1

SOFTWARE PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

WHAT WORKS?

Boston SPIN April 18, 2000

Dolores McCarthyComputer Sciences Corporation

2

COMPANY BACKGROUND

• Computer Sciences Corporation

• Supporting Volpe National Transportation Center

• Project sizes vary from $3000 to $10 million

• Applications mostly information systems for

government customers

• Working on SPI since 1997

• Maturity level varies among divisions

• Many at Level 1+

• Some approaching Level 2 and 3

3

PROCESS IMPROVEMENTSTHAT WORKED

• Tracking requirements changes

• Documenting Life Cycles

• Peer reviews

• Organization charts

• Posting project schedule and updates

• Configuration management plans

• Quality assurance plans

• Test plans

4

ENABLERS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS

• SEI lead assessor in house

• Project assessments and action plans

• Training in SEI CMM

• Training in Peer Reviews

• Training in QA, CM, Test, RM

• Asset library

• Software Development Process Guide for Level 2

• Document templates

• Sample documents

• Cheerful attitude

5

IMPROVEMENTS’ EFFECTON ORGANIZATION

• CCB established

• More dialogue and agreement among implementers

• Less confusion

• Roles and responsibilities clarified

• Improved morale

• Better management insight into project

• Peer reviews find problems early - improve productivity

• Success genders success by example

• Reaching for more improvement

6

FACTORS AFFECTING IMPROVEMENT

• Organization level SEPG had a charter

• Weekly meetings of SEPG

• Status reports to upper management

• Establishment of organization SPI assets

• Advertising

• Large or small projects need a champion

• Customer needs to agree if costs are substantial

• Training and awareness essential

7

HOW LONG FOR IMPROVEMENT?

• Projects vary

• Sometimes a week, as with a document template

or sample document

• Sometimes a few weeks, as with implementing CM

• Sometimes longer depending on culture and customer

• At least a year and a half if reaching for Level 2 and 3

8

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Work in reality• Set expectations• Report results• Praise • Place SPI assets on an intranet• Research to update assets• Hang in for the long term• Spread the good news• Just-in-time training• Make changes gradually• Be flexible• Stay positive