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The Continuous Representation

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UNIT 2

Topics covered in this unit include• Additional terminology• Practices – The fundamental building blocks• Process areas• Specific goals and specific practices• Generic goals and generic practices• Required, expected and informative model

components• Capability levels – characteristics and associated

generic practices

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Additional Terminology

Practices are actions that are needed to enact the key parts of a process area.

Establish and maintain implies --formulate, document and use throughout the organisation.

Managed Process is one which is performed and executed in accordance with policy; employs skilled people having adequate resources to produce controlled outputs; involves relevant stakeholders; is monitored, controlled and reviewed; and is evaluated for adherence to its process description.

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Capability Levels

A capability level represents achievement of process improvement within an individual process area. There are five capability levels in V1.2 (but only three capability levels in V1.3) and a given process area could be assessed to be at one of these levels. A given capability level has associated with it a set of specific and generic goals (each with their respective specific and generic practices).

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Levels

• Levels are used in CMMI to describe an evolutionary path for an organization that wants to improve the processes it uses to develop and maintain its products and services.

• CMMI supports two improvement paths:– continuous - enabling an organization to incrementally

improve processes corresponding to an individual process area (or set of process areas) selected by the organization

– staged – To be discussed later

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CL 4 Quantitatively

Managed

CL 5

Optimizing

CL 1

Performed

CL 2

Managed

CL 3

Defined

The Capability Levels

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Process Area

CL 1

CL 2

CL 3

CL 4

CL 5

Each capability level in a process area has its own

process area components

Five Capability Levels (CMMIV1.2)

NB All process areas can be assessed up to CL 5 in CMMIV1.2In CMMIv1.3, process areas can be assessed up to CL 3 only

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Process Area Components.At CL 1 there is one generic goal and 1..m specific goals

One Generic Goal

Generic PracticeCL 1 – 1 GP

Process Area Components

1..m Specific Practices

1..m Specific Practices

1..m Specific Practices

1..m Specific Goals

mth SG

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Process Area Components At each of CL 2,3,4,5 there is one generic goal

Process Area Components

Generic Practices(CL 2 – 10 GPsCL3 to CL 5 – 2 GPs

Generic Goal

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There are four Process Area Categories (Continuous Representation) and twenty-two Process Areas

ProjectManagement

Process AreasCategory

Requirements DevelopmentTechnical SolutionProduct IntegrationVerificationValidation

Engineering

Configuration ManagementProcess and Product Quality AssuranceMeasurement and AnalysisDecision Analysis and Resolution Causal Analysis and Resolution

Support

Project PlanningProject Monitoring and ControlSupplier Agreement ManagementIntegrated Project ManagementRisk ManagementQuantitative Project Management

Organizational Process FocusOrganizational Process DefinitionOrganizational TrainingOrganizational Process Performance

ProcessManagement

Requirements Management

Organizational Innovation and DeploymentOrganisational Performance Management

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Specific Goals (SGs)

A specific goal describes what must be implemented to satisfy the process area

Example from the Organisational Training process area:

SG1 Establish an organisational training capability

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Specific Practices (SPs)

A specific practice is an activity that is considered important in achieving the associated specific goal

Example from the Organisational Training process area and for SG1SP 1.2 Determine which training needs are the responsibility of the organisation

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Generic Goals (GG)

Each of the capability levels has only one generic goal that describes the institutionalisation that an organisation must achieve at that capability level. There are generic goals in every process area, one for each capability level

Generic goals are called generic because they are applicable in multiple process areas. Contrast this with Specific Goals which are unique to individual Process Areas.

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Generic Practices (GPs)

Generic practices are activities that ensure that the activities of a given process area are effective, repeatable and lasting.

Generic practices contribute to the achievement of the generic goal.

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Required, Expected and Informative Model Components

• Specific Goals and Generic Goals are required. These model components are essential to achieving process improvement in a given process area and are used in appraisals to determine process area capability

• Specific Practices and Generic Practices are expected. These model components explain what is typically done in meeting goals. Acceptable alternative practices are permitted

• Any other facts about the CMMI are informative, simply providing details about the model

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Capability Levels

• A capability level consists of a generic goal and its related generic practices that can improve the organization’s processes associated with a process area.

• Capability levels provide a scale for measuring your processes against each process area in a CMMI model.

• There are five capability levels in V1.2 and three in V1.3.

• Each level is a layer in the foundation for continuous process improvement.

• Capability levels are cumulative (i.e., a higher capability level includes the practices of the lower levels).

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Applicable at CL1

GG1: Achieve Specific GoalsGP 1.1: Perform Specific Practices

Applicable at CL2

GG2: Institutionalise a Managed Process

GP 2.1: Establish an organisational policy

GP 2.2: Plan the process

GP 2.3: Provide Resources

GP 2.4: Assign Responsibility

GP 2.5: Train People

GP 2.6: Manage Configurations

GP 2.7: Identify and Involve Relevant Sakeholders

GP 2.8: Monitor and Control the Process

GP 2.9: Objectively Evaluate Adherence

GP 2.10:Review Status with Higher Level Management

Applicable at CL3

GG3: Institutionalise a Defined Process

GP 3.1: Establish a Defined Process

GP 3.2: Collect Improvement Information

Applicable at CL4

GG4: Institutionalise a Quantitatively Managed Process

GP 4.1: Establish Quantitative objectives for the process

GP 4.2: Stabilize Subprocess Performance

Applicable at CL5

GG5: Institutionalise an Optimizing Process

GP 5.1: Ensure Continuous Process Improvement

GP 5.2: Correct Root Causes of Problems

Capability Levels within CMMIV1.2

CMMI V1.3 – No CL 4 or 5

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Incomplete – Failure to reach CL1

• Process is either not performed or only partially performed in that one or more of the specific goals for a process area at level 1 are not satisfied.

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Capability Level 1:Performed

• All specific goals of the process area are satisfied but definition, planning, monitoring and control of the process may be unstable leading to problems of inconsistency in performing the process

• The GG here is simply to achieve the specific goals of the process area.

GG1: Achieve Specific Goals

GP1.1:Perform Specific Practices

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Incomplete and CL 1:Example Supplier Agreement Management PA

At CL1 the SGs of the SAM PA are:SG1 Establish Supplier Agreement

SP1.1 Determine acquisition typeSP1.2 Select SuppliersSP1.3 Establish Supplier Agreements

SG2 Satisfy Supplier AgreementsSP2.1 Execute the Supplier AgreementSP2.2 Monitor selected supplier processesSP2.3 Evaluate selected supplier work productsSP2.4 Accept the acquired productSP2.5 Transition Products

If an organisation for example has a poor method of selecting suppliers (say simply by relying on advice from some individual in the organisation) and maybe fails to transition products formally then it has partially failed in both specific goals for the SAM PA and consequently is incomplete, failing to reach CL1 for this PA.To be at CL 1 in SAM, the organisation needs to satisfy only these two Specific Goals (SG1 and SG2) since the Generic Goal at this level simply requires that the Specific Goals be

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Capability Level 2: Managed

• A CL2 process is a managed process• A managed process is a performed process that

is also planned and executed in accordance with policy, employs skilled people having adequate resources to produce controlled outputs, involves relevant stakeholders, is monitored, controlled and reviewed and is evaluated for adherence to its process description.

• A managed process is institutionalized

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CL 2

At CL 2 we have one Generic Goal and ten Generic Practices:

GG2: Institutionalise a Managed Process

GP 2.1: Establish an organisational policy

Establish and maintain an organisational policy for planning and performing the process

GP 2.2: Plan the process

Establish and maintain the plan for performing the process

GP 2.3: Provide Resources

Provide adequate resources for performing the process, developing the work products and providing the services of the process

GP 2.4: Assign Responsibility

Assign responsibility and authority for performing the process, developing the work products and providing the services of the process

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GP 2.5: Train PeopleTrain the people performing or supporting the process as

neededGP 2.6: Manage Configurations

Place designated work products of the process under appropriate levels of configuration management

GP 2.7: Identify and Involve Relevant StakeholdersIdentify and involve the relevant stakeholders of the process

as plannedGP 2.8: Monitor and Control the Process

Monitor and control the process against the plan for performing the process and take appropriate corrective action

GP 2.9: Objectively Evaluate AdherenceObjectively evaluate adherence of the process

against the process description, standards and procedures, and address compliance

GP 2.10:Review Status with Higher Level ManagementReview the activities, status and results of the process with

higher level management and resolve issues

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CL2: SAM

For example, if an organisation had inadequate means for handling ‘issues’ with suppliers preferring always to go to contract and failed to review supplier performance (with variance in quality of goods supplied by a given supplier going unrecognised) and the organisation did not evaluate properly the performance of the SAM process against its process description (with the process actually being followed at odds with the established organisational policy) then the organisation may well fail to be at CL2 in SAM

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Capability Level 3: Defined

• A defined process is a managed process that is tailored from the organisation’s set of standard processes according to the organisation’s tailoring guidelines.

• A process description is tailored from the organisation’s set of standard processes

• The organisation’s set of standard processes are established and improved over time because process improvement information is added to the organisational process assets.

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CL 3

We have the following Generic Goal and Generic Practices:

GG3: Institutionalise a Defined Process

GP 3.1 Establish a defined process

Establish and maintain the description of a defined process

GP 3.2 Collect Improvement InformationCollect work products, measures, measurement results and improvement information derived from planning and performing the process to support the future use and improvement of the organisation’s processes and process assets

GP 3.2 Collect Process Related ExperiencesCollect process related experiences from planning and performing the process to support the future use and improvement of the organisation’s processes and process assets

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CL3: SAM

For example, an organisation may well have executed GP 2.1 and 2.2 but this simply means that a policy exists for planning and performing a SAM process and that a plan exists for the SAM process. However GP3.1raises the definitive characteristics of the SAM process.

At CL2 a Process Area such as SAM for example might still be conducted differently in various parts of the organisation, each with their own plan for doing so.

At CL3, a standard plan for performing a Process Area such as SAM exists.

Further, since we now have a standard plan for the performance of the Process Area it now makes good sense to collect improvement information…..measurement plays a key role here.

Effectively we need to apply MA to SAM (GQM to SAM).

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Capability Level 4: Quantitatively Managed (CMMIV1.2 only)

• A quantitatively managed process is a defined process that is controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques.

• Quantitative objectives for product quality, service quality and process performance are used to manage the process so that statistical predictability is achieved.

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CL 4

We have the following Generic Goal and Generic Practices:

GG 4: Institutionalise a Quantitatively Managed Process

GP 4.1: Establish Quantitative Objectives for the Process

Establish and maintain quantitative objectives for the SAM process that address quality and process performance based on customer needs and business objectives

GP 4.2: Stabilize Subprocess Performance

Stabilize the performance of one or more subprocesses to determine the ability of the SAM process to achieve the established quantitative quality and process performance objectives

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CL4: SAM

For example, an organisation may well be aware of the frequency and number of faulty delivered goods and may indeed wish to address this with the supplier involved.

However, for GP4.1, the organisation needs to have an understanding of the statistical norms for such activities either from historical data or from sources outside the organisation and set itself an objective for this measure which is quantifiable and realistic in these terms.

For GP4.2 the organisation needs to stabilize aspects of the SAM process in order to establish whether or not the process is capable of delivering on the objective.

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Capability Level 5: Optimizing(CMMIV1.2 only)

• An optimizing process is a quantitatively managed process that is changed and adapted to meet relevant current and projected business objectives

• It is process improvement here that is the issue and so quantitative process improvement objectives are set, maybe brought about by method or technological improvements.

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CL 5: Example Supplier Agreement Management PA

We have the following Generic Goal and Generic Practices:

GG5: Institutionalize an Optimizing Process

GP 5.1: Ensure Continuous Process Improvement

Ensure continuous improvement of the SAM process in fulfilling the relevant business objectives of the organisation

GP 5.2: Correct Root Causes of Problems

Identify and correct the root causes of defects and other problems in the SAM process

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CL5: SAM

For example, an organisation may well have an understanding of the statistical norms for suppliers not attending review meetings and set realistic and achievable objectives for this given its existing process. However, management has decided that tighter quality control needs to be implemented by the suppliers and has presented plans for the organisation’s suppliers. This will need almost full attendance by the suppliers at review meetings. Therefore new technology will be used to move away from formal quarterly meetings at the organisations HQ towards video conferencing. It is envisaged that this change to the process will bring about 100% participation as opposed to the 85%-90% expected success of the older approach and consequently the organisation can more effectively roll out its new plans for quality control in the suppliers.

Importantly here, process improvement is part of every person’s role and opportunities to improve the process are continually being sought (particularly as new methods and new technology act as drivers)

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Managed

Defined

Quantitatively Managed

Optimizing

The extent to which the processIs planned, performance is managed; corrective actions are taken when needed

The scope of application of the process descriptions, standards and procedures (i.e. project Vs organisation

The predictability ofProcess performance

The process is continuously improved by addressing common causes of process variation

Distinctions

CMMI V1.3

35Performed

Managed

Defined

Quantitatively Managed

Optimizing

GP1.1 CL1 SPs

GP1.1 through GP2.10CL1 SPs

GP1.1 through GP3.2CL1 SPs

GP1.1 through GP5.2CL1 SPs

GP1.1 through GP4.2CL1 SPs

Improving!CMMI-V1.3

Level 5 - Apply CAR and OPM

Level 4 - Apply QPM and OPP

To selected PA