improves the software reliability, availability, and maintainability.

      It should be noted that software development involves the process of experimentation and continuous discovery of technical information. It is at this light that CMM inspection is carried if new technologies are introduced and how these affect the development process of the software. In the CMM, inspections there should be a close examination performed on requirements specifications, architectures, designs, code, test plans and procedures, and other artifacts relating to the software life cycle. It is through CMM inspections that completeness and correctness are traced.

      Deliver the superior quality, have your processes inspected and move to the next level of CMM.

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      The Role of the CMM Inspection Service

      It is at CMM Level 3 where standards in the processing of software development and maintenance are well defined, laid out and documented. In processing, it is important that constant review and test be done. Process may seem to work well at start, but eventually problem starts to occur and you just cannot wait until it happens. Deficiencies or weaknesses in the process would need to be adjusted once discovered.

      Your maturity level would have to be inspected. Certified teams from the SEI will determine your companyOs level of maturity. Prior to this, you may need a CMM inspection service team to perform review and test of your software work product.

      The purpose of having a CMM inspection service is to remove defects from software product worked on as early as possible and efficiently. CMM inspection services upon review of the standards should have a thorough understanding of the software

      work products and form prevention guides for defects not to recur. Methodical examination should be conducted by verifying if the work meets the defined specifications. The CMM inspection service is planned. Included in the inspection is the review of codes and structured walkthroughs. The ultimate goal of the CMM inspection service is to find out the defects in the software work products and eliminate the defects. The early detection of defects saves the company from leakage and rework. It is for the CMM inspection service to inform other groups immediately of the defects and removal of such to avoid the continued practice or use of the process.

      Make itOs a regular routine to have a CMM inspection service check on your software work products. Build that customer trust, an accurate, reliable and maintainable software product is your key to the next level of maturity.

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      What a CMM Inspector Does?

      It takes team of trained Software Engineering Institute (SEI) to certify officially software organizations CMM level of maturity. The team is brought to the organization to make a review of the software development and determine the level they are operating. Once a CMM is established, organization should retain the level until they would like to be re-certified for the next level. Ratings of the SEI decrease when defects are discovered and when standards are not met as defined. You surely would not want that, thus it becomes necessary that your software development process standards are review, tested and inspected prior to the SEI visit.

      The start of the inspection process is introduced to the organization when they have reached the level 3 maturity. It is for the reason that in CMM Level 3, standards are defined and documented. These standards of software development process would need to be reviewed and tested, and if needed be adjusted.

      Adjustments become necessary if defects are found to cause harm on the software work product. Your organization would need a CMM trained inspector to perform this function. The function of the CMM inspector would include the review of the standards in the software process development, and check the maintainability of the system. Inspection techniques would have to be used during the test and review. An example of an inspection technique would be the used of Fagan inspection. Fagan inspection is a structured process of finding defects in development documents which includes programming code, specifications, designs and others during various phases of the software development process.

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      Avoid the rework and reduce your cost, have a CMM inspector detect the errors. Let them help you create a higher

      quality product on your software development.

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      ISO and CMM D Differentiated

      If there are two terms that are closely associated with quality and process improvement, these are ISO or International Organization for Standardization and CMM or Capability Maturity Model. These two are often compared with each other, especially in the field of software development and engineering. Most likely ISO and CMM have the same goals but use different methods to achieve it.

      ISO is known to be the worldOs largest developer of standards.

      Indeed, these standards have known to be very useful to business organizations and industries, to customers and suppliers of goods and services in both the private and public sectors, to professionals doing conformity assessment, to government and regulation bodies, and lastly, to end users or customers. This only goes to show that ISO standards also have important social and economic repercussions, thus making a positive difference to the society.

      ISO has developed a family of standards, with each having its own designation. ISO 9001, for example, targets the manufacturing process and this includes software development, a focus area of CMM. CMM is the one that provides the framework describing the key elements of an effective software process.

      Thus, CMM covers planning, engineering and managing software development. Following the recommendations of CMM leads to improvement of an organizationOs ability to meet their goals in terms of cost, schedule, product quality and functionality.

      Indeed, these two terms have something to do with software development. It is just that ISOOs approach is more from the manufacturerOs standpoint, while CMM is from a development standpoint. Therefore, CMM sees to it that the software devel

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      oped is error-free whereas ISO is designed to put quality standards into the manufacturing process.

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      CMM Jobs for IT Professionals

      Capability Maturity Model or CMM has established its

      importance in the field of Information Technology, wherein it provides a framework that describes the key elements of an effective software development process. It is because of this reason that it has launched a lot of jobs for IT professionals, ranging from CMM Operator to CMM Programmer. Having a

      decent experience and exposure with CMM processes and tools is also one of the requirements that most companies look for managerial positions such as Software Test Manager, a person responsible for leading and managing a team of individuals, mostly Software Test Engineers and Technicians, aiming to improve the software development process. To be an expert in CMM, there is a need to familiarize with key CMM concepts, especially the five levels of CMM. These are as follows: (a) Initial

      This is a company that does not have a standard process for software development. There is also no project tracking system in place to predict accurate costs and finish dates.

      (b) Repeatable

      In this level, the company has already installed basic software management processes and controls whereby success can

      be still be acquired and repeated by performing previously mastered tasks.

      (c) Defined

      When a company has already established a set of processes and controls for the organization, it means that it is already on Level 3.

      (d) Managed

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      A company with implementing standard processes and

      has