Achieving IT Results with Best Practices

Orange County Business Journal, Feb 19-Feb 25, 2007

Why Implement Best Practices

Whether it's your internal IT organization or an outside IT provider, delivery of quality IT results on-time and within budget is paramount. But, how do you ensure that the desired results are achieved? One-way is to implement the use of best practices In your IT organization. Best practices are the measurable, repeatable processes that ensure deliverables are consistently achieved. But what best practices should organizations implement?

ITresources decided to implement IT best practices, initially to improve its own track record of delivery. Although we had a detailed systems development methodology, consistent results were not being achieved. The IT results that we sought were predictable estimates, predictable schedules and highquality. The primary benefit though is to our clients. ITresources is able to guarantee the delivery of defect-free solutions, on-time and within budget. To achieve best practices within its organization, ITresources embarked on implementing industry-wide accepted certifications - Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), Help Desk Institute Site Certification and SAS 70 Compliance.

Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

ITresources selected the Capability Maturity Model as the framework to guide our process improvements in Application Development activities. The Capability Maturity Model was developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a federally-funded research and development center, located at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was developed at the request of the Department of Defense, as a standard to be used for their software provisioning partners. The model was based on surveys of successful software companies.

CMM is used to measure the process maturity ot a software development organization. It provides a scale that can be used to compare software contractors: the higher the process maturity of an organization, the lower the risk. CMM is also a model for organizational improvement, the model is based on a five level scale, where each level contains several Key Process Areas, or KPAs. Each Key Process Area has a purpose, goals and activities, !o satisfy a KPA, an organization must demonstrate:

* Commitment to Perform (Company Policy)

* Ability to Perform (Appropriate Skills, !raining, Resources)

* Activities Performed (Evidence of Specific Actions)

* Measurement and Analysis (Quantitative Analysis)

* Verification (Ensure Compliance with Process)

The five levels of the Capability Maturity Model are represented in the chart below, !he Key Process Areas represent functional characteristics of an organization, !o obtain a level, you must satisfy all the Key Process Areas at that level. v

Characteristics

LEVEL 1 - INITIAL

* Not assessed

* Adhoc processes, no consistency between projects

* "Hero" dominated, project success often requires extraordinary efforts and overtime

LEVEL 2 - REPEATABLE

* Requirements Management

* Software Project Planning

* Software Project Tracking and Oversight

* Software Subcontract Management

* Software Configuration Management

LEVEL 3 - DEFINED

* Organization Process Focus

* Organization Process Definition

* Integrated Software Management

* Software Product Engineering

* Intergroup Coordination

* Peer Reviews

LEVEL 4 - MANAGED

* Qualitative Process Management

* Software Quality Management

LEVEL 5 - OPTIMIZING

* Defect Prevention

* Technology Change Management

* Process Change Management

ITresources tried to manage the process improvement implementation ourselves, but found that it was a slow progression due to the complexities of the model and its requirements. We made the decision to engage a SEI Certified Lead Assessor of CMM, to assist us in implementing the processes and procedures that met and often exceeded the requirements of CMM.

We began the process improvement activities in 1999 and reached Level 5 in only four years; the average length of time among other firms achieving CMM Level 5 is eight years. Strong executive commitment and company-wide involvement enabled our accelerated attainment of Level 5. ITresources' timeline for achieving each level was:

* Certified at Level 2 - Repeatable in November 2000

* Certified at Level 3 - Defined in August 2001

* Certified at Level 4 - Managed in October 2002, with a Perfect Score!

* Certified at Level 5 - Optimizing in October 2003, again with a Perfect Score!

Achieving Capability Maturity Model at a Level 5 was quite an achievement for ITresources. In October 2003, ITresources became only one of fourteen U.S.-based companies to have achieved Level 5. ITresources is the first company of its size ever to achieve this level and only one of two commercial firms. The majority of the CMM Level 5 firms are defense contractors.

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)

In 2005, ITresources embarked on the next logical step in process improvement - the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 5 certification. Camegie-Mellon's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) recognized the need to integrate best practices beyond software development, demanding functional excellence across all areas of an IT organization. CMMI is more comprehensive than CMM and is recognized internationally for setting stringent standards on defining design requirements, design evaluation, quantitative project management, teaming and integration, ITresources recognized that CMMI Level 5 attainment would serve to improve our ability to deliver measurable business benefits to all our clients. We found that our ability to gain CMMI Level 5 certification was significantly enhanced by our already-existing integrated approach to client service.