IconATG CMMI® Consulting
Do you have to satisfy investors by driving dollars to the bottom line?
Do you scramble to keep up with competitors who are implementing industry best practices?
Do you have to convince your customers with cold hard numbers that your products and services match their project and legal requirements exactly?
Do you constantly search for new ways to manage your projects for greater return on investment?
You need tools and techniques to define, measure, and improve processes. And you want the right metrics to measure process efficiency and ensure compliance.
Companies around the world have found that the Capability Maturity Model Integration® approach to process improvement:
- Results in superior performance
- Boosts return on investment by 50%
- Matches needed improvements with best practices
- Ensures compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, tax codes, and government regulations
CMMI® is being adopted worldwide by government, military, and commercial organizations as the standard for assessing an organization's ability to perform.
The Federal Government Mandates CMMI® for Contractors
In 2002, the Defense Department began mandating that contractors show they had implemented CMMI®-based best practices. And now other branches of the Federal Government require that any company responding to requests for proposals to prove it has achieved a minimum CMMI® maturity level.
What Does CMMI® Do?
Developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University, CMMI® is an internationally recognized and acclaimed model that is used for assessing and improving software development and systems engineering capabilities. When properly applied, the model ensures that projects are accurately defined, managed, and implemented, thereby increasing the likelihood that requirements are met and goals achieved within established timelines and budgets.
CMMI® provides guidance for improving an organization's processes and ability to manage the development, acquisition, and maintenance of products or product components. CMMI® places proven approaches into a structure that:
- Helps your organization examine the effectiveness of your processes
- Establishes priorities for improvement
- Helps you implement these improvements
- Provides ways to gather metrics
How CMMI® Works
Two concepts are key to how CMMI® works: appraisals and process improvement. Appraisals have four functions:
- Analyze how your company works
- Motivate your people toward change
- Transform your company from the inside
- Educate your people on industry best practices
Appraisals are especially valuable because they measure the way things actually work, not the way you think they work, or ought to work. And assessments measure processes, not people.
Appraisals often both begin and end a process improvement effort.
First, an SEI-certified appraiser conducts a formal baseline appraisal of your company's processes. Very few baseline appraisals result in a Level 2 or Level 3 maturity level. At most companies, the baseline appraisal identifies significant process gaps that must be addressed before you can earn the maturity level your customers demand.
Then IconATG consultants help you implement process improvements that address all the issues found by the baseline appraisal. And IconATG consultants help you prepare for the formal appraisal, where you earn the maturity level you need.
Finally, a formal appraisal is carried out by an appraiser authorized by SEI. The end result of this appraisal is a maturity level rating. There are five maturity levels explained below. Many companies and government agencies are requiring their business units or contractors to achieve at least a Level 2 or Level 3 maturity rating.
Level 1: Performed. Processes are not standardized.
Level 2: Managed. Processes are standardized at the project level in seven project management areas.
Level 3: Defined. Processes are defined throughout the organization in eleven additional organization standards areas.
Level 4: Quantitatively Managed. Processes are measured and controlled.
Level 5: Optimizing. There is a focus on process improvement.
(Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMISM), Version 1.1, SEI, 2002)
IconATG Consultants Guide You to the Next Maturity Level
IconATG helps you with the challenging task of addressing the process gaps most appraisals uncover. IconATG consultants help you implement a four-phase Improvement Framework that gets you ready to your next appraisal. The appraisal that will reward you with the maturity level rating you need to improve your return on investment and satisfy your customer's requirements.
IconATG consultants will help you:
- Define Goals
- Align Executive Team
- Clarify Objectives
- Baseline Current States
- Prioritize Gaps
- Architect Approach
- Define Success Measures
- Develop Program Leaders
- Plan Program Approach
- Develop and Deploy the Solution
- Develop and Pilot Solution
- Develop Skills
- Deploy Solution
- Validate Results
- Benchmark Progress
- Validate Measures
- Identify Next Steps
IconATG's Complementary Offerings
In the end, CMMI® is just a model, and all models are representations. IconATG consultants help you implement CMMI® process improvements adapted to the special circumstances of your company. We can also help identify any of your existing processes that may already be closely aligned with CMMI®. You can use those processes to accelerate your progress to the next CMMI® maturity level.
IconATG consultants have expertise in many areas. Just some of them are listed below.
Process Improvement
- Leveraging existing business processes and frameworks to meet CMMI® goals
- Services customized for the business need
- Aligning processes with compliance requirements such as SOX or tax reporting
- Managing the effect of change on people and business units
Expert Consulting
- Emphasis on skills improvement and knowledge transfer
- Leveraging experience, Best Practices, and IP to maximize quality and productivity
- Delivered on-site, nationwide
Advanced Training
- Highly differentiated offerings for process and skills improvement
- On-site and open enrollment offerings
- 2000+ students trained per year