UNIT I

Software Process Maturity

Software Process Maturity refers to the evaluation of the processes involved in software
development and management. It helps organizations assess and improve their software
development practices, aiming for higher quality, efficiency, and predictability. One popular
framework for measuring software process maturity is the Capability Maturity Model Integration
(CMMI).
Process Reference Models
Capability Maturity Model (CMM), CMMI, PCMM, PSP, TSP.

Part-1 software Process

Software Maturity Framework

The CMM focuses on the capability of software organizations to produce high- quality products
consistently and predictably. Software process capability is the inherent ability of a software
process to produce planned results.
• DEFINITION (Process) A sequence of steps performed for a given purpose. The
process integrates people, tools, and procedures.
• DEFINTION (Software Process) A set of activities, methods, practices, and
transformations that people employ to develop and maintain software and the associated
products (documents, etc.)
• DEFINTION (Software Process Capability) describes the range of expected results
that can be achieved by following a software process.
• DEFINITION (Software Process Performance) the actual results achieved by
following a software process.
• DEFINTION (Software Process Maturity) the extent to which a specific process is
explicitly defined, managed, measured, controlled, and effective. As a software
organization matures, it needs an infrastructure and culture to support its methods,
practices, and procedures so that they endure after those who originally defined them
have gone.
• DEFINTION (Institutionalization) is the building of infrastructure and culture to
support methods, practices, and procedures so that they are the ongoing way of doing
business.
Software Process Maturity Framework Five
Maturity Levels:
 Initial: Processes are unpredictable and poorly controlled.
 Managed: Processes are planned and executed in accordance with policy; success is based on achieving project
objectives.
 Defined: Processes are documented, standardized, and integrated into a coherent process for the organization.
 Quantitatively Managed: Processes are controlled using statistical and quantitative techniques.
 Optimizing: Focus is on continuous process improvement through incremental and innovative changes.

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 Basic Principles
- Automation of a poorly defined process will produce automation of poorly defined results
- Improvement should be made in some steps
- Educate/Train, Educate/Train, , Educate/Train
Principles of Software Process Change Software
process management has 2 key areas
 People
 Design methods
People: A good mix of talent is required. The best people are always in short supply. You
probably have about the best team you can get right now. With proper leadership, education,
training and support, most people can do better work than they are currently doing.
Design: When domain knowledge is combined with the ability to produce a good design, a
quality product will result.

Six Basic Principles of Software Process Change

1. Major changes to the software process must start at the top

- Major changes requires leadership. Managers must provide good leadership, even
though they may not do the work; they must set priorities: furnish resources and provide
continuing support.
2. Ultimately, everyone must be involved.
- With an immature software process, software professionals are forced to improvise
solutions. in a mature process, these individual actions are more structured, efficient and
reinforcing. People are the most important aspect. It's necessary to focus on repairing the
process and not the people.
3. Effective changes require the team to have common goals and knowledge of the
current process.
- An effective change program requires a reasonable understanding of the current status.
An assessment is an effective way to gain this understanding. Software professionals
generally need most help in controlling requirements., coordinating changes, making
plans. managing interdependencies and coping with system design issues.

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 4. Change is continuous
- One of the most difficult things for a management team to recognize is that human
interactive processes are never static. Both problems and people are in constant flux, and
this fluidity all for periodic adjustment of tasks and relationships. In dealing with these
dynamics, 3 points are important.
- Relative changes generally make things worse
-Every defect is an improvement opportunity
-Crisis prevention is more important than crisis recovery
5. Software process changes will not be retained without conscious effort and periodic
reinforcements
- Precise and accurate work is hard. Its rarely sustained for long without reinforcement.
Human adoption of new process methods involves 4 stages
- Installation, Practice , Proficiency , Naturalness
6. Software process improvement requires investment
- While the need for dedicating resources to improvement seems self- evident it's
surprising how often managers rely on exhorting their people to try harder
- To improve the aft rare process someone must work on it
- Unplanned process improvement is wishful thinking.
A software process assessment is a disciplined examination of the software processes used by
an organization, based on a process model. The assessment includes the identification and
characterization of current practices, identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses, and the
ability of current practices to control or avoid significant causes of poor (software) quality, cost,
and schedule.
A software assessment (or audit) can be of three types.
 A self-assessment (first-party assessment) is performed internally by an organization's
own personnel.
 A second-party assessment is performed by an external assessment team or the
organization is assessed by a customer.
 A third-party assessment is performed by an external party or (e.g., a supplier being
assessed by a third party to verify its ability to enter contracts with a customer).
Software process assessments are performed in an open and collaborative environment. They
are for the use of the organization to improve its software

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 processes, and the results are confidential to the organization. The organization being assessed
must have members on the assessment team.
Software Process Maturity Assessment
A Software Process Maturity Assessment is a structured evaluation of an organization’s
software development processes. The goal is to identify strengths, weaknesses, and
opportunities for improvement, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective software
delivery. Here’s a detailed guide on how to conduct a Software Process Maturity
Assessment:
 The organization being investigated must be determined. For a large company, several
definitions of organization are possible and therefore the actual scope of appraisal may
differ in successive assessments.
 Even in what appears to be the same organization, the sample of projects selected to
represent the organization may affect the scope and outcome.
When the target unit of assessment is at the project level, the assessment should include all
meaningful factors that contribute to the success or failure of the project. It should not be
limited by established dimensions of a given process maturity model. Here the degree of
implementation and their effectiveness as substantiated by project data are assessed.
Process maturity becomes relevant when an organization intends to embark on an overall long-
term improvement strategy. Software project assessments should be independent assessments in
order to be objective.
Software Process Assessment Cycle
According to Paulk and colleagues (1995), the CMM-based assessment approach uses a six-step
cycle. They are −
 Select a team - The members of the team should be professionals knowledgeable in
software engineering and management.
 The representatives of the site to be appraised complete the standard process maturity
questionnaire.

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  The assessment team performs an analysis of the questionnaire responses and identifies
the areas that warrant further exploration according to the CMM key process areas.
 The assessment team conducts a site visit to gain an understanding of the software
process followed by the site.
 The assessment team produces a list of findings that identifies the strengths and
weakness of the organization's software process.
 The assessment team prepares a Key Process Area (KPA) profile analysis and presents
the results to the appropriate audience.
For example, the assessment team must be led by an authorized SEI Lead Assessor. The team
must consist of between four to ten team members. At least, one team member must be from the
organization being assessed, and all team members must complete the SEI's Introduction to the
CMM course (or its equivalent) and the SEI's CBA IPI team training course. Team members
must also meet some selection guidelines.
With regard to data collection, the CBA IPI relies on four methods −

 The standard maturity questionnaire

 Individual and group interviews
 Document reviews
 Feedback from the review of the draft findings with the assessment
participants

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 SCAMPI
The Standard CMMI Assessment Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI) was developed
to satisfy the CMMI model requirements (Software Engineering Institute, 2000). It is also based
on the CBA IPI. Both the CBA IPI and the SCAMPI consist of three phases −

 Plan and preparation

 Conduct the assessment onsite
 Report results
The activities for the plan and preparation phase include −

 Identify the assessment scope

 Develop the assessment plan
 Prepare and train the assessment team
 Make a brief assessment of participants
 Administer the CMMI Appraisal Questionnaire
 Examine the questionnaire responses
 Conduct an initial document review
The activities for the onsite assessment phase include −

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  Conduct an opening meeting
 Conduct interviews
 Consolidate information
 Prepare the presentation of draft findings
 Present the draft findings
 Consolidate, rate, and prepare the final findings

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 Part -2 Process Reference Models

Capability Maturity Model(CMM)

What is CMM?
CMM, or Capability Maturity Model, is a framework used to assess and improve the processes involved in
software development and other organizational practices. It provides a structured approach for
organizations to evaluate their current processes and identify areas for improvement.
CMM was first introduced in late 80's in U.S Air Force to evaluate the work of subcontractors.
Later on, with improved version, it was implemented to track the quality of the software
development system.

The entire CMM level is divided into five levels.

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  Level 1 (Initial): Where requirements for the system are usually uncertain,
misunderstood and uncontrolled. The process is usually chaotic and ad-hoc.
 Level 2 (Managed): Estimate project cost, schedule, and functionality. Software
standards are defined
 Level 3 (Defined): Makes sure that product meets the requirements and intended
use
 Level 4 (Quantitatively Managed): Manages the project's processes and sub- processes
statistically
 Level 5 (Maturity): Identify and deploy new tools and process
improvements to meet needs and business objectives

Limitations of CMM Models

 CMM determines what a process should address instead of how it should be

implemented
 It does not explain every possibility of software process improvement
 It concentrates on software issues but does not consider strategic business planning,
adopting technologies, establishing product line and managing human resources
 It does not tell on what kind of business an organization should be in
 CMM will not be useful in the project having a crisis right now

Why Use CMM?

Today CMM act as a "seal of approval" in the software industry. It helps in various ways to
improve the software quality.

 It guides towards repeatable standard process and hence reduce the learning time on
how to get things done
 Practicing CMM means practicing standard protocol for development, which means it not
only helps the team to save time but also gives a clear view of what to do and what to
expect
 The quality activities gel well with the project rather than thought of as a separate
event
 It acts as a commuter between the project and the team
 CMM efforts are always towards the improvement of the process

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 Capability maturity model integration (CMMI) is an approach or methodology for improving
and refining the software development process within an organization. It is based on a process
model or a structured collection of practices.
CMMI is used to guide the improvement process across a project, division or even an entire
organizational structure. It also allows companies to integrate organizational functions that are
traditionally separate, set goals for process improvements and priorities, provide guidance for
quality processes, and act as a point of reference for appraising processes.
Difference between CMM and CMMI

1. CMM came first but was later improved and was succeeded by CMMI.
2. Different sets of CMMS have problems with overlaps, contradictions, and lack of
standardization. CMMI later addressed these problems.
3. Initially, CMM describes specifically about software engineering whereas CMMI
describes integrated processes and disciplines as it applies both to software and
systems engineering.
4. CMMI is much more useful and universal than the older CMM.

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 People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM)

The People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) is a framework developed to help organizations improve
their workforce practices and enhance the capabilities of their people. It focuses on the processes related to
managing and developing human resources, emphasizing the importance of talent management in
achieving organizational goals.
1. At PCMM Level 1, an organization has no consistent way of performing workforce practices.
Most workforce practices are applied without analysis of impact.
2. At PCMM Level 2, organizations establish a foundation on which they deploy common
workforce practices across the organization. The goal of Level 2 is to have managers take
responsibility for managing and developing their people. For example, the first benefit an
organization experiences as it achieves Level 2 is a reduction in voluntary turnover. The turnover
costs that are avoided by improved workforce retention more than pay for the improvement costs
associated with achieving Level 2.
3. At PCMM Level 3, the organization identifies and develops workforce competencies and aligns
workforce and work group competencies with business strategies and objectives. For example,
the workforce practices that were implemented at Level 2 are now standardized and adapted to
encourage and reward growth in the organization’s workforce competencies.
4. At PCMM Level 4, the organization empowers and integrates workforce competencies and
manages performance quantitatively. For example, the organization is able to predict its
capability for performing work because it can quantify the capability of its workforce and of the
competency-based processes they use in performing their assignments.
5. At PCMM Level 5, the organization continuously improves and aligns personal, work-group,
and organizational capability. For example, at Maturity Level 5, organizations treat continuous
improvement as an orderly business process to be performed in an orderly way on a regular
basis.

The People Capability Maturity Model was designed initially for knowledge- intense
organizations and workforce management processes. However, it can be applied in almost any
organizational setting, either as a guide in implementing workforce improvement activities or as
a vehicle for assessing workforce practices.

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 Personal Software Process (PSP)

 The Personal Software Process (PSP) shows engineers how to

- manage the quality of their projects
- make commitments they can meet
- improve estimating and planning
- reduce defects in their products
PSP emphasizes the need to record and analyze the types of errors you make, so you
can develop strategies eliminate them.

PSP model Framework Activities

 Planning – isolates requirements and based on these develops both size & resource
estimates. A defect estimate is made.
 High level Design – external specification of all components. All issues are recorded and
tracked.
 High level Design Review- formal verification to uncover errors
 Development- metrics are maintained for all important tasks & work results.
 Postmortem- using measures & metrics collected effectiveness of process is determined
an improved.
Because personnel costs constitute 70 percent of the cost of software development, the
skills and work habits of engineers largely determine the results of the software
development process.
Based on practices found in the CMMI, the PSP can be used by engineers as a guide to a
disciplined and structured approach to developing software. The

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 PSP is a prerequisite for an organization planning to introduce the TSP.

 The PSP can be applied to many parts of the software development process, including
- small-program development
- requirement definition
- document writing
- systems tests
- systems maintenance
- enhancement of large software systems

Team Software Process (TSP)

 The Team Software Process (TSP), along with the Personal Software Process,
helps the high-performance engineer to
- ensure quality software products

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 - create secure software products
- improve process management in an organization

TSP Framework Activities

 Launch high level design
 Implementation
 Integration
 Test
 postmortem
 Engineering groups use the TSP to apply integrated team concepts to the development
of software-intensive systems. A launch process walksteams and their managers
through
- establishing goals
- defining team roles
- assessing risks
- producing a team plan

Benefits of TSP
 The TSP provides a defined process framework for managing, tracking and reporting
the team's progress.
 Using TSP, an organization can build self-directed teams that plan and track their work,
establish goals, and own their processes and plans. These can be pure software teams or
integrated product teams of 3 to 20 engineers.
 TSP will help your organization establish a mature and disciplined
engineering practice that produces secure, reliable software.

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