Part of The SEI Series in Software Engineering, this book offers a concise andpractical guide to the standard CMMI appraisal method. This method is veryimportant, as it is used to determine an organization's capability and maturitylevels (which are often used as criteria in awarding government and defenseorientedbids). SCAMPI specifically stands for: The Standard CMMI AppraisalMethod for Process Improvement. These authors have considerable experiencein helping their organizations appraise their respective levels of maturity inrelation to the CMMI. In this handy new book, they impart their advice on notonly achieving an accurate assessment, but also what next steps need to betaken for further process improvement.

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New Aspects of the CMMI SCAMPI Method

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Figure List.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

About the Authors.

I. WHY SCAMPI NOW?

1. Process Appraisal Strategies.

Process Improvement Models and CMMI

The CMMI Product Suite Today–V1.1

Lean

Six Sigma

ISO 9000

Agile

Integrating Appraisal Efforts

Summary

II. SCAMPI APPRAISALS.

2. New Aspects of the SCAMPI Method.

From Discovery to Verification

Focused Investigations

For EIA 731 Users

Summary

3. SCAMPI Class A Method Definition.

Background

Scampi PIIDs

Preparation–Before Going Off to the Races

Conducting an Appraisal

And in Conclusion

Summary

4. SCAMPI Class B and C Appraisal Methods.

Scampi C Method Overview

Scampi B Method Overview

Using the Integrated Suite of SCAMPI Methods

Using SCAMPI Methods as “Stand Alone”

5. SCAMPI for Internal Process Improvement.

Preparation Is Critical

The Appraisal Team

The Appraisal Team’s Timeline

6. SCAMPI for External Audits.

Appraisal Objectives

Requirements for External Appraisals

The Appraisal Team

Issues for External Appraisals

III. USING SCAMPI.

7. SCAMPI Implementation Issues.

Deploying CMMI-Compliant Processes

Objective Evidence

Appraisal Strategies Across Disciplines

Initial Process Improvement Efforts

Overlaps in CMMI

Importance of Documentation

Appraisal Sponsor Considerations

Roles in CMMI

High Maturity Organizations

Tools

Appraisal of a Multiorganization Program

The Recipe.

Appendix A. Glossary.

Appendix B. Practice Implementation Descriptions.

SEI Figure Credit List.

Index.

Preface

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a new way of approaching integrated, model-based process improvement for engineering development.¹ This book describes an appraisal method that is a part of the CMMI Product Suite. The method is called the Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement, or SCAMPI. (The team was really cookin' when it came up with this acronym!) To use SCAMPI to perform an appraisal on your organization is a significant effort that can require a major investment of resources. This book will help you to better understand what SCAMPI is, and how you can make your investment in process improvement pay off.

One primary reason for you to select a model (such as CMMI) as a tool to improve the quality of your organization's processes and products is that the model contains established "best practices," which can comprise a consistent long-term focus for process improvement planning. In addition to these best practices, the model provides a framework by which your processes may be improved in defined increments, so that their capability to produce planned results is increased. You can use a SCAMPI appraisal not only to identify process improvement opportunities, but also to measure your progress and establish a benchmark (against the CMMI model) that characterizes how far your organization is along the road to increased process capability. These results can be used to chart improvements over time, or to make comparisons among different parts of your organization or across different organizations.²

Purpose

This book has a fourfold purpose. First, we wish to explore and clarify model-based process improvement and how it compares and relates to other current approaches to increasing your organization's process capability and performance. As you invest resources in process improvement, how much of that investment should be in CMMI and conducting SCAMPI appraisals? Second, we will present salient aspects of the new SCAMPI method. This information is essential to making a SCAMPI appraisal benefit your organization. Third, we will compare and contrast the "internal" use of SCAMPI as a process improvement tool to the "external" use of SCAMPI as a tool for evaluating potential suppliers, or monitoring existing suppliers. Finally, we wish to explore strategic decisions for using SCAMPI appraisals in different kinds of organizations.

Audience

The primary intended audience for this book is any member of an engineering development organization who has a role in promoting internal process improvement or in appraising the process capability of suppliers.³ Whether you chose this role or someone chose it for you (such things happen, occasionally), you should be able use this book to understand and make good decisions about CMMI SCAMPI appraisals. Our audience includes executives, middle managers, team leaders, acquisition specialists, quality specialists, marketing personnel, process improvement champions, and the often overlooked and overworked process improvement practitioners.

Executives who sponsor a SCAMPI appraisal will find guidance on the key decisions that they will confront during the planning for and execution of an appraisal, and will gain a better understanding of the benefits that they can expect. Middle managers, and team leaders, as well as program or project managers will find information about their roles during the conduct of an appraisal. Their key role is to supply information to the appraisal team on the processes actually followed by the organization. Those with an acquirer role will learn about the value and limitations of using SCAMPI appraisal results in supplier selection and monitoring. Of course, quality specialists have a central role in any process improvement effort or any appraisal of such an effort, and they will learn again why their role is so important. Did we say marketing personnel? You bet! Because acquirers may want to know about the CMMI rating of a potential supplier, those in marketing will gain an understanding of what such ratings mean and the value for their customers in being an organization with established, capable processes.

Process improvement champions need to build and maintain support for ongoing improvement activities, and when the time comes for an appraisal, they will be getting questions from all sides:

How much did you say this is going to cost?
You need us to provide evidence of what?
Is this really going to help us?
Why do we need to change this procedure when it's worked for us up until now?

And so on, and so on.

Most of what we present in this book will help process improvement champions deal with such questions and the stressful environment in which they are asked (but they are on their own in finding a good therapist). Those who implement process improvement have many roles to play in a SCAMPI appraisal, including gathering the objective evidence that an appraisal team needs to do its work and being interviewed during the appraisal. We will provide sufficient information to perform such roles well.

Speaking of appraisal teams, both SCAMPI lead appraisers and SCAMPI appraisal team members are an important part of our intended audience. They have the task of appraising organizational compliance against the CMMI model and assuring that the appraisal method is properly followed. As team members, they may or may not be part of the organization that is undergoing the appraisal. An organization may want an SEI-qualified lead appraiser from outside the organization in order to increase the perception that the results are reliable and sufficiently objective. A division of a large corporation may wish to bring in some team members from other locations, divisions, or sectors to introduce multiple perspectives. Whatever its makeup, the appraisal team has a key role in promoting process improvement across the organization. The information in this book can serve as a useful supplement to the training that those on the appraisal team receive.

Often, we suppose, you may have picked up this book because you have just been told that you are about to be interviewed by an appraisal team as part of a SCAMPI appraisal, and you aren't really sure what it is about or how to prepare. Don't panic! Read on!

Organization

This book is divided into three major parts.

Part I, "Why SCAMPI Now?" provides a summary of the CMMI Product Suite today, including the project, models, appraisal methods, and training. Part I also sets the stage by reviewing process appraisal strategies in the context of a process improvement model, as well as related techniques, quality initiatives, international standards, and other approaches that may affect how you address process improvement in your organization. It explores the question of whether an appraisal you conduct using an integrated model (like CMMI) must mandate that there are integrated processes in the organization.

Part II, "SCAMPI Appraisals," describes SCAMPI appraisals in detail. First, distinctive new aspects of the SCAMPI method are presented as a way of orienting readers who may be familiar with prior appraisal techniques, which are described briefly. Then an overview of SCAMPI includes its basic features, its modes of use (process improvement, supplier selection, and process monitoring), the sources for objective evidence that the appraisal team reviews, and indicators that the CMMI model practices have been implemented in the organization. The appraisal itself has three parts, including

Preparation with the appraisal sponsor on objectives, plans, scope, team training, and data gathering
On-site activities that start with reviewing data and conducting interviews, which is followed by generating preliminary observations, findings, and (possibly) ratings
Production and report on the final appraisal results and subsequent follow-on activities
The SCAMPI method family consists of SCAMPI A, which is a "class A" (most rigorous) appraisal, and the less rigorous and less costly SCAMPI B and SCAMPI C methods that you can use either for their intrinsic benefits or as you lay the groundwork for a SCAMPI A appraisal.

Part II concludes by reviewing and contrasting SCAMPI as an appraisal tool for internal process improvement with SCAMPI as an appraisal tool used by an external entity, such as a customer. While SCAMPI is an integrated method that supports both uses, we explore how those uses may vary depending on its mode of use.

Having laid the foundation with a full presentation of SCAMPI, Part III, "Using SCAMPI," concludes with the discussion of various issues having to do with appraisals and process improvement. How can appraisals benefit an organization just starting process improvement, as opposed to a (so-called) high-maturity organization? How are appraisals best conducted across various disciplines, such as software and systems engineering? How does an organization comply with a CMMI model, conduct a successful SCAMPI appraisal, and at the same time meet the requirements of other standards and quality initiatives and respond adequately to customer-driven needs?

Two appendices are provided. The first is a glossary that defines special terms used by CMMI and SCAMPI and the second describes sample artifacts that an organization might use to show compliance with the CMMI practices.

The CMMI project is an ongoing effort, so something as time-restricted as a book must be adjusted as time passes and things change. We strived to provide you with information that is both timely and of lasting value, but it is important for you to have access to the latest information. To this end, the publisher has agreed to support this volume with updates through its Web site (http://www.awprofessional.com) and with further editions as appropriate.

Footnotes
¹ Two books are available that present the CMMI models, and they are recommended as good sources for an understanding of what CMMI is all about. CMMI Distilled, Second Edition (Ahern, D., Clouse, A., and Turner, R., Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2004) concisely describes the models and other parts of the CMMI Product Suite, while also providing practical guidance on the use of those materials. CMMI: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement (Chrissis, M.B., Konrad, M., and Shrum, S., Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2003) introduces the CMMI models, presents a detailed case study of their use, and explains the entire CMMI model (filling most of the book), with all the model variants merged together into a single presentation.

² Opinions may vary on the value of, or the degree of objectivity in, comparisons across organizations based on SCAMPI appraisals. In this book we will explore reasons for the various opinions on this topic. Clearly, when an acquirer uses a measure of process capability as part of the basis for selecting a supplier and a supplier organization prospers or fails based on such choices, there is a lot of interest in making SCAMPI appraisals sufficiently objective.

³ Many of the same principles and techniques for process improvement that apply in engineering development organizations can apply more broadly in other kinds of organizations. CMMI was sponsored and developed with an eye to its application in engineering development, but much of it may find useful application in a broader context.

CMMI SCAMPI Distilled: Appraisals for Process Improvement

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