What is the Scope of a CMMI Consulting Assignment? How should the CMMI Consultants define the scope of work? How should the CMMI Consultant handle the scope of work of the Client Organization?

CMMI FAQ 0

4th September, 2014

The CMMI Consulting Assignment typically starts with collecting information from the client organization. This can be done by collecting information with the help of a questionnaire in form of a client survey. At this stage, it is also good to collect information about the Projects through a Project Information Questionnaire. The next step could be conduct of Gap Assessment. This includes Gap assessment of Processes and the Projects. The inputs of the Gap Assessment can be used for establishing Organizational Goal, Metrics Program and Process Improvement Plan for the future. At this stage, the CMMI Consultant can also work towards establishing the CMMI SEPG (Software Engineering Process Group). CMMI Consultants, at this stage, with the help of SEPG, also start working on the Process Asset Library or PAL. The PAL is also known as the Quality Management (QMS). All CMMI Consultants know that the base-lining of PAL or QMS is one of the most critical step of the CMMI Consulting Assignment. This maybe the right time to focus on Implementation Strategy as well. The Implementation Strategy has to be developed at the Process Level and the Project Level. It is always better to document the Implementation Strategy in form of an Implementation Plan. CMMI Consultant will ensure the deployment of Implementation Plan. There are many risks that are there which have to be identified for the Implementation Plan deployment. CMMI Consultants have to carefully analyse and mitigate the risks. Otherwise, the best of plans for a CMMI Consulting Assignment become a damp squib. At a time during the CMMI Consulting Assignment, both the Documentation and Implementation Phase overlap in time. Metrics Management is another key area that has to be looked at this stage. The Metrics Deployment Plan will always help in handling the implementation of metrics program across the organization. CMMI Consultant has to be careful with respect to the Metrics Management. It becomes a sore thumb at the later stage of the CMMI Implementation Plan deployment if not handled systematically in the initial stages. While the documentation management, implementation management and metrics management move in parallel, the time to plan the CMMI Appraisal is in the offing. CMMI Consultants know that the CMMI Appraisal facilitation is one of the key deliverables for the CMMI Consulting Assignment. CMMI Appraisal can be divided into the two well-known phases – SCAMPI B and SCAMPI A Assessment. CMMI Consultant should never forget the significance of Training at all steps of the CMMI Consulting Assignment. Training Plan will always help to pin-point the stages at which the trainings have to be conducted. As we can see the Scope of CMMI Consulting Assignment typically includes steps like client-initiation, gap assessment, documentation, implementation, metrics management, training, appraisal planning, etc. CMMI Consultants should carefully calibrate the Scope of CMMI Consulting Assignment with Client Expectations and then have it documented in form of a Scope of Engagement. CMMI Consultant is really benefitted if the Scope of Engagement for CMMI Consulting Assignment clearly identifies the items within scope and the items out of the scope. You can write to us to discuss further on the CMMI Implementation Methodology and understanding the finer nuances of CMMI Consulting Assignment.