Quest for excellence in CMM

Emphasising the fact that CMM solutions are as effective in small organisations as in by large organisations, Commodore Navin Chandra (Retd.) says the fundamental concepts of the solution are actually applicable to any organisation, application or business context

Are you faced with the same question that small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the world are thinking today—Is the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) applicable to SMEs or only to large organisations? Or are you confused about how to effectively use CMM for combining business realities with a well-defined software process? Let me begin by saying that these doubts, though valid in nature, are actually the ones that can be easily solved. This will become clear as I share some insights with you on reality versus myths regarding the application of CMM solutions to the SME segment.

CMM is a set of guidelines that help companies manage risk and also to plan and manage business in an effective manner. The key components of CMM are maturity levels, key process areas and goals—and these help in achieving repeatable, defined, measured and continually improved software processes.

Today, though the crisis of poor processes hasn’t been solved, the presence of a solution like CMM does limit the occurrence. Achieving excellence in the development process is a complex and daunting task, and the reason lies in the very nature of the software process itself. Software processes of companies are chaotic because they are rarely well defined. Companies often tend to repeat earlier successes on projects with similar applications, and there is no real system in place for continuously improving processes.

By definition, CMM is applicable to any company involved in software development. However, undertaking the process requires a thorough analysis of continued monitoring and implementation of process correction measures. This can become a challenging task for a company not used to such modalities, particularly those in the SME space.

One of the biggest mistakes that small-sized companies using CMM make is when their only objective with adopting this quality model is to survive in the market. Instead of focusing on the end result, we typically are in a hurry to meet the project deadline.

In the rush to satisfy the client, we often brush off mistakes or loopholes at the time of project submission as something that can be rectified later. And that’s where the pitfall begins. SMEs need to remember that large companies face the same problems as those in the SME segment—these companies too have issues with project delays, undocumented information, inexperienced managers, lack of training, lack of resource allocation, etc. Planning, customer contact, delivering on commitments and managing risks are issues relevant to every business. CMM therefore can be used as a useful tool to guide process improvement, and its fundamental concepts are actually applicable to any organisation—irrespective of the size—and to any application or business context.

CMM provides a guideline for good management and engineering practices, with a strong emphasis on management, communication, and co-ordination for development and maintenance of software processes. A CMM user should consider the software as a guidebook and not a diktat, and look at achieving a successful blend between software processes and business objectives.

There are cases however, where lack of good engineering skills and sound management practices pose a problem. This is particularly true in the case of good technical people who have been promoted to managerial positions, without adequate management experience or training.

But change occurs only when there is sufficient dissatisfaction with the existing status quo and when managers and staff are willing to do things differently. This is as true for small organisations for large ones.

In my experience, the main objective of the CMM solution is to provide good software engineering and management practices for any project in any environment. It is easily applicable to large organisations, virtual projects, geographically distributed projects, software services organisations and small projects and organisations. Indian SMEs should start from scratch by identifying areas that they need to focus on to improve software processes. This will gradually take them to the second step—where they need to focus on concerns regarding project planning and management, followed by step three; addressing both the project and the organisational issues being faced by them.

Answering the question in hand—yes, CMM can be used by the SME segment even for small projects. In summary, the focus should be on identifying the pertinent problems, institutionalising core practices like planning, training, etc, within the company and combining software process improvement with business objectives.