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| SURESH
LULIA |
SEI
CMM : The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has developed
a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) that has gained widespread
acclaim. Today, it has become the de facto standard for process
improvement among many software companies. The SEI CMM model
describes the principles and practices underlying software
process maturity and is intended to help software organisations
to improve the maturity of their software processes in terms
of an evolutionary path from chaotic processes to mature and
disciplined software processes.
The CMM is organised into five maturity levels. A maturity
level is a well-defined gradual change base towards achieving
a mature software process. Each maturity level provides a
layer in the foundation for continuous process improvement.
The SEI has developed a formal process assessment method that
enables an organisation to determine its level of process
maturity on a 1 to 5 scale. Currently, India dominates the
SEI CMM Level 5 certification list with 32 companies at SEI
CMM Level 5 assessment when only 58 organisations across the
world who have acquired such assessment.
The process of getting SEI CMM Level is called CBA IPI (CMM
Based Appraisal for Internal Process Improvement) and it is
the same for all levels. An assessment team consisting of
members from within as well as outside the organisation, led
by an SEI authorised Lead Assessor, assesses the organisation
using the methodology described in the CBA IPI. The output
is a set of final findings for the organisation.
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| NIRAJ
BAJAJ |
ISO
9000 : The ISO 9000 series is an internationally accepted
system of rating quality management and quality assurance
schemes in organisations. The ISO 9000 series was developed
by industry representatives from many countries and published
by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
The basic aim for a organisation to achieve ISO certification
is achieving customer satisfaction by using ISO standards
as a tool to put systems in place. The certificate is an assurance
to customers of getting a quality product and good customer
service.
ISO 9001 is one in the ISO 9000 series of standards for Quality
Assurance. There are three standards in the series that can
be used by a manufacturer. The three standards are the ISO
9001, which is the broadest, covering design and development,
manufacturing, installation and development. The ISO 9002
series covers manufacturing and installation activities while
the ISO 9003 covers only final inspection and test activities.
Today, organisations are also going in for the ISO 14000 series,
which is an environmental standard. It is called an Environmental
Management System (EMS) as opposed to the ISO 9000 series,
which are for Quality Management Systems (QMS). The ISO14001
requires an environmental policy to be in existence within
the organisation, which outlines the policies of the company,
not only to the staff but to the public.
COBIT : COBIT has been developed as a generally applicable
and accepted standard for good Information Technology (IT)
security and control practices that provides a reference framework
for management, users, and IS audit, control and security
practitioners. The framework enables companies to control
all the different activities underlying IT deployment. As
a result, companies deploying this standard are assured that
IT will contribute to the achievement of their business objectives.
Business orientation is the main theme of COBIT and provides
a comprehensive checklist for business process owners. COBIT
applies to enterprise-wide information systems, including
personal computers, mini- computers, mainframes and distributed
environments. It is based on the philosophy that IT resources
need to be managed by a set of naturally grouped processes
in order to provide the pertinent and reliable information
an organisation needs to achieve its objectives. With the
addition of management guidelines, COBIT currently supports
self-assessment of strategic organisational status and identification
of actions to improve IT processes and monitoring of the performance
of these IT processes.
Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a quality philosophy that uses
customer-focused goals and measurements to drive continuous
improvement at all levels in any enterprise. The goal is to
build processes that are so robust that defects are measured
at levels of only a few parts per million. The Six Sigma methodology
originated at Motorola in the 1980s as a means for comparing
variation in any process related to customer satisfaction.
A sigma level of six means defects occur within a process
only 3.4 times in one million chances. Six Sigma is a philosophy
of doing business with a focus on eliminating defects through
fundamental process knowledge.
IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award: Today, poor quality
costs Indian businesses and industry as much as 20 percent
of national sales revenue. With a view to promote national
quality awareness, the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) announced
the establishment of the IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality
award in 1997. The key objectives of the award programme are
to promote quality awareness and practices in Indian firms,
recognise quality efforts of Indian companies and publicise
successful quality strategies and programmes. Explains Niraj
Bajaj, managing director, Mukand, “In order to compete
effectively in the global marketplace, fundamental changes
are needed in the way Indian companies do business. The award
is a step in the right direction which will lead to quality
improvement programmes which are management-led and customer-oriented.”
Adds Suresh Lulla, chairman, Award Sub-committee, “The
IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj award is a quality award which recognises
accomplishment in the areas of leadership, customer satisfaction,
continual improvement, response time, employee empowerment
and quantifiable results. In the final analysis, the methodology
does not tell an organisation how to be excellent. Rather,
it gives a roadmap for a company to attain world class quality.”
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