How do you select a good CMMI Consultant?

CMMI FAQ 0

2nd August, 2014

There are various ways by which you can select a good CMMI Consultant. Few real-life tips could be given here. The definition of good is directly related to your organization. The goodness is directly related to usefulness for your organization. A consultant may carry a very big name but it is possible that it may not be good for your organization. Every organization in the industry has friendly organizations and friendly competitors who have already implemented CMMI Consulting and Appraisal Programs. Find out about them. You can look at the CMMI Institute Published Appraisal Results website to check on this. Then, talk to the ones which are similar to your size and type of work. Ask them about which CMMI Consultant they have used for their CMMI Consulting and Appraisal Program. If possible talk to them about their experience. What challenges they faced with the particular CMMI Consultant? What advantages they had with a particular CMMI Consultant? What opportunities for improvement they noticed with respect to a particular CMMI Consultant? Depending upon the type of relationship you have with the friendly peer organization or friendly competitor, you can go into the details of CMMI Target Maturity Level, Appraisal Scope, CMMI Implementation Program Time Duration, Costs, etc. This is one of the practical sources which give you a real-life reference of the CMMI Consultant that you would like to use. The other way round, you search the internet with few names for CMMI Consultant. You can use the key-words like CMMI, CMMI Appraisal, CMMI Assessment, CMMI Consultant, CMMI Consultants or CMMI Consulting services. Just do not use the words CMMI Consultant or CMMI Consultants. Use also the afore-mentioned other key words. Once you have zeroed upon, the few shortlisted names, you check about their authenticity, whether their names are included in the CMMI Institute Authorized Partner List. This is available on the CMMI Institute Website. Talk to the short-listed CMMI Consultant, and once you have talked to a couple of them, you would be in a position to develop your Request for Proposal (RFP). It is good to prepare a formal RFP of your organization. Receive a formal response of your RFP. Evaluate the RFPs on the criteria of cost, time-duration, scope, effort-inputs, value-added services, etc. Look at the direct and also the indirect costs while you evaluate the proposal from the CMMI Consultant. Always make a referral check from the existing customer of the CMMI Consultant. Give weightage to the referral check when you take the final call about the CMMI Consultant. Cost alone should never be the decisive factor. Cost combined with other factors on proportionate weightage is the better approach.