Chalinda Abeykoon's List: Quality Certification

• enhancing the quality and reliability of the services
• we launched it as a project with a clear project owner and senior sponsors in the IT community.
• sessions between the sponsors and the project owner and her team, we had a plan of attack:
• 1. Map our IT processes to CMMI levels and to ITIL to ensure that we have a clear understanding about which standard is to be used for which process.
• Later steps such as deployment to production, support and continuous optimization fall into the ITIL best practices perimeter…
• CMMI Level 2
• Seven Process areas
• Requirements Management, Project Planning, Project Monitoring and Control, Supplier Agreement Management, Measurement and Analysis, Process and Product Quality Assurance and Configuration Management
• CMMI Level 2 is clearly focused on project management and support
• CMMI Level 3
• Eighteen Process areas
• Requirements Development, Technical Solution, Product Integration, Verification, Validation, Organization Process Focus, Organization Process Definition, Organization Training, Integrated Project Management, Risk Management and Decision Analysis and Resolution.
• The scope at this level is the entire organization
• Assess the alternative scenarios
• • Maturity Level 2 followed by Level 3 with our entire organization in scope
   
  • Go direct to Maturity Level 3 with our entire organization in scope
   
  • Maturity Level 2 followed by Level 3 but with limited scope (for example a subset of the applications’ domains)
   
  • Go direct to Maturity Level 3 but with limited scope
•  Maturity Level 2 followed by Level 3 with our entire organization in scope
• to adopt a step by step approach; we will achieve intermediate milestones that validate the efforts and progress and boost motivation; it facilitates change management as we progressively get more managers and PMs educated
• It ensures availability of necessary process infrastructure when we embark upon the Level 3 objective.
• 4. Define and implementation approach that suits us
• CMMI Level 2
• selecting projects across our organization based on their business criticality, technical complexity and annual budget.
• second step, prepare for Level 3, we will generalize CMMI best practices across the organization
• 5. Along the way we identified our Critical Success Factors
• 100% commitment of the IT Leaders
• very simple and straightforward governance
• Resources needs clearly identified and committed

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• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for Information Technology Services Management (ITSM), Information Technology (IT) development and IT operations.
• detailed descriptions of a number of important IT practices and provides comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that any IT organization can tailor to its needs

• ITSM is process-focused and in this sense has ties and common interests with process improvement movement (e.g., TQM, Six Sigma, Business Process Management, CMMI) frameworks and methodologies.
• focuses upon providing a framework to structure IT-related activities and the interactions of IT technical personnel with business customers and users.
• IT service management (ITSM or IT services) is a discipline for managing information technology (IT) systems
• centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business.
• IT Service Management is frequently cited^{[by whom?]} as a primary enabler of information technology governance (or information management) objectives.
• In the UK for example, the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a government-developed ITSM framework, is often paired with the PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) project methodology and Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method for systems development.
• Professional organizations
• There is an international, chapter-based professional association, the IT Service Management Forum (ITSMF)
• which has a semi-official relationship^{[weasel words]} with ITIL and the ITSM audit standard ISO/IEC 20000. There is also a global professional association, the IT Service Management Professionals Association (IT-SMPa)
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library
• IT Service Management is often equated with the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, (ITIL) an official publication of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom
• ITIL also covers a number of related but distinct disciplines
• split into two sections, Service Support and Service Delivery
• "Service Management" section of ITIL version 2 was made up of eleven different disciplines
• Other frameworks and concern with the overhead
• Lighter weight
• ITSM approaches include
• ITIL Small-scale Implementation^[4] colloquially called “ITIL Lite” is an official part of the ITIL framework.
• Core Practice

   

  (CoPr or “copper”) calls for limiting Best Practice to areas where there is a business case for it, and in other areas just doing the minimum necessary.
• Governance and audit
• benchmarks and assessment criteria have emerged that seek to measure the capability of an organization and the maturity of its approach to service management.
• alternatives provide a focus on compliance and measurement
• therefore are more aligned with corporate governance than with IT service management per se.
• • ISO/IEC 20000 (and its ancestor BS15000). This standard is not identical in taxonomy to ITIL and includes a number of additional requirements not detailed within ITIL and some differences. Adopting ITIL best practices is therefore a good first step for organizations wishing to achieve ISO 20000 certification for their IT Service Management processes.
   
  • COBIT (or the lighter COBIT Quickstart) is comprehensive and widely embraced. It incorporates IT Service Management within its Control Objectives for Support and Delivery

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• Considerations for CMMI Level 4 for Systems/Software product development and deployment

• The Levels of CMMI:

   
   
  1. Process unpredictable, poorly controlled and reactive
   
  2. Process characterized for projects and is often reactive
   
  3. Process characterized for the organization.
   
  4. Process measured and statistically controlled
   
  5. Emphasis on continuous improvement in the process with a goal of more fully meeting the cost/performance objectives of the organization.
• Key activities for CMMI Level 4 include
• Set the organizational Process Performance goals and establish a Quantitative Project Management methods to ensure
• processes are measured and statistically controlled.
• Select processes that support the organizational goals.
• You need a valid estimating process that provides a confidence based project plan
• You need to measure cost and schedule at team task level
• Predict future project performance (actual estimate based on past performance not a belief that the project performance will improve with no external action)
• Take �optimal� corrective actions early
• • Develop organizational baselines that can be used to monitor project predictions based on past performance and enforce corrective action when baselines are breached, ie establish the upper and lower control limits that force project corrective action.
   
  • Use a predictive model such as a Performance Based Earned Value Model to predict the project future performance
   
  • Take corrective action to mitigate risks, improve performance, prevent issues, and optimize project performance.

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• standard for software engineering metamodelling for development methodologies
• ISO/IEC 24744 Software Engineering — Metamodel for Development Methodologies
• provides an agreed-upon set of words (a vocabulary), plus their corresponding meanings (their semantics), that can be used to describe methodologies used to develop software, hardware and other similar products
• From a technical viewpoint, ISO/IEC 24744 is based on the principles of method engineering and departs from the strict modelling paradigm sponsored by the Object Management Group, using instead an extension of the object-oriented approach that incorporates powertype patterns and clabjects

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• ISO/IEC 20000 is the first international standard for IT Service Management
• promotes the adoption of an integrated process approach to effectively deliver managed services to meet the business and customer requirements

• It comprises ten sections:

   
   
  • Scope
   
  • Terms & Definitions
   
  • Planning and Implementing Service Management
   
  • Requirements for a Management System
   
  • Planning & Implementing New or Changed Services
   
  • Service Delivery Processes
   
  • Relationship Processes
   
  • Control Processes
   
  • Resolution Processes
   
  • Release Process.
• framework, although it equally supports other IT Service Management frameworks and approaches including Microsoft Operations Framework and components of ISACA's COBIT framework
• originally developed to reflect best practice guidance contained within the ITIL
• It comprises two parts: a specification for IT Service Management and a code of practice for service management

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• The IS0 10006 guideline outlines quality management principles and   practices as they relate to the management of projects. It provides   the guidance on quality issues that impact projects. It is applicable   to projects of varying complexity, size and length. The guidelines   can be applied to projects managed by an
    individual or by a team or for a program (large project comprised   of smaller but interrelated projects) or for a portfolio of projects.

• ISO 10006:2003, Quality management systems - Guidelines for quality management in projects
• gives guidance on the application of quality management in projects.
• applicable to projects of varying complexity, small or large, of short or long duration, in different environments, and irrespective of the kind of product or process involved
• ISO 10006:2003 is not a guide to "project management" itself.
• Since ISO 10006:2003 is a guidance document, it is not intended to be used for certification/registration purposes.

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• ISO/IEC 15504, also known as SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination), is a "framework for the assessment of processes"
• ISO/IEC 15504 initially was derived from process lifecycle standard ISO 12207 and from maturity models like Bootstrap, Trillium and the CMM.

• Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 is a series of guides aimed at helping information technology (IT) professionals establish and implement reliable, cost-effective services.
• Overview
• integrates community-generated processes; governance, risk, and compliance activities; management reviews, and Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) best practices.
• provide guidance across the entire IT life cycle. Completed in early 2008
• The guidance in the Microsoft Operations Framework encompasses all of the activities and processes involved in managing an IT service: its conception, development, operation, maintenance, and—ultimately—its retirement.
• Structure of MOF 4.0
• Plan Phase focuses on ensuring that, from its inception, a requested IT service is reliable, policy-compliant, cost-effective, and adaptable to changing business needs.
• Deliver Phase concerns the envisioning, planning, building, stabilization, and deployment of requested services.
• Operate Phase deals with the efficient operation, monitoring, and support of deployed services in line with agreed-to service level agreement (SLA) targets.
• Manage Layer helps users establish an integrated approach to IT service management activities through the use of risk management, change management, and controls. It also provides guidance relating to accountabilities and role types.
• 

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• BSDQ-22®   is by far, the most complex and advanced Service   Delivery Quality Standard for a BPO Organization   available anywhere in the world.
• BPO Enterprise Certification Council
• BSDQ-22® is awarded to organizations that have successfully   implemented all 22 of the Service Delivery Quality   drivers
• All BSD pre-certification activities in a country   or a geographical zone are handled by BCI's Service   Standards Audit Group (SSAG) or Authorized BSDQ®   Implementation and Audit Partner (BIAP) in that   area
• Step 1:  Organization-wide   baseline study
• compile the current state of practices, systems,   and processes etc. in accordance to SDMS Guidelines.
• Step 2: Gap analysis by BAP and   Gap Report submission to the SO for improvement   action and implementation
• Step 3: Systems restructuring   etc. to bring them in line with SDMS requirements.
• Step 4:  BSDQ-22® Final   Audit for Compliance Check and Certification Decision.

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• (COPC) for call centers is the equivalent of the CMM level certification for software firms.
• COPC is a proven system that helps achieve operational efficiency with high customer satisfaction and retention. It helps clients to develop and execute high return on their investment and frame operational improvement strategies for their contact centers.
• There are 32 essential parameters that a company has to comply with in order to get a COPC certification
• timeliness
• quality and accuracy of responses
• end-user satisfaction
• client satisfaction
• main ones being:
• speed and productivity
• efficiency
• telecommunications and computer infrastructure
• staff satisfaction and resource utilization
• compensation and training
• people policies relating to recruitment
• attrition

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• Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation, a division of IBM since 2003
• an adaptable process framework, intended to be tailored by the development organizations and software project teams that will select the elements of the process that are appropriate for their needs

• six best practices for modern software engineering:

   
   
  1. Develop iteratively, with risk as the primary iteration driver
   
  2. Manage requirements
   
  3. Employ a component-based architecture
   
  4. Model software visually
   
  5. Continuously verify quality
   
  6. Control changes
• RUP building blocks
• In January 2007, the new RUP certification examination for IBM Certified Solution Designer - Rational Unified Process 7.0 was released which replaces the previous version of the course called IBM Rational Certified Specialist - Rational Unified Process
• The new examination will not only test knowledge related to the RUP content but also to the process structure elements.
• To pass the new RUP certification examination, a person must take IBM's Test 839: Rational Unified Process v7.0. You are given 75 minutes to take the 52 question exam. The passing score is 62%

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• The Open Unified Process (OpenUP) is a part of the Eclipse Process Framework (EPF), an open source process framework developed within the Eclipse Foundation. Its goals are to make it easy to adopt the core of the RUP / Unified Process.
• OpenUP preserves the essential characteristics of RUP / Unified Process, which includes incremental development, use cases and scenarios driving development, risk management, and architecture-centric approach
• The most agile and lightweight form of OpenUP, OpenUP/Basic, targets smaller and co-located teams interested in agile and incremental development. Small projects constitute teams of three to six people and involve three to six months of development effort.

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• IEEE 1016-1998, also known as the Recommended Practice for Software Design Descriptions, is an IEEE standard that specifies an organizational structure for a software design description (SDD)
• An SDD is a document used to specify system architecture and application design in a software related project.

• IEEE 829-1998
• 829 Standard for Software Test Documentation, is an IEEE standard that specifies the form of a set of documents for use in eight defined stages of software testing, each stage potentially producing its own separate type of document.
• • Test Plan: a management planning document that shows:
   
   

   

   

   
  • How the testing will be done (including SUT (system under test) configurations).
   
  • Who will do it
   
  • What will be tested
   
  • How long it will take (although this may vary, depending upon resource availability).
   
  • What the test coverage will be, i.e. what quality level is required
   

   

   

   
   
  • Test Design Specification: detailing test conditions and the expected results as well as test pass criteria.
   
  • Test Case Specification: specifying the test data for use in running the test conditions identified in the Test Design Specification
   
  • Test Procedure Specification: detailing how to run each test, including any set-up preconditions and the steps that need to be followed
   
  • Test Item Transmittal Report: reporting on when tested software components have progressed from one stage of testing to the next
   
  • Test Log: recording which tests cases were run, who ran them, in what order, and whether each test passed or failed
   
  • Test Incident Report: detailing, for any test that failed, the actual versus expected result, and other information intended to throw light on why a test has failed.
• Test Summary Report: A management report providing any important information uncovered by the tests accomplished, and including assessments of the quality of the testing effort, the quality of the software system under test, and statistics derived from Incident Reports.

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