- Logistics
- Maintenance
- Human resources
- Health care
- IT services
When and why to use CMMI-SVC?
The purpose of using any framework is to improve the performance of an organization. For a group that provides services, this can include: reducing the amount of errors in services provided, reducing the labor needed to provide each service, improving consistency of service delivery, reducing the risk of mistakes and surprises, and maintaining the gains made over time.
A summary of the CMMI-SVC model is provided below. The items marked "(svc)" in red are the major changes compared to the CMMI-DEV model.
Summary of CMMI-SVC and changes compared to CMMI-DEV
At Maturity Level 2, a new Process Area has been added that contains the basic steps for service delivery. At Maturity Level 3 the engineering practices of CMMI-DEV (that were used to define and build components) have been replaced by practices to define and build services.
CMMI® for Services, Version 1.2
The new Process Areas are summarized below.
Service Delivery: The purpose of Service Delivery (SD) is to deliver services in accordance with service agreements.
Capacity and Availability Management: The purpose of Capacity and Availability Management (CAM) is to ensure effective service system performance and ensure that resources are provided and used effectively to support service requirements.
Incident Resolution and Prevention: The purpose of Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) is to ensure timely and effective resolution of service incidents and prevention of service incidents as appropriate.
Service System Transition: The purpose of Service System Transition (SST) is to deploy new or significantly changed service system components while managing their effect on ongoing service delivery.
Service Continuity: The purpose of Service Continuity (SCON) is to establish and maintain plans to ensure continuity of services during and following any significant disruption of normal operations.
Service System Development: The purpose of Service System Development (SSD) is to analyze, design, develop, integrate, verify, and validate service systems, including service system components, to satisfy existing or anticipated service agreements. [This is an optional Process Area.]
Strategic Service Management: The purpose of Strategic Service Management (STSM) is to establish and maintain standard services in concert with strategic needs and plans.
Neil Potter of The Process Group is trained and certified to teach the services class and conduct appraisals. Contact us with your needs Contact us.
* Information source = CMMI® for Services, Version 1.2, http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/tools/svc/download.cfm
® CMMI is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.
Tidbit #4: Measuring a Process
If your organization is using defined processes for project and organizational tasks, you might be ready for some measures to objectively see how well they are being implemented. Measurement data can help an organization identify strengths, weaknesses and provide historical data for future planning. In this article, we give example measures for some common processes used within a project.
If you are using CMMI and implementing Generic Practice 3.2*, the ideas listed below are examples of what could be measured to obtain insight into specific process implementations. Tailor these examples to fit your needs or use them as a starting point to generate your own measurements.
In the examples, the term Earned Value is used. Some organizations use Earned Value Management to track project work. Each project task is assigned a value, and when that task is complete, the project records that value to indicate how much of the total project is complete. When process steps such as design, verification, risk and project tracking are included in a project's schedule, the completion of these steps is reflected in the total earned value for the project. When these process steps are skipped, or become stalled, the EVM system reflects these problems.
[Definition: # = Number of]
Requirements Management
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Requirements, growth, volatility over time
#Non-compliances for this process
Project Planning and Management
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
Final Earned Value number (Cost Performance Index, Schedule Performance Index) or planned vs. actual data showing how well planning and tracking went
#Non-compliances for this process
Risk Management
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Risks over time (increasing or decreasing)
#Risks realized or averted due to risk management
#Risks open vs. closed
#Non-compliances for this process
Configuration Management
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#CM-related defects
#Percentage of bad builds
#Non-compliances for this process
Process and Product Assurance
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
Earned Value of the process assurance activities (i.e., whether all assurance activities were performed, and whether they were under/over budget)
#Requests for help vs. #unfrequented (or scheduled) audits (indicating how sought after the Quality Assurance group is)
#Non-compliances for this process
Measurement and Analysis
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Measures collected but unused
#Non-compliances for this process
Requirements Development
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Derived requirements (indicating the amount of initial ambiguity/completeness)
#Requirements, growth, volatility over time
#Defects in requirements documents, or defect density
#Non-compliances for this process
Design and Implementation
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Non-compliances for this process
#Defects in design and code/drawings, or defect density
#Output over time (e.g., code/changes/design per engineer-week)
#Non-compliances for this process
Product Integration
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Defects found or defect density
Build audit results (e.g., #bad builds)
#Non-compliances for this process
Verification
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Defects found in verification or defect density
#Non-compliances for this process
Validation
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Test cases
#Defects found in validation, defect density, or test pass/fail percentage
#Actual test cycles vs. planned
#Rate of defect find vs. defect resolution
#Non-compliances for this process
Decision Analysis and Resolution
Planned/Actual Effort to perform the process
Earned Value for DAR tasks
#DARs performed per project
#Non-compliances for this process
Process Improvement
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
Earned Value for improvement tasks
Adoption of processes over time (e.g., #processes or practices used, measured via a mini-assessment)
#Defects found in process assets
#Non-compliances for this process
Training
Planned/actual effort/schedule to perform the process
#Training hours planned vs. received
Training evaluation scores
#Non-compliances for this processes that were covered by training (i.e., did training actually train people)
#Non-compliances for this process
* CMMI® for Development, v1.2, CMU/SEI-2006-TR-008, pp 89, http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/06.reports/pdf/06tr008.pdf
[Thanks to Ed, Bruce, Pat, Christof, Michael and John for the review.]
Tidbit #5: Where do you Spend Your Time – Fulfillment or Demand?
Over the years, numerous time management models have been developed to help categorize and improve time allocation. Usually these models group activities by separating urgent and important initiatives from less pressing obligations.
An example of a time management model is provided in Figure 1. With this framework, all activities are categorized based on how important and urgent they are. The goal is to spend the majority of one’s time in quadrants I or II, and spend as little as possible on less important activities in quadrants III and IV.
Figure 1. Adapted from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen R. Covey, Free Press
The difference between the activities in Quadrant I and Quadrant II is that the activities in Quadrant I have urgent deadlines, and there is no room for errors or delays. The same work can be performed in Quadrant II, but it is planned to avoid extreme and chronic urgency. Quadrant II also includes improvement and preventative actions that reduce the overall volume of work in Quadrant I.
Individuals and teams that over-commit or make numerous errors tend to spend a lot of time in Quadrant I trying to catch up. While activities in this quadrant can produce growth and success, too much time spent here will only increase the volume of work in Quadrant I. For example, a deliverable that is rushed out full of mistakes will lead to a list of urgent repairs. If those repairs are rushed, more urgent repairs will result.
A good target is for 40-70% of activities to be in quadrant II. If you are spending more than 75% of your time on urgent items, you add excessive stress to your efforts and only increase the volume of Quadrant I work.
One might recognize that certain aspects of their life occupy each of the quadrants. Still, how much time do you spend in Quadrant II? The premise is that the more you spend on these activities, the more you can achieve with less stress. Quadrant I should not be empty since this is where the demand on you can cause growth.
Here are some examples of Quadrant II activities. When reading through them, identify some actions you can take.
- Perform tasks well in advance of deadlines.
- Estimate and plan work before committing in order to avoid being chronically over-committed.
- For each crisis (Quadrant I), take steps to prevent future problems:
- Identify similar errors (or trend) when a single significant error is found in a piece of work.
- Plan ahead for the next major event, especially if a similar event does not go well.
- Create and update a checklist so that when an important task is forgotten there is a visible reminder.
- Schedule improvement activities
- Attend classes and seek a mentor.
- Conduct team-building activities.
- Assess and implement lessons learned.
- Complete one small part of the project from beginning to end and apply the lessons to the remaining work.
- For important and recurring activities, determine whether such efforts can be accomplished faster or more effectively:
- Eliminate steps that do not impact the desired end result or add risk to the success of the activity.
- Automate common tasks (e.g., collection, storing, reporting and sharing of project data).
- Use a common organizational structure and format for project data when individuals frequently move between projects.
- Avoid manual note-taking which requires later transcription. Always use a PC to collect minutes and actions with a common sharing mechanism (shared web page or database).
Figure 2 provides a similar model to Figure 1; however, here the categories include additional names and are grouped in the graphical layout of an archery target to remind us where to focus.
Figure 2 – “Time Targets,” adapted from The Time of Your Life, by Anthony Robbins
Whichever representation you prefer, it is important that it be used to identify where time is spent now and to determine which actions you can take to shift your focus. In the end, one needs to be patient and make improvements incrementally and consistently.
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