Interpreting the CMMI (R): A Process Improvement Approach, Second Edition

Definitions

The following definitions may be helpful when considering this subject.

• Assessment: An appraisal that an organization does to and for itself for the purpose of process improvement. (ARC v1.1)

• (Process) appraisal: An examination of one or more processes by a trained team of professionals using an appraisal reference model as the basis for determining, at a minimum, strengths and weaknesses. (ARC v1.1)

• Evaluation: An appraisal in which an external group comes into an organization and examines its processes as input to a decision regarding future business. (Note: This definition is somewhat mis-leading because evaluations can be either Acquisition/Supplier Selection or Process Monitoring. Process Monitoring includes incentive/award fee decisions or risk management planning.)

• Organizational unit: That part of the organization that is the subject of an appraisal (also known as the organizational scope of the appraisal). An organizational unit deploys one or more processes that have a coherent process context and operates within a coherent set of business objectives. An organizational unit is typically part of a larger organization, although in a small organization, the organizational unit may be the entire organization. (ARC v1.1)

• (Appraisal) rating: The value assigned by an appraisal team to (1) a CMMI goal or process area, (2) the capability level of a process area, or (3) the maturity level of an organizational unit. The rating is determined by enacting the defined rating process for the appraisal method being employed. (CMMI v1.1)

We offer some words of caution. Although the definition of an assessment says "to and for itself for the purpose of process improvement," we will see that SCAMPI can also be for purposes other than process improvement.

There is also no clear definition of what it means for "the organizational unit to be part of a larger organization" under the definition of an organizational unit. Some companies game the assessment by defining the organizational scope to be only a small number of well-managed projects for the assessment to fit their agenda for securing the level rating and "passing" the assessment. With all assessments, some planning must be done to align model scope and method details to the organization's business needs and objectives. However, it is up to the Lead Appraiser to keep the organization honest and to ensure that the organizational unit is clearly identified in the appraisal report.

As discussed in previous chapters, appraisals consider three categories of model components as defined in the CMMI:

1. Required: specific and generic goals only

2. Expected: specific and generic practices only

3. Informative: includes subpractices and typical work products

The appraisal team must find an indication that projects and organizational groups within the organization unit are satisfying the required specific and generic goals. Appraisal teams generally look at the practices associated with the goals to decide whether or not the goals have been met. This is done through examination of project and organizational practices to see that they are "compliant with" or support the specific and generic practices. All the practices are really expected. Because a lot of practices are written to cover all kinds of situations, the informative material provides clarification . The appraisal teams use subpractices and typical work products to clarify the meaning of the practices and goals.