Newsroom
First Quarter / Q1 - 2024
SQC is a Sponsor of the ISACA Digital Trust World conference.
Speaking session at the CMMI® track /CMMI Conference.
We are glad to let our patrons and friends know that, SQC will be yet again a Sponsor for the ISACA North America Digital Trust World (DTW) conference in Phoenix, from May 8-10th, 2024.
Continuing our strong partnership for ISACA’s products and services, SQC is glad to be part of this premier event for Information security professionals and executives, from across the World.
This event in 2024, is even more special to us, as it is happening right here in our Headquarters, in the beautiful Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, Arizona. Boasting an average of 340+ days of sunshine, more than 60 Golf courses and amazing events, attractions, and entertainment, Arizona is home to some of the World’s best spots including, the Top rated National Park in the country, The Grand Canyon National Park, one of the World’s Natural Wonders!
We take pride that we, at SQC have called Arizona as our home since close to 20 years, and look forward to meeting friends, colleagues and renowned international experts around the World, for what promises to be an amazing event!
Please read more about the event, Speakers and agenda at ISACA’s Conference and Events page. The link is https://www.isaca.org/training-and-events/conferences/isaca-2024-north-america-conference
© : CMMI is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office by ISACA. All trademarks are acknowledged to their respective owners.
SQC to Speak at the CMMI Track (CMMI Conference) integrated with the ISACA North America DTW 2024 Conference in May, in Phoenix.
SQC is excited that a full CMMI conference is being integrated into the ISACA’s Digital Trust World Conference, from May 7-10th, at Phoenix, Arizona. After a gap of an exclusive or separate CMMI track or CMMI event from the Year 2020, this is the first time the conference will be back in-person, with over 20+ sessions, including the CMMI Partner workshop, Panel discussions and networking opportunities while also experiencing the full ISACA DTW 2024 main conference.
We are excited that SQC, in addition to being a Sponsor, will also be engaging in Speaking sessions, on state of the practice best practices in Cybersecurity.
Come join in and get this amazing two-for-one opportunity to be around with the best of the World in Information and Cyber security, and ISACA’s Performance management solutions with CMMI models and best practices, among others like COBIT, Cybersecurity Maturity Platform, and Personnel certifications that are world renowned.
Learn more, See the Agenda and Register on: https://www.isaca.org/training-and-events/conferences/cmmi-conference
Second, Third & Forth Quarter / Q2, Q3 & Q4 - 2023
CMMI V3.0 released in April 2023, with exciting new domains!
CMMIV3.0 has been released with addition of much needed and exciting new domains in People Management (PPL), Data Management (DATA) and improvement to the existing Virtual PA (known as Enabling Virtual Solutions Delivery), to a domain in of itself, called VIRTUAL (VRT).
The People Management best practices aren’t something new to the CMMI products as they existed in the form of the erstwhile People-CMM (P-CMM) for over 20 years. The best practices there are vital and useful to any organization in just about any industry. The CMMI V3.0 PPL domain includes one new Practice area, called ‘Workforce Empowerment’ (WE), with best practices aimed at Enhancing the capability of the workforce to contribute to the success of the business. Practices include resource and workgroups task allocations, managing transition of resources seamlessly in & out of workgroups, communication and coordination, competency development, organizational structure, and compensation strategies & mechanisms.
The VRT (Virtual) domain has been expanded to include applicability to all types of scenarios engaged in virtual work, and the readability and usability /flexibility of the practices has been expanded.
SQC has the expertise now, to train, consult and assess your organization’s strengths and weaknesses on these new domains, and help you maximize the value of the best practices. The CMMI V3.0 has now a total of 8 domains useful for almost every type of business and industry, of all sizes and shapes around the World.
World’s First CMMI-Security Best practices appraisal completed by SQC.
An exciting milestone for us, that SQC facilitated and completed the World’s first CMMI Security (SEC) Practice area best practices implementation and appraisal, and that too at Maturity Level 5! It was an exciting journey with our esteemed client for more than 17 years, at Florida and now with their HQ right in our home state of in Arizona. An exciting case study has also been published on their use of CMMI Security best practices and how they have improved threat detection, response and mitigation by the use of these powerful statistical and data analysis-based practices at CMMI high maturity and improved their overall security posture, including Cyber, People, Process, and Mission security areas. Contact us for the case study details!
World Quality Month November 2023
As with every year, we were proud to emphasize even more, the focus on Quality being the only essential differentiator and the “single, most cutting edge” aspect that RETAINS customers, not just winning customers.
Quality Month is an annual observance dedicated to promoting and celebrating the importance of quality management in various sectors. Throughout this month, organizations and businesses focus on initiatives aimed at enhancing product and service quality, fostering continuous improvement, and reinforcing a culture of excellence. Quality Month serves as a platform for professionals to share best practices, engage in training sessions, and recognize achievements in quality assurance. By emphasizing the significance of quality standards and methodologies, this month encourages a commitment to delivering superior products and services, ultimately contributing to customer satisfaction and organizational success.
Our team members took time to think about what and how best they can describe “Quality” in as few sentences as they can! Here’s some quotes from our team:
“The best test of an improvement is found through measurement. One of my favourite books is 'How to Measure Anything' by Douglas Hubbard. Agree first on how you are going to measure any improvement you put in place, and then measure before the improvement and after. And don’t wait too long after because people often forget what happened and the evidence of real improvements can quickly disappear.” – Paul McMahon
"Quality is what we Wove into Every Fiber of the Product to deliver experience". – Saravanan T. S.
"Conducting thorough quality assessments, employing quality control measures, and obtaining feedback from end-users are essential components in evaluating the success of any improvement initiative. By prioritizing and emphasizing quality, organizations can ensure that their efforts lead to meaningful and sustainable advancements." – Sahana K.
"A Process Group is a very essential part of any company. If developers are the trees, the Process Group is the soil. The nourishment to the plant, quality of fruits/ flowers etc all depend on the richness of the soil. Its main responsibility is aligning the organization to its Vision and Objectives by defining, measuring the effectiveness of the processes and improving them to ensure that the organization’s products/ services are of good quality and performance" – Lakshmi Menon
“Quality is not an act. It is a habit." – Divya Rao
"Quality is like good hygiene. In the 21st Century, there’s no excuses to not having it, Quality doesn’t go by “fairly good” or “reasonably good” but it’s a Yes or No (Either your product or service is delivered with it, or without the Quality parameters). Always 100%" – Kris Puthucode
ISACA Conference 2024 – Digital Trust World (DTW) 2024 – Phoenix, AZ, May 7-9th, 2024
We couldn’t be more excited that ISACA North America Conference 2024 (Digital Trust World, DTW 2024) is coming to our home state of AZ! It will be held from May 7-9th, 20204 at Phoenix convention centre, and promises to be one of the best in the recent years!! With warm sunny weather more than 360 days a year, our ‘Valley of the Sun’ Phoenix boasts of amazing golf courses, lifestyle, great cities, dining options galore, and shopping and events, and the “Friendliest Airport in America” (rated by travellers’ in 2023)! We welcome you to our hometown, and experience Southwestern hospitality, and amazing networking and conference proceedings and sessions, that the ISACA Conferences worldwide are known for. They bring together the best of Information, Cyber, Security., best practices, models and frameworks from around the World. A separate CMMI track for 2 full days is also available in 2024 conference!
Watch out for more from us, through our Newsletter sign up or on this webpage in 2024!
Visit at: https://www.isaca.org/training-and-events/isaca-2024-north-america-conference
First Quarter / Q1 - 2023
SQC to sponsor ISACA North America Conference 2023 – in Boston, MA
SQC continues our strong commitment, to ISACA licensed products and services, with our continued sponsorship for the ISACA North America Conference, (DIGITAL Trust World 2023 NA), at Boston on May 9-11th, 2023. This continues our sponsorship to ISACA and CMMI Conferences back from 2018. SQC is the only CMMI Partner that has continued our strong sponsorship commitment to ISACA CMMI conferences, year after year, a testament to our continued excellence in promoting best practices, methods and frameworks from CMMI product suite.
SQC is also going to be featured sponsor for ISACA DIGITAL Trust World Virtual Conference in June, 2023.
Come see us either in-person at beautiful Boston, MA in May, and enjoy everything Boston has to offer, while networking with the brightest minds and peers, in Information Security, Cyber, Process and frameworks, or Virtually from the convenience of your home or office, in June 2023.
Third & Forth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2022
ISACA Conference Asia 2022 16 – 17 November 2022 | VIRTUAL
Engage. Empower. Evolve.
All sessions were held in Arabia Standard Time (UTC +3).
We were excited to being with you and part of ISACA Conference Asia 2022! Around 2500 participants joined virtually from the comfort of their own home or office space. The conference was one of the largest gatherings of the latest insights from industry leaders and opportunities to network with fellow professionals as you prepare you for the increasing challenges of the fast-changing, and diversifying technology landscape.
Our sessions were well received., and our Virtual booth. We were happy to see so many people virtually joined and enjoyed this state-of-the-art conference!
CYBERSECURITY UPDATE:
As we closed out Cyber Security Awareness Month in Oct 2022., we wanted to simply take a moment to remind you of widely accepted Industry best practices in Cybersecurity to help protect your information and your organization’s information to the best possible extent.
Most comprehensive standards and models including NIST 800-171, ISO 27001, CMMC, all mention these best practices and are widely used but can seem overwhelming especially with “I am the only one that is the best and nobody else knows better – and I can help you get compliant” consultants plenty on LinkedIn, and similar social media sites, especially many CMMC/NIST type newly minted professionals in that space! However, we always have taught that Cybersecurity (& other best practices for all aspects of your business, including Business Winning, Development of your products or service delivery, privacy etc., and not just Cyber) is an every-day practice, since decades, not due to some new Defense/Government regulation out there now to ‘get’ the contracting world! Use items from this as a list of things to check your compliance against, as starters! Here are some things you can get started on, even on a personal level to protect your own information.
KNOW YOUR CYBER BASICS
- Protect your personal information. If people have key details from your life, your job title birth date, and full name, which you may have shared online, they can attempt a phishing attack on you. Cybercriminals can also try to manipulate you into skipping normal security protocols.
- Be wary of hyperlinks or attachments from suspicious or unknown/ untrusted sources. Inspect hyperlinks in emails. Hover overlinks to verify their source. When making a transaction, ensure that URLs begin with “https.” The added “s” indicates encryption is enabled to protect users’ information.
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Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date. This is an important protective measure against cybercriminals and malicious threats. It can automatically detect, quarantine, and remove malware. Enable automatic virus updates to ensure maximum protection against the latest threats.
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Use long, random and unique passwords. Creating strong passwords is vital to cybersecurity. Use different passwords for different programs and devices. Use long passwords or passphrases to protect your accounts. Always use strong passwords of 12 or more characters.
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Use a password manager to store your personal passwords for each account. This tool is commonly used to generate long, random and unique passwords for web applications. Once generated, they are put in a centralized vault, and encrypted with one master password.
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Strengthen your login protection. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to ensure that you are the only person who has access to your account. Use it for email, banking, social media, and any other password-protected services. If MFA is an option, enable it by using a trusted mobile device, such as your smartphone, an authenticator app, or a secure token—a small physical device that can hook onto your key ring.
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Backup your data. Routinely backup data on all computers, and make sure that the backup is stored offline. Backup all data including documents, databases, spreadsheets, financial files, human resources files, accounts receivable/payable files, and more.
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Control physical access. Prevent access to your backup data by unauthorized individuals. Make sure to use separate user accounts for each employee and require strong passwords. Administrative privileges should only begiven to trusted IT staff and key personnel.
For more on CMMC specific information and latest updates to the model, please visit https://www.acq.osd.mil/cmmc/
First & Second Quarter / Q1 & Q2 - 2022
SQC speaking sessions at ISACA North America and ISACA Europe Conferences 2021
SQC was a Sponsor for the 2022 North America ISACA Conference, built around the theme of “Digital Trust” held at New Orleans, LA, and was about ISACA solutions and services can deliver this to companies. Our speaking sessions included two – one on an approach to defining Organizational Metrics and another on leveraging and adding Cybersecurity best practice-based capabilities, to the other best practices widely used in business such as CMMI for Development or Services, Business Development, and similar. These sessions were received well, with the overall Speaker rating of 4.6 and 4.8 which were among the Top! This makes us even more humble and committed to serving our clients’ needs and keeping abreast of the latest updates and speaking sessions!
ISACA Asia Conference 2022– Coming soon!
ISACA Asia Conference is set to be held Virtually on Nov 16th-17th, in the Bahrain time zone.
SQC is a sponsor for this conference, and we have speaking sessions as well.
You can register now and attend this top-of-the-line Industry conference and learn from peers and experts and network all in the comfort of your home or office.
Watch out for ISACA’s conference pages for more information to come: https://store.isaca.org/s/community-event?id=a334w000004VXWSAA4
From our PMI news:
Source: Project Management Institute®
Exploring the Project Economy with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez
In this Straight Talk episode on the Project Economy, Antonio Nieto Rodriguez, Former Chair of the PMI Board of Directors, Professor of Project Management, and author of the ‘Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook: How to Launch Lead, and Sponsor Successful Projects’, shares his rich insights with Mike DePrisco, Interim President & CEO and Chief Operating Officer, PMI.
Mike engages Antonio on a range of trends impacting the project professionals and the emergence of the Project Economy.
Key Highlights:
• Evolution of project management to the present day
• A human-centric approach to project management
• Project managers as 'Strategic Advisors and Value Creators'
We hope you enjoy this new Straight Talk episode. Watch it at: https://bit.ly/3IiN970
Third & Forth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2021
SQC speaking sessions at ISACA North America and ISACA Europe Conferences 2021
As we all navigated the uneasy times with COVID-19 still raging much of 2021, ISACA Conferences went Virtual for both ISACA North America and ISACA Europe Conference.
SQC continues our commitment for over 2 decades to model based improvements including the best of models, such as BD-CMM, CMMI® and now CMMC.
SQC was a Sponsor for both the ISACA conferences in 2021 and we also had our Principal, Kris Puthucode, speak in many sessions. The featured speaking sessions were focused on contemporary topics such as “Analyzing COVID19 Metrics: Have We Learned Much About Interpreting Metrics?” and around adding Cybersecurity best practice-based capabilities, to the other best practices widely used in business such as CMMI for Development or Services, Business Development, and similar. These sessions were received well, with the overall Speaker rating of 4.6 and 4.8 which were among the Top! This makes us even more humble and committed to serving our clients’ needs and keeping abreast of the latest updates and speaking sessions!
ISACA Asia Conference 2022 and North America 2022 – Coming soon!
We are excited to be sponsoring the ISACA Asia Conference and selected for speaking sessions at the Asia and North America conferences coming soon in 2022! Watch out for ISACA’s conference pages for more information to come: https://www.isaca.org/training-and-events/conferences
CMMC V2.0 plans and updates
The DoD has released CMMC V2.0 and updated in relation to the new model and expectations with changes to the CMMC program, and how it better aligns to meeting needs of the Defense Industrial Base without burdening small businesses. Please read the updates on the CMMC V2.0 model here: https://www.acq.osd.mil/cmmc/
SQC is on the path to continuing our Cybersecurity practices, and assessment offerings. We are anticipating further details to our Provisional Assessors being fully authorized to conduct assessments as per DoD timelines and will update our timelines accordingly. Watch out for our newsletters for updates.
You can subscribe to our newsletters by emailing admin@sqcglobal.com with your full details, or using our Contact Us Page.
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2021
SQC recognized as one among the 100 of Asiaone’s with channel media partner ETNOW, (The Times Group), and CNBCTV18, “The Greatest Brands and Leaders – 2020 – India, Middle East and Africa”, a coveted selection and being chosen among the discerning few businesses., by consumers and industry, nominated and hosted by URS Media and Asia One Media Holdings LLC.
After 20+ years of successful and thriving operations in India and select Middle East countries, with our HQ in the USA, Software Quality Center (India) has been chosen as amongst the 100 of “The Greatest Brands and Leaders” (http://www.theworldsgreatestbrands.com/) , carefully selected and chosen, based on a well acclaimed jury and selection process,. to honor only 100 of the Top brands and leaders, among all sizes and types of Industry. Past and Current winners have included Mukesh Ambani, Sania Mirza, Smt. Savitri Jindal, Ananya Birla amongst the many more select entrepreneurs and leaders.
Kris Puthucode, our CEO has been honored as amongst India’s Greatest Leaders for leading SQC, for over 20 years since inception.
This makes us very humbled as this is one of the very prestigious few recognitions to businesses in India, that have made an impact regardless of size, but in their chosen area of specialization to create a large impact, on their customers and industry. The Team at SQC is ever grateful to the ones who made this possible – Our clients who have retained their faith in us, since 20+ years, in our advisory and consulting services, for our discerning areas of quality, process improvement, and best practices adoption. We are truly honored to have your continued patronage!! THANK YOU!
Full detail of our coverage can be found on: https://asiaone.co.in/leaders/page/5/
The actual honors will be delivered on a ceremony, on Aug 27th.
ISACA North America (Virtual Conference) 2021, was a great success!
ISACA North America 2021 was the first of its kind Virtual conference with several hundreds of attendees all over the World!
Our CEO and Principal Consultant, HMLA, Kris Puthucode delivered a wonderful and amazing presentation, which was very well received, on “Analyzing COVID-19 Metrics: Have we learnt anything about Metrics and management”? and was a co-speaker at another session titled “Retrofit or Recreate – Lessons learned in transition from CMMI V1.3 to V2.0”, with Larry Schwartz, Director, Process Excellence, MAXIMUS Federal. Both sessions very well received with the average Speaker feedback rating of 4.7 (CONF. AVG 4.47), with about 122 responses, and over 130+ in attendance for the session.
SQC to be the Bronze Sponsor for ISACA Conference – Europe, (Hybrid conference with in-person option and Virtual), at Helsinki, to be held Oct. 23rd-25th, 2021
Kris Puthucode to speak in two sessions, featuring maturity model approach and best practices for Cybersecurity, and another exciting topic, more details coming soon. More details can be found on isaca.org
PMI News - PMI Virtual Conference series, October 2021 In 2021,
PMI will continue the award-winning Virtual Experience Series, featuring four inspiring, engaging, and educational global virtual events offering value for project pros, emerging professionals, or those looking to begin their career in project management.
See more and join us for the PMI Conference, in October https://www.pmi.org/virtual-experience-series
First Quarter / Q1 - 2021
Attend the ISACA North America Conference (Virtual) on May 4-6th, 2021
There is still time to register and attend the ISACA North America Conference, which will be a Virtual conference. Attend in the comfort of your homes, and learn, connect, network and hone your skills on a wide variety of topics ranging from leading edge Cybersecurity practices, Performance Improvement/CMMI, Audit, Governance, Emerging Technologies, Risk, Privacy, Leadership and Career development among others.
Our own Kris Puthucode is a featured speaker for two sessions, one on Analyzing COVID-19 Metrics and looking at data quality and data interpretation, prediction, with connections to best practices in this area, and using metrics for informed decision making. (Analyzing COVID19 Metrics – Have we learned much about interpreting Metrics?) and a second session on "Retrofit or Recreate - Lessons learned evolving best practices from CMMI V1.3 to CMMI V2.0", as a co-speaker with Larry Schwartz, Director - OPE, MAXIMUS Federal Services.
You can learn more and register on: https://www.isaca.org/conferences/isaca-conference-north-america
ISACA releases CMMI V2.2 on March 10th, 2021
CMMI V2.2 has been released on March 10th, 2021, which is now the latest update to the model. This update includes the following additions:
- Addition of the “Managing Safety and Security” capability area and related Practice areas. This Capability area contains 3 Practice areas for best practices in organizations for holistically defining security and safety strategies, approaches, activities, and functions necessary to protect the organization’s entire ecosystem, including personnel, resources, and information. It involves identifying and evaluating security and safety needs and constraints, prioritizing, and planning relevant approaches to address those needs and constraints, responding to and preventing harmful events and incidents, and protecting and defending against safety incidents and security threats and vulnerabilities.
- Inclusion of the “Enabling Virtual Solutions Delivery (EVSD)” area as a “Core Practice area”. EVSD contains best practices to help organizations identify an approach to ensure smooth and effective virtual solution delivery to customers and affected stakeholders. The Value organizations can expect to get by using these practices are to maximize delivery effectiveness and efficiency to customers, while reducing the impact and expense from travel and in-person delivery. The past year has seen a tremendous global shift in working patterns and preferences in organizations worldwide, primarily fuelled by the pandemic to remote and virtual working. However, remote solution delivery and services has been used in several industries for decades. The current scenario accelerated efforts to include a set of best practices to use for any size of organization, small, medium or large. While this Practice area has been in the model for long now, it is now part of the Core areas, thereby having organizations to carefully consider using and take advantage of these practices. Supplier Management has been removed from being a Core practice area, however it remains as part of the “Selecting and Managing Suppliers” (SSS) capability area and available to use., depending on the context.
- Addressing various other change requests received from the community feedback through Sept. 2020.
The new V2.2 is the model of choice to be used on all CMMI appraisals, effective March 16th.
Training Schedule for Summer 2021 announced
Enhance and hone your skills in the comfort of your home or office, or even in the park, with our “Live” instructor led trainings, which are highly rated and advanced & latest topics. ! And earn PDUs, by doing so!
SQC will continue our conduct of “Live” instructor led virtual trainings (Public) and workshops in Summer 2021 covering CMMI, Cybersecurity and subject matter training such as “Advancing Metrics and Data analysis Capability”. Our current schedule includes the following PMI-PDU carrying courses:
- 19th June – Executive Overview to the best practices in Cybersecurity, including NIST-800-171, CMMC and CMMI-Safety/Security areas (Saturday offering, US CDT/EDT/PDT) (2 PDUs)
- Detailed Overview on Cybersecurity best practices, including NIST800-171/53 CMMI-Security areas and CMMC – June 30th-July 2nd (US evenings PDT and India time zones coordinated) (10-hour session including case studies and scenarios) (8 PDUs)
- Metrics and Analysis for Performance Excellence (4 PDUs) (July 16th) (India Time zone ) (IST)
Details of all our courses are available to search on PMI Course catalog at https://ccrs.pmi.org – Use “Software Quality Center LLC” in the search field to list all our courses and details.
Forth Quarter / Q4 - 2020
Spotlight News
As we closed out 2020 and begin 2021, we wanted to share something that made us really proud yet humbled at the same time. For the second year in a row, SQC was recognized for being among the World's leading Quality Management solutions and services provider. This honor comes to us with a lot of gratitude as we look back at two decades of successfully facilitating improvement in more than 80+ organizations of all sizes, types, and kinds, across the World - and we can never forget how Thankful to all of you who are part of this journey.
Thanks, from all of us, and we look forward to renewing our commitment to continue to work to our best possible, to strive and deliver the best of process and performance improvement services that tie directly to your bottom-lines., benefitting all your stakeholders. This reflects your achievement, not only ours, in enabling your process improvement journey.
We hope you will take a few moments to read the story line featuring this award, titled "Looking beyond mere compliance" an apt title for what we strive every day to facilitate in our services.
Click here to view the article in the Digital Magazine
CMMI Updates
The adoption of CMMI V2.0 continues well and the CMMI Institute recently released a compilation of significant benefits reported by companies that uses or transitioned to CMMI V2.0 in 2019, in aggregate at: https://cmmiinstitute.com/resource-files/public/cmmi-v2-0-performance-report-summary-2019
This summary report has amazing data that shows amongst the 2019 adopters ('the early adopters of CMMI V2'), 70% of them achieved or exceeded their quantitative performance improvement targets, biggest areas being Quality and Productivity improvements. Another 20% of them were on-target to achieve their targets in a few cycles just after appraisal. This shows great results, especially with CMMI V2 being re-focused to be a business/performance improvement model.
PMI-Certified Training Courses
As a PMI Authorized Training Partner (ATP) for several modes of training delivery - In-Person, Live-Virtual, and On-Demand computer-based training delivery., We plan on offering a quarterly PMI-PDU carrying class on various contemporary topics and subject matter you may be interested in, such as Statistical Modeling Methods and Analysis, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), Agile-CMMI, SAFe Agile concepts, and so on.
Please check with us at admin@sqcglobal.com if you need a schedule or interested in a specific topic for your team.
Please see our catalog of courses that carry PDUs at:
Please ensure you double check the full name of the provider is listed as "Software Quality Center LLC" at the top of the course listing.
BD-CMM Model Updates
The BD-CMM model, the World's only comprehensive best practice model for business development, proposal management and the BD lifecycle, has been renamed as the Business Winning Institute and operated by Shipley, the leading Proposal best practices consulting and training organization. While Shipley has always been part of the BD-CMM efforts, it will now evolve under their direct organizational structure in the US., with the key people still leading the effort to evolve the next version.
SQC continues to be a founding member of the BD-CMM community and performs training, consulting, and appraisals. We are excited to bring you the updates and continue with our services. Let us know how we can help you.
Here is the link to the new BW-Institute site:
And the link to the BD-CMM model framework:
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2020
Upgrade your CMMI V2.0 Skills
The CMMI V1.3 product suite is set to sunset on Sept. 30th, 2020. As you know, the new model of choice will be CMMI V2.0. Redesigned with an entirely performance improvement based approach as the core intent and theme of the model, (as opposed to simply process compliance), the new model is packed with best practices, written in a simpler language and eliminates redundancies in the earlier version, and includes flexibility for organizations to use it in a variety of ways., and includes a better appraisal method and reduces overall cost of ownership of using & appraising against CMMI V2.0
If your team has not yet been trained on CMMI V2.0, please contact us to determine the best way forward on the options for V2.0 Trainings. You should also plan for re-appraisals using the new model.
All CMMI appraisals from Oct 1st, 2020 will need to use the new CMMI V2.0 models. Please call us to plan your appraisal and training.
DoD CMMC Updates
The CMMC model and the appraisal method development continues to be progressing well.
SQC is in the process of getting approved as a Certified CMMC Third Party Accrediting Organization (C3PAO) and developing some Assessors with the requisite training. The initial training for first batch of Provisional Assessors has competed and SQC's Kris Puthucode, was in the training and is now certified as a Provisional Assessor.
Provisional Assessments can be scheduled once C3PAOs are approved and the process is announced by the AB.
Please contact us at admin@sqcglobal.com for latest updates on timelines.
Second Quarter / Q2 (ii) - 2020
Latest CMMI Institute article published featuring our client-partner Dynanet Corporation's CMMI V2.0 DEV Maturity Level 5 journey!
We are so pleased to announce that the CMMI Institute recently published another new case study on Dynanet Corporation's CMMI V2.0 implementation journey and quantitative data which led to immense benefits!
This is yet another testimony of our long standing professional relationships with Dynanet and also their quest for better performance through commitment to use of best practices. We are glad to be working with them!
Here is the link to the case study on the CMMI Institute website.
How to take back control of your life responsibly and safely during the pandemic!
Our very own Sr. Consulting Partner, Paul McMahon has a nice, new, quick video on this new and interesting topic. We find this very useful - please take a few minutes to watch this.
Second Quarter / Q2 (i) - 2020
SQC's Founder featured as one of the Top 10 Global Indian-origin CEOs of 2020
CEOInsights India magazine (www.CEOInsightsindia.com), one of the premier publications for Technology leaders and industry, published a cover page and an article on our CEO, Kris Puthucode, as one of the “Top 10 Global Indian-origin CEOs of 2020”, having made an impact across the world in enabling and fostering the message of organizations using best practices across the business lifecycle from models and standards, in the true spirit and intent of achieving performance excellence, and not just hoarding board room “certificates” as a marketing tool or to be able to solely qualify to bid on contracts.
This is a great honor for the 20 years of SQC’s operations in multiple continents, North America, South Asia and Middle East. This provides even more testimony to the value our work and engagements provide to our customers. This also drives home the point, that in our industry, the bigger companies that compete and provide similar services to us, are not necessarily the best, the “quality” of our work is often more important than the “quantity” of work. We are honored and excited to have the endorsement of CEOInsights magazine.
To Read the full write-up Click here
Listing page link:
Visit this page here or Click here
Our Response to the COVID19 Pandemic
The entire humanity is now going through the Pandemic the likes of which has never been experienced before. It has certainly changed the way things are done in every day lives of people, how organizations work to fulfill their customer obligations and how frontline health care workers are caring for the sick and needy. With lockdowns and stay-at-home orders still in force through much of the world, and countries scramble with economic fallouts, we, as a global service provider of consulting, training and appraisal/certification services have also adapted to the changing environment trying to find the “new normal”.
Like many other models and standards organizations, and several others, such as ISO, The Project Management Institute®, now adapting to allowing remote and virtual modes of delivering their solutions, our stewards such as the CMMI® Institute, PMI®, BD-Institute International also allow virtual delivery of services. We have adapted to our best and now capable of delivering services remotely, even for formal appraisals and formal trainings, that earlier required in-person offerings. We have multiple years of expertise in delivering solutions and services remotely, as PMI Certified Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) for effectively delivering high-end trainings, and consulting work as well. As a reminder, our course offerings which feature new additions from time to time are available here.
As this Pandemic continues, we will be sure to adapt even better as we learn from the field and improve our services constantly.
On a related front, as individuals and as a company, we are committed 100% in giving back our community and to our World to make it a better place. To-date we have contributed by ordering masks and PPEs for first responders here in the United States, in the states of California and Arizona, and also contributed to the PM-CARES fund in India for providing assistance to the needy in times of this unprecedented pandemic. We continue to do the best to help our friends and well-wishers for their needs through monetary and in-kind donations whether it is providing funding for purchasing PPEs for hospitals and health care/first responders or medicines and supplies needed for the needy. We have partnered with companies here in the Western United States that have now switched to producing masks and PPEs from their original capabilities and contributed monetarily. We urge you to also do the same to the best possible extent in these turbulent times.
We wish you all Safe and healthy days ahead as this too shall pass!
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
SQC is also now offering a full suite of training and Gap analysis/Health Checks, and remedial action planning for implementing the CMMC based processes and using best practices to build cyber resilience and compliance. As this is now expected to be the new model of choice for Defense organizations in the US, many Federal agencies and also commercial organizations expected to follow suit in using these best practices. SQC has been an early stakeholder in the CMMC working groups and actively involved in development of the CMMC standard and/or associated programs. As a reminder, you can see our offerings under: https://www.sqcglobal.com/solutions.
First Quarter / Q1 - 2020
SQC is honored proud and humbled to be recognized as among the World’s “Top 20 Accomplished QMS Solution providers” for 2019, by CIOReview.
We are ever grateful to our Clients, Consultants, Partners and friends across the world, who deserve this recognition – as it is because of them, we exist!
Software Quality Center: Accomplished Leaders in Quality Management System (QMS)
Top 20 QMS Solutions Companies - 2019
Click here to view the article as PDF.
Forth Quarter / Q4 (ii) - 2019
Kris Puthucode, Founder & CEO., featured in another article about the origins and changing role of “Quality Assurance” as a profession, through the decades in Industry.
Read this exciting write-up carried by CIOReview India, a leading publication.
Forth Quarter / Q4 (i) - 2019
LTTS holds its position amongst a very few companies by being appraised at Maturity Level 5 in the CMMI V2.0 Development view, ranking as the highest capability maturity level in new CMMI framework.
Team SQC and Kris Puthucode, CMMI Institute Certified HMLA congratulates LTTS for its passion for performance improvement and excellence for years to achieve the new CMMI Level 5 rating.
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2019
SQC recognized among the Ten companies bringing Key Innovations in QA/Testing
June 2019
It takes a lot of “Doing” to deliver what clients consider as “Value”, and "Innovation" in our kind of advisory and consulting services, in what is usually considered as mundane in nature. And we have 18+ years of it! Not simply speaking jargon or using latest terms. Thanks to our partner @CMMI_Institute & recognition as their cover story by APAC Business Headlines
Second Quarter / Q2 (ii) - 2019
How To Transform Your Quality “Compliance” Into A Strategic Business Advantage
22nd May 2019
Kris Puthocode in conversation with expresscomputer.in
We hear many companies routinely in several industries that always claim to have all the necessary regulatory and Quality compliance where it is needed, in order to be able to bid on contracts. Many Governments and commercial companies engaged in buying services., or products especially in software or systems., set basic expectations of their suppliers to meet some bare minimum set of standards such as ISO 9001., or ISO 14000, or Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) maturity level rating or equivalent, to be able to bid and run contracts.
We also hear and see many companies that are focused on this alone – i.e. to get the bare minimum required, at the last minute to be able to qualify to bid on contracts and win orders. This phenomenon is not new. It has existed since many decades. Let us look at the history of how some of the world’s best standards and models on Quality and compliance were developed.
ISO 9000 was first published in 1987 by ISO (International Organization for Standardization).[It was based on the BS 5750 series of standards from BSI that were proposed to ISO in 1979. However, its history can be traced back some twenty years before that, to the publication of government procurement standards, such as the United States Department of Defense MIL-Q-9858 standard in 1959, and the UK’s Def Stan 05-21 and 05-24.
The global adoption of such standard and models may be attributable to a number of factors. In the early days, such requirements were intended to be used by procuring organizations, as the basis of contractual arrangements with their suppliers. This helped reduce the need for “supplier development” by establishing basic requirements for a supplier to assure product quality.
A few years later, the UK Government took steps to improve national competitiveness following publication of cmd 8621, and Third-Party Certification of Quality Management Systems was born, under the auspices of the National Accreditation Council of Certification Bodies (NACCB) which has become the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
In the United States., the Department of Defense led the development of many such models, primarily to improve competitiveness of their suppliers and set a basic set of measures that they could look at for evaluating suppliers – to establish a common set of “rules” if you will., to level the ground to evaluate contractors. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) was first developed in late 80’s and since then has evolved into what is now the new CMMI V2.0 release.
Eventually, companies using these standards also started getting real benefits both in terms of tangible new contracts, but more in terms of improving their repeatability in processes and being able to apply the same minimum set of processes to all work they do. This was one of the intents of the models and standards to help improve the performance of work., so customers can rely on the processes, rather than individual smart people alone.
Over the past few decades, there have been a multitude of improvements and efforts across the world., to leverage off these basic models such as ISO series., Capability Maturity Models (CMMs) and the like., to develop similar frameworks for other areas such as Business Development, Software Testing, and more recently Cyber Security., Smart grids, Data management and many others. There have been several conferences around the overall theme of “Quality” or process or Capability., around the world to learn, spread the knowledge, and help network professionals in the industry and academia working on this area.
An often less emphasized part of all this, is the use of such models for its real intent – which is to help businesses cut down on being bureaucratic. Different industries have different complexities of their customers, the work they do, the products and services they deliver. This can lead to developing overly complicated processes., which produce more burdensome processes.
We see this more often today, in the 21st century., with the rapidly evolving global economy (&changing), with hundreds of new start ups competing and thriving, which hence all approach this from a bare minimum compliance mind set to “get into the market” faster rather than focus on turning this in to a strategic advantage.
Here are the main success factors that can help your business, large or small, start up or established, or as a professional or engineer working in such businesses to help realize the true benefits of Quality improvement and sustain it, to benefit the business:
1. Focus on the “efficiency” of day to day workflow., when establishing processes – ask the simple question – “how will this process (or sub process) make my work better, faster?” rather than asking “ will this meet the requirement to be compliant with the standard”. The former will focus on developing processes that work for your users. Don’t build processes that will be volumes of books of documents or buy expensive tools., but think about using the workflows and graph the process flow, to keep it simple and smart. Process flow charts are a great way.
2. Engage your team (engineers) that will own and use these processes to define and establish your processes rather than an independent set of people in a separate department (such as Quality dept.) or engaging an external consulting firm, or one that sells “pre-packaged” set of processes supposedly compliant to models/standards. Engineers that realize that these processes will need to be used and owned by them, are more likely to make things more efficient rather than just for the sake of compliance.
3. Define tangible business and project success measures and metrics to define what will need to be met in terms of goals, what needs to be improved., how, and why it needs to be improved. This will help connect processes that are critical to helping achieve these goals accordingly. On the contrary, if the focus is only on building processes for compliance, it will likely satisfy the auditors but not your customers.
4. Focus on the long term, not the short term. This means, think about long term sustainment of process fidelity not just short-term compliance to meet the current audit on the horizon to obtain the certification or the rating. If it doesn’t sustain beyond the audit, it will likely fail and has wasted all of your effort and money.
5. Get up to date on the latest technology and best practices out there in the industry. Learn and invest in sending some of your Quality professionals and engineers to attend conferences and training., to learn the latest methods and processes and standards, so you are not using an obsolete one. Standards and models have evolved quite a bit., it is critical to know the latest and greatest in models and standards world to leverage off.
6. Lastly, be sure to boast about real tangible benefits you have accomplished for your business by use of quality models, methods and tools. This will connect the business teams to your engineers and they all will come closer to developing a shared vision of the Quality program.
Capability Counts 2019
30th April 2019 - 1st May 2019
The 2019 Capability Counts conference was well attended with hundreds of professionals ranging from CXOs of leading Government, Defense and Commercial industries, to Quality and Process Improvement professionals around the World, passionate about building capability in their organizations through best practices.
At SQC, we have been really honored to be able to Sponsor the conference for many years, and now our 3rd consecutive year in the recent past., with being the "Silver Sponsor" in 2019.
With great Key note sessions from Speakers such as Eric Ries (@ericries) Author of the "Lean Startup", and several other invigorating sessions, the Conference hosted several contemporary topics and lessons learned from CMMI® V2.0 early adoptions.
We only want to say how Thankful we are, to all of you - the CMMI® Institute, our Clients, friends and well wishers from across the World. This has been the only reason we have been successful for the past 18+ years promoting best practices, and our pragmatic approach to a 'common-sense' use of best practices!
It was a pleasure to meet many of you, at this annual event! If you missed the conference, here are some photos from the conference. We hope we will see you at another conference soon!
SQC's Speaking Sessions
Our Principal Consultant and Lead Appraiser, Kris Puthucode also spoke on two contemporary and invigorating topics. One was on the "Role of Quality Assurance in the age of AI, IOT and Blockchain", and the other as a co-presenter with an esteemed, long standing client rep., Larry Schwartz of MAXIMUS Federal Services., on "Challenges in CMMI-SVC High Maturity Implementation" and ways to overcome them. Thanks Larry., and MAXIMUS. Both sessions received a great attendance and feedback!
We look forward to working with many of you on such interesting topics in future conferences!
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2019
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See our latest article Published in CEO Insights India, a leading entrepreneurial magazine in India
Click here to read the full Article
SQC, Proudly Sponsoring CMMI Conference 2019, at Reston Virginia
SQC is once again proud to be the Silver Sponsor of CMMI Conference 2019 to be held in May in Reston Virginia during April 30th to May 2nd 2019. See the details published by various business sites
Event details covered by IndiaOnline.in
See the details of the event press release published in For Press Release
A news release published by PRLOG
First Quarter / Q1 - 2019
How The Services Industry Is Driving The Growth Of Best Practices With Rise Of AI, Blockchain And IoT
Read our CEO Kris Puthucode’s first New Year 2019 article on how the service industry is poised to use best practices, with growth in AI, Blockchain and similar.
Published by Expresscomputer.in on January 14, 2019
Kris Puthucode, CEO and Principal Consultant,
Software Quality Center LLC
By Kris Puthucode, CEO and Principal Consultant, Software Quality Center LLC
About 80% of the global economy today is “service based”, or the service industry as we know it. Many organizations lack the ability to react quickly to incidents that impact service delivery, leading to time delays, cost overruns, and failure to meet customer expectations.
Added to this, Industry 4.0 (and Smart Factory 4.0), are here. Gartner estimates that by 2020, more than 3 million workers will be supervised directly or indirectly by a “robo-boss”. PWC research in 2015 reconfirmed that almost 60% of US manufacturers are using some sort of robotics technology.
Although the advent of AI-enabled industries are primarily focused on products, many forget that there is the “servicing” of the product or the “provisioning” of the product to customers that serves as the foundation for building trustworthy, long term relationships for companies that are suppliers. How does the service industry differ from the traditional product-based ones., and what should the product companies do to ensure their end deliverable actually meets customer expectations and they can service the product and build a long term relationship? What best practices can they adopt to improve their service delivery capability? And how do they sustain it?
We look at some of these aspects., most critical among them., drawn from traditional best practices being used by some of the best organizations in the world.
1. Focus on Service Delivery development first – if you are unsure what the service needs are., after your product is ready to ship out, start with defining what is your overall service “lifecycle” or the cradle to grave analogy for services that you or your partner companies may be required to fulfill in maintaining your product and ensuring a customer relationship. This could entail defining service contracts., estimation of what is a service request., (e.g. a call to helpdesk)., what services you will fulfill., what infrastructure is needed (e.g. physical facilities, people, equipment etc), time constraints and most importantly Quality requirements (e.g. if you will be expected to answer and fix questions on defects on the product, you may need to run a helpdesk operation with few people., and they need the tools and knowledge to fix the defects – in which case., certain high priority defects may need to be fixed within 4 hours or alike). Having an overall approach for defining what constitutes this “service system” will help you staff and build up the resources necessary. Many industries like banks, for example, model their expected customer-arrival patterns in a Teller, to plan for how many tellers they need during office hours.
2. A robust service request system has to be then defined and implemented – a service request constitutes any call for help., in simple terms., – i.e. a helpdesk receiving a call for support on a defect found on the field, a call center receiving a complaint or a regular enquiry by a customer are all examples of service request. Service request fulfillment systems are often accomplished by software tools such as ticketing systems. Popular tools include JIRA® or similar software tools that track from the ticket to resolution including the ability to modify., and customize to your process workflow., however simple or complex.
3. Think about what can be considered as a possible interruption in service delivery and service requests., such as power failures., or your staff resigning, or similar. Try and implement a way to deal with such possible incidents and plan a workaround, or preventive actions by selecting few commonly recurring problems and implementing those actions to reduce occurrence. (for example, a Hotel guests could be often complaining about room service not cleaning to their satisfaction and this can often be fixed by re-training staff and reassigning staff with clear instructions). An incident resolution approach is hence helpful to regain the trust of your customers.
4. In parallel, think about possible bigger disruptions or threats to being able to deliver consistent services., such as threats of severe weather., malfunctioning equipment in AI enabled environments, cyber vulnerabilities with IOT which are quite common today, and terrorist attacks. Preparing for such vulnerabilities and doing the best you can, as individuals and businesses can help you build business resilience. Service continuity is not totally impossible theory., but the impact can be reduced for sure.
Knowing these key abilities and developing approaches that begin to address these critical aspects will ensure you truly understand the implications of what delivering and sustaining superior, consistent services to your customers and gain their trust for years to come. As we say, it is easier to retain and harnessing existing customers many times., rather than trying new ones.
A related new development along these lines, is the newly redesigned CMMI® Capability Maturity Model Integration for SERVICES, V2.0 which contains a plethora of best practices amassed through 25+ years of industry experience., and research., has been released. This model is the de-facto “Gold Standard” today for best practices for the Service industry. The model was originally developed by Software Engineering Institute under Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 and is now under the stewardship of the CMMI Institute, an ISACA Enterprise. Take a look at the new redesigned model at https://cmmiinstitute.com/cmmi/svc
CMMI Services is an integrated set of best practices that improves an organization’s capability to efficiently and effectively deliver quality service offerings that meet market and customer needs.
With AI enabling services businesses today, IoT and blockchain offering to provide faster, cheaper and more efficient customer experiences., it is imperative the service industry integrates best practices in their overall business., to thrive!
Forth Quarter / Q4 - 2018
CMMI® Institute Expands CMMI® V2.0 to Include Services and Supplier Management
2018/12/04
CMMI V2.0 Improves Business Performance by Building and Benchmarking World-Class Capabilities for Product Development, Services and Supplier Management
Pittsburgh, PA (4 December 2018) – CMMI Institute today expanded its Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)® V2.0 product suite, adding Services and Supplier Management views to the model’s globally recognized set of best practices, benchmark tools, appraisal and performance measurement guidance. The CMMI V2.0 product suite enables organizations to analyze and appraise internal operations, and helps organizations measure their capabilities against best practices, pinpoint areas of improvement and achieve higher performance.
Designed to optimize business performance and achieve measurable results, CMMI Development V2.0 was first released in March of this year. In addition to product development, CMMI V2.0 now includes views that advance selection and management of suppliers as well as delivery and management of internal and external services. Today’s announcement continues CMMI Institute’s commitment to advance CMMI V2.0 and help organizations understand and improve their capabilities—in people, processes and technologies—across every facet and function of the enterprise.
Keeping with the goal to gain better, faster business results, additional product suite improvements include:
Significant enhancements to the CMMI V2.0 model viewer user experience
Improvements and clarifications to the performance-based appraisal method, along with a brand-new appraisal toolkit
New training courses and materials that teach new and existing users how to assess, improve, and sustain process capability and performance, including an eLearning model upgrade course to complement the instructor-led option
“In today’s business environment, it is essential for all organizations to understand their capabilities, gauge where and how to boost those capabilities aligned to business needs, and focus resources on continuous improvement,” said Kirk Botula, CMMI Institute CEO. “The CMMI V2.0 model and resources provide the critical foundation for that work, helping leaders extract improved performance, leverage best practices and benchmarks, and get the results they seek efficiently and effectively.”
The updates to CMMI V2.0 provide the following benefits in each area of concentration:
Development: Improve an organization’s capability to develop quality products and solutions that meet the needs of customers and end users.
Services: Improve an organization’s capability to efficiently and effectively deliver quality service offerings that meet market and customer needs.
Supplier Management: Reduce enterprise risk and improve supply chain management capability.
Organizations that build and leverage capabilities see decreases in defects, re-work, cost, time-to-market, and risk. They also see increases in quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, performance and new/repeat business.
According to McKinsey & Company data, more than 50 percent of companies do not have standard processes, process assets and jobs aids to measure what matters in their companies, while a third cite difficulties in monitoring plans and making needed adjustments. To address these challenges, the core of the CMMI V2.0 model is organized by the critical capabilities of every organization that, when properly leveraged, improve business performance and resiliency:
Ensure Quality
Engineering and Developing Products
Delivering and Managing Services
Selecting and Managing Suppliers
Planning and Managing Work
Managing Business Resilience
Managing the Workforce
Supporting Implementation
Sustaining Habit & Persistence
Improving Performance
For more information about CMMI Institute and CMMI V2.0, visit cmmiinstitute.com/cmmi.
About SQC:
Software Quality Center has been a CMMI Institute Partner for over 17 years now. Serving the only cause to better I.T. and service providers to work predictably through improved systems and processes., with special expertise in Defense, Aerospace and Federal sectors., SQC employs over 10+ top-notch, high caliber consultants and appraisers across USA and India, serving over 75+ customers around the world.
About CMMI® Institute
A subsidiary of ISACA Enterprises, CMMI Institute (cmmiinstitute.com) is the global leader in the advancement of best practices in people, process, and technology. CMMI Institute enables organizations to elevate and benchmark performance across a range of critical business capabilities, including product development, service excellence, workforce management, data management, supplier management, and cybersecurity.
For over 25 years, thousands of high-performing organizations in a variety of industries, including aerospace, finance, healthcare, information technology, software, defense, transportation, and telecommunications, have achieved sustainable business success through CMMI adoption and demonstrated their ability as capable business partners and suppliers.
CMMI® , Capability Maturity Model Integration are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark office by CMMI Institute.
Project Management Institute (PMI®) completes 50 Years in 2019!!
Looking Ahead to the PMI 50th Anniversary!
PMI is turning 50 in 2019! The celebration kicked off at PMI® Global Conference in Los Angeles, California, USA in October, and will continue through to the end of 2019, including PMI® Global Conference 2019, to be held 5-7 October in the birthplace of PMI: Philadelphia, PA. Registration and the Call for Papers will open in January 2019. Look for reminders. If you are interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor during the conference, please request information from the PMI® Global Conference 2019 pages.
Some interesting statistics on the impact of PMI® worldwide:
Statistics of Interest as of 31 October 2018
PMI membership is 553,150
Total Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification holders: 887,937
Total Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certification holders: 36,751
Total Program Management Professional (PgMP)® certification holders: 2,497
Total PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)® certification holders: 1,905
Total PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)® certification holders: 4,973
Total PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® certification holders: 24,497
Total PMI Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)® certification holders: 614
Total PMI Active Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)®: 3,008
Worldwide, there are 296 PMI® chapters, with a total chapter membership of 289,144
“PMI,” the PMI logo, “PMP,” “PMBOK,” “PM Network,” “Project Management Institute” and “Pulse of the Profession” are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2018
In Conversation with Express Computer
Sep 12, 2018 by Express Computer
Kris Puthucode, CEO of SQC Global expressed his views on the importance of building and sustaining a Quality System 4.0 in organizations.
Read in detail, the importance of Quality System 4.0
In Conversation with Silicon India
Kris Puthucode, CEO of SQC, has shared his insights on "WHY QUALITY FOCUS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT THAT LEADS TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION", published in SILICON INDIA.
Silicon Covers Insights from Top Leaders of India
Contents Extract from Silicon India Magazine
Kris Puthucode, CEO | SQC shares his insights on Quality and Customer Satisfaction
In Conversation with Talk To Tiger
Mr. Krishnan Puthucode, fondly known as Kris, the CEO/M.D. of Software Quality Centre (SQC) has recently been in a conversation with Talk To Tiger .
Read more on what Kris has to say, Kris - the Evangelist of Software Quality
How much is not having mature BD capability costing your company?
May 31, 2018 By Howard Nutt
Ever since we created our Capability Maturity Model® for Business Development (BD-CMM), we’ve been amazed at how willing organizations are to squander their profit on sub-optimized business-development capability! From the beginning, we’ve offered a definitive value proposition that supports the positive return that comes from investing in a mature BD operation.
Given our background in this area, we were very pleased to be invited by the CMMI Institute to present on this topic at their recent CMMI Capability Counts 2018 conference in Reston, VA. Our presentation was titled “Predicting Capability Improvement ROI’s through Benchmarking.” (Click here for a copy of the presentation.)
We included in our presentation a very interesting analysis that our colleague in the UK, Paul Deighton, performed a few years ago. To illustrate the impact of capability improvement, he constructed a simple scenario to reflect modest growth and calculated its impact on profitability, while also showing the investment ROI. It’s easy to understand and implies an obvious question: with this opportunity for financial benefit, why doesn’t every company follow the BD-CMM path to BD operational maturity?
Second Quarter / Q2 (ii) - 2018
SQC Launches CMMI V2.0 in India on the completion of 15 Years partnership with CMMI Institute
SQC has set another benchmark in providing the endless quality services to not only its client but an integrated bond with its Partner, CMMI Institute based in US. With the completion of 15 years of Partnership with CMMI Institute, Kris Puthucode, CEO of SQC Global, launches CMMI V2.0 Model in India, in presence of Mathew Maroon - Director | Product Line, Katie Tarara - Director | CMMI Institute and Kirk Botula - CEO | CMMI Institute (US). This CMMI V2.0 model is the enhancement of V1.3 and replaces it swiftly with a completely re-branded, re-designed new model that is more modern, agile and seeks to replace the earlier V1.3, aiming at ease of use, adoption and even higher reliability of quality ratings. “This is the Gold Standard in Quality Benchmark ratings for Software and Service Organizations.” said Kris Puthucode, CEO – SQC Global, while addressing the media.
On this exceptional event, that held in Bangalore, Kris and Team were busy conducting the trainings for engineers from various industries of India from Defence, Aerospace and Atomic Energy, making it such a great workshop which has held First in Asia and Second worldwide, being conducted by SQC.
On this honored moment, Kris said “This is a proud moment for us, as it recognizes the hard work and efforts to succeed in a market like India, in an industry like ours which is niche and everyone here seeks to only talk about the big names in IT. In US, where we are headquartered, SQC works with the US Department of Defense, Aerospace, Embedded Systems, Medical Devices and high-tech companies and similar domains, as the leading Quality Benchmarking Organization. SQC helps these industries to elevate performance and build capability by using best practices that are proven and tested”. “Some of the best talent in India resides in Aerospace, Defense, Medical devices and high-tech- and this is the Industry we have solely focused on since our inception in India as well as globally” added Kris.
This event was covered by mass media from various media houses. Let’s see what have to say about SQC launching CMMI V2.0 in India.
Click here to read the Article published by ETCIO
What This Week India has to say about SQC
India Tech Online been one of the major publishers
Coverage by The Quill, the leaders of tech news
Pressbox.co.uk covered this exclusive news
PRLOG released a Press Release of the event
Details of the Event Published on For Press Details
Event details also released on PRFree.org
1888 Press Release covers the event details. Click here to read more
SQC conducts the FIRST CMMI V2.0 Training in India, (the Second in the World) in June 2018
SQC is excited to have completed another FIRST!! We have the honor of having conducted the FIRST CMMI V2.0 training in India.
The Training was conducted in Bangalore, June 20-22nd, 2018., for a select set of participants, by our Certified trainer and lead appraiser, Kris Puthucode!!
The attendees were senior representatives of our select customers in the region who are highly regarded in implementing Quality and process initiatives in the entire country!! We are extremely humbled that we had this opportunity and add another feather to our cap!
Congrats to the FIRST CMMI V2.0 CLASS in INDIA!!!
Second Quarter / Q2 (i) - 2018
SQC completes 15 Years as a SEI/CMMI Institute Partner
News/Post | May 2018 | Software Quality Center
Software Quality Center LLC is excited to have this opportunity to share with you, our worldwide friends and clients, an exciting milestone for us at SQC. We were honored to be recognized for completion of 15 Years as a SEI/CMMI Institute Partner at the Capability Counts 2018 Conference in Reston, VA.
We know that none of this would have been possible without all of you, our worldwide clients and friends. Whether you have been with us from the beginning or just now recently acquainted, we sincerely want to thank you for your support over the past 15+ years and we look forward to many more years of working together!
In the photos are (from L-R, Katie Tarara, Director of Partner and Customer Operations, CMMI Institute, Kirk Botula CEO CMMI Institute, Kris Puthucode our CEO, Gary Norausky, SQC’s Secondary HM Lead Appraiser in the USA, Ron Lear, CMMI Lead Architect, CMMI Institute.)
Kris is seen with Howard Nutt, CEO of BD-Institute International, and the author of the BD-CMM Model, which SQC is also a partner since 2007.
Kris also was a speaker at the conference. Kris’s session was on “Integrating the best of multiple models” and was very well attended and received!
Chasing Quality Isn't Easy. But An FDA Pilot Aims To Boost Quality By Appraising The Capability Of Manufacturing Sites
07 May 2018 | Analysis
The pursuit of quality can be a daunting task for device-makers. One wrong step can cause costly product recalls affecting patient health – among other troubles tied to poor quality products and processes. To help firms move toward a goal of best-in-industry quality, US FDA, through its Case for Quality initiative, has convened a pilot program to measure a manufacturer's capability and maturity to help put it on a path to continuous improvement. The pilot uses an industry-tailored version of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) model and method, developed jointly by FDA, industry and CMMI Institute. Read More
First Quarter / Q1 - 2018
The CMMI® Institute Announces CMMI Development V2.0
Driving business performance by building and benchmarking world-class product development capabilities.
Pittsburgh, PA, USA (March 28, 2018) Building capability to consistently deliver solutions with speed to market, agility, customer satisfaction, and uncompromising quality are all table stakes in today’s competitive business world. The CMMI Institute has released CMMI Development V2.0, a globally recognized process improvement model of software, product and systems development best practices that will elevate organizational performance.
“Global adoption of the CMMI has been growing at a record rate because of the material results it delivers,” said Kirk Botula, CMMI Institute CEO. “High-performance commercial and government organizations around the world rely on CMMI to provide a clear roadmap to mitigate risk, create value, and build a resilient culture of continuous improvement. These include companies like Honeywell, Cognizant and Unisys, and U.S. government agencies, such as the FDA and NASA.”
Capabilities lie at the heart of an organization’s ability to achieve results and address strategic priorities. CMMI Development V2.0 will help organizations substantially improve performance by building and sustaining capabilities in key areas such as product development and engineering, managing business resilience, planning and managing work, selecting and managing suppliers, ensuring quality, and managing the workforce.
The CMMI V2.0 product suite includes the maturity model, adoption guidance, system and supporting tools, training, and certification and an appraisal method. And, like its predecessors, CMMI V2.0 leverages its five levels that represent a path of increasing capability maturity to improve business performance.
CMMI Development V2.0 enables the following benefits:
- Improve Business Performance
- Business goals are tied directly to operations in order to drive measurable, improved performance against time, quality, budget, customer satisfaction and other key drivers.
- Leverage Current Best Practices
- The CMMI V2.0 is a trusted source of proven best practices that will be continuously updated on the new online platform to reflect changing business needs.
- Build Agile Resiliency and Scale
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- Direct guidance on how to strengthen agile with Scrum project processes across the enterprise with a focus on performance.
- Benchmark Capability and Performance
- New performance-oriented appraisal method improves the reliability and consistency of benchmarking while reducing preparation time and life-cycle costs.
- Accelerate Adoption
- Online platform and adoption guidance make the benefits of CMMI more accessible than ever.
CMMI V2.0 was developed in collaboration with sponsors including BAE Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Northrup Grumman, and Siemens and over 300 contributors from industry, government, and academia from more than 20 countries.
Specifically, CMMI Development V2.0:
- Delivers the best solutions to elevate and benchmark organizational performance with demonstrated results.
- Helps organizations rapidly identify the key capabilities that directly impact business results, return on investment (ROI), quality, and performance while reducing costs and time to market.
- Efficiently builds a culture of continuous improvement using best-in-class practices with a focus on optimizing performance to the level needed for the organization.
High-performing organizations understand that building resilient capabilities are essential to outperforming the competition. Learn how CMMI Development V2.0 can help you: https://cmmiinstitute.com/cmmi/dev
Source: CMMI Institute
SQC to speak at the 2018 CMMI Conference - Come and Attend our talk!
March 2018
Conference: Capability Counts 2018 @ Reston, VA on May 1&2, 2018
We are pleased to let you know that our Sr. Consultant and CEO, Kris Puthucode is speaking at the Capability Counts 2018 conference in Reston VA on May 1- 2nd 2018. Kris is speaking on "Integrating Best Practices Throughout the Business Lifecycle". We hope you can attend this most popular conference for Executives, Process improvement and Quality professionals, attended by CXOs of leading companies of the world, including Defense, Government and the commercial sector, and practitioners.
By attending this session you will:
- Explore: Why using structured methods across the entire business life cycle makes more sense than just on delivery excellence?
- Learn about how combining the 'best of best practices' is a better approach than using a single model or a quality standard
- Learn about the latest and greatest in the model and standards world
- Get some real-world ideas to make a visible, quantifiable impact on your business lifecycle as opposed to "death by documentation" when it comes to quality models and paradigms
For more information about the conference and Registration details please visit; http://cmmiinstitute.com/conferences#overview
A Record Breaking Year for CMMI Appraisals in 2017
February 2018
CMMI Institutes happy to announce that 2017 was, once again, a record breaking year for the CMMI Institute. A Appraisals grew to a new record number-2,632, showing that CMMI continues to be a valuable solution for thousands of companies around the world.
Fourth Quarter / Q4 - 2017
The US Department of Health and Human Services Introduces New Framework to Improve Patient Safety
December 14, 2017
Pittsburgh, PA, USA — According to HealthIT.gov, mismatched patient data is the third leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, and the risk for errors grows with the increasing number of digital patient records. To address this serious issue, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT has introduced the Patient Data Demographic Quality (PDDQ) framework. The goal of this framework is to improve patient safety by helping organizations adopt a coordinated approach to achieve accurate, trusted patient data. The PDDQ’s content is derived from the Data Management Maturity (DMM)SM model, created by the CMMI® Institute as a comprehensive reference model of fundamental data management processes that constitute a graduated path to greater capabilities and maturity.
The Ponemon Institute’s 2016 National Patient Misidentification Report reveals that 86 percent of healthcare practitioners have witnessed or know of a medical error caused by patient misidentification. When patient data quality is not prioritized or accurately matched (often due to a lack of training and standards), adverse effects can occur, such as duplicative testing, incorrect treatments or diagnoses, and errors in insurance claims and billing.
Defining and adopting standards, as well as implementing sound data management processes, requires increased awareness, effective collaboration, and a cultural evolution toward shared responsibility both within and across healthcare organizations. The PDDQ framework was designed to help healthcare organizations ensure that adopted standards and processes will be effective, sustainable, and minimize the number of duplicate records to improve patient safety.
The PDDQ contains practical best practices in 19 data management process areas designed to evaluate an organization’s strengths and gaps, and enables a clear formulation of needed quality improvements. It fosters collaboration and consensus among stakeholders to ensure that data is understood, aligned, and trusted across the organization and the patient care lifecycle, including:
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- Implementation of data governance functions
- Data quality improvement and assurance
- Managing operational components
- Defining and mapping data dependencies
“The PDDQ provides a comprehensive evaluation of data management practices for patient data through all health care delivery practice areas, including registration, patient care, laboratory, pharmacy, claims and billing,” said Melanie Mecca, Director of Data Management Products and Services at CMMI Institute. “The PDDQ’s flexible structure means it can be applied in whole or in part to suit each healthcare organization’s specific needs.”
The DMM model has achieved widespread adoption in the federal/state government and medical communities, including the SEC, Department of the Interior, and the American Board of Family Medicine. This is just one of the reasons it was chosen as the basis for the PDDQ framework, according to Lee Stevens, Director of State Interoperability Policy, ONC: “The ONC Community of Practice analyzed available frameworks and selected the CMMI Institute’s Data Management Maturity model as the baseline for developing the PDDQ framework of best practices. The DMM’s fact-based approach and built-in path for capability growth is aligned with the healthcare industry’s need for a comprehensive standard.”
A free copy of the PDDQ Framework is available here.
Source: CMMI Institute
Project Management Institute Launches New Reports on Organizational Agility During Sixth Annual PMO Symposium
Philadelphia - 6 November 2017
Project Management Institute (PMI) today unveiled three thought leadership reports focused on illustrating the importance of organizational agility. The new reports were released during the organization’s sixth annual PMO Symposium in Houston, where more than 500 of the world’s top Project Management Office (PMO) executives, organizational leaders and senior decision makers have gathered to discuss how organizations can achieve greater agility — the capability to quickly sense and adapt to external and internal changes to deliver relevant results in a productive and cost-effective manner.
Produced in partnership with Forbes Insights, PMI’s report — Achieving Greater Agility: The Essential Influence of the C-Suite — takes a closer look at the role the C-suite can play in driving greater organizational agility. PMI’s thought leadership piece — Achieving Greater Agility: The Critical Need for Cross-Functional Collaboration — examines the lines of business and how companies can create a culture that encourages dynamism and innovation. Created in partnership with KPMG, the organization’s other report — Achieving Greater Agility: The Vital Role of Culture and Commitment — explores key factors that will help accelerate an organization’s transformation.
“With heightened competition and accelerating disruptions from new technology, market shifts, and social change, the need for organizations worldwide to demonstrate agility is greater than ever,” said PMI President and Chief Executive Officer Mark A. Langley. “As technology becomes even more advanced as we move forward in this digital age, the success of many organizations will hinge on their ability to react and adapt to unexpected roadblocks and market changes and switch priorities quickly without losing momentum. Our thought leadership reports are intended to guide organizations as they evaluate and transition to approaches that emphasize greater agility.”
Langley unveiled the thought leadership reports during a morning plenary session on the symposium’s second day. He discussed the insights and key findings that PMI obtained from the research that was completed. Langley’s remarks were followed by presentations from Forbes and KPMG. The session ended with a PMI-hosted panel discussion on organizational agility featuring representatives from ABB, FedEx and IBM Watson Cloud and Platform.
The reports were part of a larger thought leadership series on organizational agility from PMI, including PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® in-depth reports Achieving Greater Agility: The people and process drivers that accelerate results and The Drivers of Agility: Engaging people and building processes to accelerate results, released to the public in September. PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® research demonstrated that an organization’s agility level helps determine the success rate of its projects in today’s complex and disruptive global marketplace. While all project management approaches were found to support successful outcomes, the study found that organizations with high agility reported more projects successfully meeting original goals and business intent — whether they use hybrid (72 percent), predictive (71 percent) and agile (68 percent) approaches — than those with low agility using the same methods.
To read PMI’s full Thought Leadership Series on organizational agility, please visit https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/series.
Source: PMI
Do proposal specialists have real opportunities for career growth?
September 9, 2017 By Howard Nutt
There’s been a lot of progress in the world of bids and proposals. Certainly, the certification program through the Association of Proposal Management Professionals has made a huge impact in promoting the value of proposal specialists around the world. Yet, we find a lot of proposal specialists concerned about their career paths, and we were happy to participate in August’s “Limitless” conference sponsored by APMP’s Australia-New Zealand chapter.
In response to the program committee’s invitation to “explore how proposal professionals can advance their careers, instigate change and broaden their thinking beyond the limits of their organizations or roles,” we shared some of the insights we’ve gained through BD-CMM appraisals around the world. In particular, we identified five areas of deficiency that we’ve found in most BD organization and that have specific career implications. In this discussion, we shared these areas of deficiency, articulated how APMP professionals can contribute to their resolution, and defined career strategies relevant to each area.
We outlined how proposal specialists can grow their careers by expanding their professional competencies in these specific areas – thereby helping their organizations solve real issues AND increasing their potential career mobility. If you’d like to have a copy of the presentation, please click here.
Why not include Business Development in your CMMI® initiatives?
June 1, 2017 By Howard Nutt
The BD-Institute is now a “standard fixture” at CMMI Institute’s Capability Counts conferences. It’s not just that our BD-CMM adheres to the tenets of CMMI that assert that success is best achieved through a robust strategy based on industry best practices. It’s also that the experience of CMMI users suggests that even high-maturity organizations can experience short-comings that trace to poor pre-contract solution architectures.
As part of the May conference, we presented on “Optimizing Solutions by Integrating CMMI and BD-CMM.” The premise is that application of best practice during contract delivery can have limited success when solutions are fundamentally flawed during project conceptualization. Our message is that BD-CMM applies best practices for pre-contract solution development that are fully aligned with CMMI and address both contractor and customer risk. The benefit is that integration between BD-CMM and CMMI creates a unified strategy for managing success from end to end of business life cycles. If you’d like a copy of the presentation, please click here.
Source: BD Institute
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2017
Project Management National Conference, India
15 - 17 September 2017, Chennai
Project Management National Conference, India 2017 is a three day professional development event, organized and hosted by PMI Chennai Chapter and Co Hosted by PMI Trivandrum, Kerala Chapter from 15th to 17th September 2017.
The conference theme Project Management - Powering India's Global Leadership builds on the ability of Governments and businesses to rise and meet the challenge that Indian economy is currently facing. These economic hurdles must be overcome to catapult India as powerful global economy. Project management is the absolute need of the hour. It is the skill required to realise India’s vision of becoming a global leader. The conference will present industry views, case studies, invited speeches and technical papers that focus on how Project Management practitioners:
- Play a key role in redefining the way India builds its capabilities
- Help create the climate for growth
- Enable the country to move towards an economy focused on innovation & product development
The conference provides a platform for Project Management Practitioners across industries, government, NGOs and academia, to exchange ideas on the challenges and opportunities in managing projects that will help translate a vision of India into reality. It is an opportunity to network, share and learn from like-minded professionals.
Source: PMI
CMMI® Institute Reports Fifth Consecutive Year of Record Growth
April 04, 2017
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CMMI® Institute announced today that 2,237 organizations earned a Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) appraisal rating in 2016, a 16 percent global increase in the number of completed appraisals.
Business leaders who conduct a CMMIappraisal can determine what their company must do to strengthen the skills and systems designed to lift a given enterprise, business unit, or specific function to the next level. By using CMMI, companies can measure their capability against a defined framework of best practices and decisively identify sweet spots to be more competitive.
“CMMI appraisals are recognized around the world as a trustworthy measure of an organization’s capability to deliver higher quality products and services,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “Every year more and more organizations realize the value of a CMMI maturity level and in 2016 we saw that growth particularly in the US, China, and India.”
As defined by McKinsey & Company, capability is “anything an organization does well that drives meaningful business results.” And, when a company’s distinctive capabilities are clearly defined, everything and everyone within the organization begin to reinforce one another. Many organizations can benefit from using a capability maturity model, like CMMI, to measure their capabilities against best practices and pinpoint which ones drive higher performance across the enterprise.
Results from the CMMI Institute’s Assess Your Organizational Capability Study demonstrate that leaders are increasingly aware of the value of improving the key capabilities in their organizations. The number of organizations using CMMI is rising year over year indicating that more companies than ever are looking to CMMI to build a culture of continuous improvement. And there continues to be opportunities for CMMI adoption as:
- Nearly 50 percent of organizations don’t have standard processes, process assets and job aids in place.
- 42 percent of organizations have no established standard-planning processes.
- 54 percent do not measure what matters.
Specifically, here is how two high performing organizations are using CMMI to drive business results:
Allianz UK, Europe’s largest insurer with an operating profit of 10.8 billion euros, needed to build its foundational capabilities in project management and engineering innovation across geographical divisions to manage complexity and increase performance. When they implemented CMMI, they saw a dramatic improvement in performance with a 39 percent increase in project on-time delivery rates, a 123 percent increase in projects delivered on budget, and a 53 percent jump in customer satisfaction. As stated by Allianz’s Director for Systems Development, Jean Harris, “In today’s rapidly evolving world, the ability to create new value and the ability to be innovative is now more important to an organization’s survival than at any other time in our history,”
Booz Allen Hamilton, a $5.2 billion consulting company, has built a culture of continuous improvement demonstrated by completing 18 CMMI appraisals since 1998 to build and improve its key capabilities and process maturity. In 2016, the organization went from a CMMI Maturity Level 3 to a Maturity Level 5—the highest level achievable. Their business goal was to leverage CMMI to scale their Digital Solutions business to enable them to take on larger more complex work by creating a measurement program that enables them to demonstrate the improved predictability and consistency of their performance for their clients. This resulted in achieving a 35 percent decrease in average ticket resolution time for Healthcare.gov from the previous contract. In addition, the team exceeded a 94 percent client service level agreement (SLA) by implementing more rigorous engineering processes to support larger scale and more complex systems.
See how more organizations are benefiting from their CMMI appraisal by visiting the Who Uses CMMI? web page.
For organizations that want to work with CMMI-appraised organizations, a full overview of CMMI-rated organizations is published in the Published Appraisal Results Site (PARS).
Source: CMMI Institute
First Quarter / Q1 - 2017
SQC to speak at the 2017 CMMI Conference – Come and Attend our talk!!!
March 31, 2017
Conference: Capability Counts 2017 @ Alexandria, VA on May 16&17, 2017
Join hundreds of global business leaders dedicated to performance and capability improvement from an array of background, countries, and experiences. You’ll experience a series of workshops, keynotes, and interactive sessions focused on delivering actionable insights on what it means to be a capable, mature organization. Get the best ROI on your education investment at this premier conference.
Opening Keynote presentation from Greg Williams, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA
80+ speakers will share their knowledge of CMMI adoption and capability improvement experience
7 Tracks with captivating sessions - customize your schedule to fit your business needs
Interactive Gamer’s Alley Workshop will teach you about Agile values, Collaboration, and Teamwork while having the time of your life with legos, tennis balls, and playing cards. Plan a project, participate in a sprint, and build a village while experiencing a wide variety of Agile ceremonies facilitated by your Scrum Master, Ross Timmerman of Broadsword.
Why Attend Capability Counts 2017?
- Connect with global business leaders dedicated to achieving a competitive edge by streamlining their capabilities
- Take away ready-to-use resources and tools from industry experts to share with your organization
- Share best practices and business challenges with your peers during networking opportunities
Kris Puthucode is the CEO of Software Quality Center LLC (SQC), a leading best practices and management consulting organization. SQC is a Certified Partner of CMMI Institute and a Consultant Collaborator with the Business Development Institute International (BD-Institute). Kris is a certified high-maturity CMMI assessor and certified BD-CMM appraiser, working in the USA, Asia (India), and the Middle East to deliver business and software quality improvement solutions and products.
Track: Professional Disciplines: Best Practices
Presentation Title: Optimizing Solutions by Integrating CMMI and BD-CMM – Exploiting the Power of a Fully Integrated Life Cycle Management Strategy
Professional Discipline: Program and Project Management
Presentation Summary: Project failures within even high-maturity organizations can often be attributed to short-comings that trace to poor pre-contract solution architectures. While organizations use CMMI to develop solutions that are more predictable and robust for customers, such application of best practice can experience limited success when solutions are fundamentally flawed during project conceptualization. The Capability Maturity Model for Business Development (BD-CMM) applies best practices for pre-contract solution development that are fully aligned with CMMI and address both contractor and customer risk. Resulting integration between BD-CMM and CMMI creates a unified strategy for managing success from end to end of business life cycles.
L&T Technology Services Ltd. - Winner of the Golden Peacock National Quality Award!
March 31, 2017
One of our earliest and esteemed clients, L & T Technology Services Ltd., CMMI DEV ML5 Organization has been awarded the Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2017. It is the most prestigious award given to technology companies for its best in class engineering services and solutions. L&T was selected after a three tier assessment process, among 241 other companies, finally shortlisted from over 400 companies that applied.
We have been working with L&T Technology in their process improvement/CMMI journey since 2002, and it is this kind of a great moment that makes us humble and privileged to work with such "cultures of excellence". Congrats LTTS!
Golden Peacock Awards considered a benchmark in Corporate Excellence
March 31, 2017
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Agile comes to the PMBOK® Guide!
New to the Sixth Edition, each knowledge area will contain a section entitled Approaches for Agile, Iterative and Adaptive Environments, describing how these practices integrate in project settings.
Detail on agile and other adaptive and iterative approaches will also be included in an appendix.
Other content enhancements include:
- More emphasis on strategic and business knowledge, including discussion of project management business documents.
- Information on the PMI Talent Triangle™ and the essential skills for success in today's market.
Business Analysis Standard currently being written and will be open for public review in the coming months. Read More
Source: PMI
(PMBOK)® are registered marks of the Project Management Institute
How to Maximize the Impact of Your Project Management Office
PMI's President & CEO Mark A. Langley spoke to
American City Business Journals about how an appropriately structured, resourced and funded project management office (PMO) can be the critical link between strategy and implementation.
It's no secret that well-implemented strategies are essential to any organization's ability to grow and succeed.
According to Why Good Strategies Fail: Lessons for the C-Suite, an Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by PMI, 88 percent of organizations said implementing strategic initiatives successfully would be 'essential' or 'very important' for their competitiveness over the next three years.
Yet 61 percent of firms struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and implementation, and just over half of strategic initiatives are successful.
An appropriately structured, resourced, and funded project management office (PMO) can be the critical link between strategy and implementation. A PMO is responsible for maintaining the standards for project management within an organization, including supporting the execution of project work; it can effectively do so by implementing proven practices and providing a central point of contact for all project managers.
PMOs can also provide training, mentoring, and capability development for project personnel, facilitate knowledge transfer, and perform portfolio management functions to ensure strategy alignment and benefits realization. Read More
Source: PMI
Third & Fourth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2016
U.S. Senate Unanimously Approves the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1 DECEMBER 2016
Legislation to improve program management practices and bolster workforce development will go to President Obama for his signature.
The U.S. Senate has unanimously re-approved S.1550,the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015 (PMIAA), which will enhance accountability and best practices in project and program management throughout the federal government. The legislation, strongly endorsed by the Project Management Institute (PMI), has now cleared both chambers of Congress with bi-partisan support and will go to President Barack Obama for his signature.
This action, which occurred yesterday evening, marks the second time the Senate has unanimously approved this legislation. A previously-passed version of the bill cleared the House of Representatives on 22 September 2016 with minor modifications. The revised legislation was then sent back to the Senate for final approval. Read More
Upcoming PMI Standards and Publications
Oct 2016
The Standard for Portfolio Management– Fourth Edition will be open for public review and comment in Q1 of 2017, with publication planned in Q4 2017.
We also have plans to create two new titles: The Agile Practice Guide and The Standard in Business Analysis. More details will be added to the PMI Standards Updates page when they become available.
The PMBOK® Guide– Sixth Edition will be published both online and in print in American English and 10 additional languages simultaneously in the third quarter of 2017.
To keep up to date on these and others visit the PMI Standards Updates
Organizations with High Benefits Realization Management Maturity Have 50% Edge in Goal Attainment
PHILADELPHIA - 13 SEPTEMBER 2016
Organizations that invest in benefits realization management approach it as a discipline and achieve quantifiable gains as a result. According to findings from the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) 2016 Pulse of the Profession® In-Depth Report Beyond the Project: Sustain Benefits to Optimize Business Value, few organizations report a high degree of benefits realization maturity, but those that do see an average of 50% more projects meeting original goals and business intent. The findings point to actions every organization can take to sustain benefits once a project has been moved into ongoing operations.
“Organizations are leaving their strategy to chance if they don’t focus on benefits realization management as a central part of project and program management,” said PMI President and CEO Mark A. Langley. “All strategic change happens through projects and programs, so making sure that a project’s benefits are sustainable is crucial to making a strategic initiative succeed over the long term.”Read More
(PMP)® , (CAPM)® , (PgMP)® and PMBOK®are registered marks of the Project Management Institute
Source: PMI Institute
Connect with Global Business Leaders Dedicated to Performance Improvement at the Capability Counts 2017 Conference in Washington, DC
Oct 31, 2016
The CMMI Institute’s conference focuses on how to leverage organizational capability to build cultures of agility and innovation
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to a 2016 PwC CEO Survey, CEOs are seeking to better measure the impact and value of innovation for their key stakeholders. Companies are addressing these challenges by gaining better insight into business processes.
The CMMI Institute is addressing how investing in business and process improvement builds capability at their annual Capability Counts Conference on 16 & 17 May 2017 in Alexandria, VA, just outside of Washington, DC. The conference will feature the latest market trends and success stories on how to streamline business processes and create a culture of continuous improvement.
The conference will offer a series of collaborative workshops, engaging keynotes, and interactive panel discussions focused on delivering actionable insights on what it means to be a capable organization. Hundreds of professionals dedicated to performance and capability improvement from an array of backgrounds, countries, and experiences are expected to attend. Read More
Source: CMMI Institute
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2016
Software Quality Center LLC. Approved as Global Registered Education Provider by Project Management Institute
Glendale, AZ, USA - June 15, 2016
Software Quality Center today announces that the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s largest project management member association, has named it as a Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) effective June 1, 2016. R.E.P.s are organizations that have been approved by PMI to help project managers achieve and maintain the Project Management Professional (PMP)®, Program Management Professional (PgMP)® and other PMI professional credentials. These organizations have met PMI’s rigorous quality criteria for course content, instructor qualification, and instructional design.
Project managers are increasingly turning to R.E.P.s for certification training and maintenance, especially since median salaries for the profession now exceed $81,000 (USD). SQC’s training programs have been regarded as “top notch” and leading edge in Asia and the USA. SQC offers a variety of Project Management and Quality related training programs, to select clients worldwide. Our specialized topics are offered for high-end, top-tier and the best performing organizations, as opposed to much of our competition who may offer “mass training” to the general public by announcing a training calendar months in advance, that actually may never be held! Some topics we have successfully conducted over and over again, include “Why Decision Quality matters” and “Metrics for Business Improvement - a Strategy session for CXOs and the like.
Software Quality Center joins more than 1,500 R.E.P.s in more than 80 countries. These organizations include commercial training providers, academic institutions, and corporate training departments within corporations and government agencies.
About Project Management Institute (PMI)
Project Management Institute is the world's leading not-for-profit professional membership association for the project, program and portfolio management profession. Founded in 1969, PMI delivers value for more than 2.9 million professionals working in nearly every country in the world through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research. PMI advances careers, improves organizational success and further matures the profession of project management through its globally recognized standards, certifications, resources, tools academic research, publications, professional development courses, and networking opportunities.
As part of the PMI family, Human Systems International (HSI) provides organizational assessment and benchmarking services to leading businesses and government, while ProjectManagement.com and ProjectsAtWork.com create online global communities that deliver more resources, better tools, larger networks and broader perspectives.
Visit us at www.PMI.org,www.facebook.com/PMInstitute and on Twitter @PMInstitute.
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CMMI® is registered in the US Patents and Trademarks office by Carnegie Mellon University
(PMP)® , (CAPM)® and (PgMP)® are registered marks of the Project Management Institute
CMMI® Institute Publishes Top Three Trends from 2016 Capability Counts Conference
May 23, 2016
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hundreds of global business leaders dedicated to capability and process improvement gathered in Annapolis, Md., May 10-11, for the annual Capability Counts Conference. The CMMI® Institute, a global leader in the advancement of best practices in people, process, and technology, hosted the conference. Attendees experienced a series of workshops, keynotes, and interactive sessions focused on delivering actionable insights on what it means to be a capable, mature organization.
“It was both exciting and rewarding to see global organizations come together to demonstrate their commitment to capability improvement and creating sustainable competitive advantage,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “We achieved our goal in providing an avenue for professionals at all levels to share their experiences connecting strategy to action and driving high performance and agility.”
Three keynote presentations uncovered the top trends that left attendees buzzing:
Building capabilities delivers measurable business results in organizations, no matter the industry, no matter the size.
Andreas Kramvis, vice chairman of Honeywell, noted that building capability by achieving CMMI maturity level 5 globally in the company’s software centers is an essential enabler to Honeywell’s business results. In fact, 77 percent of Honeywell’s growth strategy includes $21 billion in sales of software-enabled products.
A capabilities-driven strategy creates sustainable, competitive advantage.
Kirk Grothe, chief executive officer of Livanta, emphasized that every industry is continually evolving, leading to more competition, more activity, more risk, and more failure. Thus, high capability and maturity are central to responding to market conditions, sustaining a competitive advantage, and differentiating between rivals.
High maturity enables real-time capability and process improvement resulting in predictable performance.
The continuous integration of CMMI and agile processes helps capture defects, so teams can focus on delivering valuable functionality and productivity. Eric Rongley, chief executive officer of Bleum, outlined the keys to routinely delivering zero-defect systems. It is critical to measure everything in real time, because everything is a task that takes time and has some output.
“People come to conferences like this to maintain their edge on knowledge and market trends. The only way we can compete is by building capability and staying ahead of the trends. How we work, how we behave, how we develop our products and services - it’s the only thing that matters in a competitive environment,” said Jeff Dalton, program chair and CEO of Broadsword, a software performance improvement company.
The Capability Counts Conference also featured the CMMI Institute’s first-ever Capability Challenge, a webinar-based competition that showcased business success stories. Attendees dubbed AEGIS.net the Capability Challenge Champion for tripling revenue after receiving an organization-wide CMMI maturity level 3 rating and streamlining its project and work management capabilities. As he accepted the award, AEGIS.net President Michael Callihan said, “AEGIS.net uses CMMI as a competitive edge to differentiate ourselves in a crowded marketplace, but more importantly to provide a strong foundation of process to support our clients and our own business growth.”
Source: CMMI Institute
First Quarter / Q1 - 2016
CMMI® Institute Reports Fifth Consecutive Year of Record Growth and Global Adoption in 2015
April 11, 2016
1,920 global organizations earned a CMMI® maturity and capability rating, reinforcing the demand for improved organizational capabilities
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CMMI® Institute announced today that 1,920 organizations earned a Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) appraisal in 2015, an 18 percent global increase in the number of completed appraisals. Driven by the commitment among global business leaders to assess their organization’s strengths and weaknesses, CMMI continues to successfully guide organizations as the global standard for performance improvement.
CMMI appraisals enable companies to measure their capability against a defined framework of best practices and decisively identify sweet spots to be more competitive. By conducting a CMMIappraisal, business leaders can determine what their company must do in order to strengthen their skills and systems.
“When an organization earns a CMMI appraisal rating, peers and business partners recognize it as achieving the gold standard in building capability in its operations and business practices,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “This rating distinguishes them from their competition. Many companies look for the CMMI appraisal rating when seeking suppliers and partners. The appraisal rating helps identify those dedicated to delivering excellence.”
Half of global executives rate capability building as a top three priority, according to a McKinsey & Company survey. Additionally, a Bersin by Deloitte 2014 study reports that more than 70 percent of organizations cite capabilities gaps as one of their top five challenges. Given the increased need to deliver high-quality products and services and deliver consistent performance to compete in the global business environment, organizations seek appraisals from CMMI Institute to help them realize and monetize their potential.
“In our current competitive environment in the Canadian Defence sector, one key differentiator is the ability to provide quality products and services that meet the requirements and specifications of our customers,” said Mike Greenley, vice president and general manager of CAE Canada Defence and Security. “As the only defence contractor in Canada with a key group accredited to CMMI maturity level 5, we have the ability to consistently achieve exceptional quality results and continuously improve upon them.”
Examples of how organizations are using CMMI are highlighted below:
- Honeywell expects software to be a significant growth driver for the company over the long-term. Being 100 percent CMMI maturity level 5 compatible is critical to achieving the company’s aggressive growth targets and executing on its software excellence strategy. Last year, Honeywell attributed $22 billion of its $39 billion in sales to software or software-enabled products.
- Chemtech reduced rework by 50 percent through a company-wide process improvement capability program through achieving CMMI maturity level 3. This rating led to improved product quality and project delivery, and resulted in lower costs and increased customer satisfaction.
- NASA is using CMMI as the performance and capability improvement model against which it measures the capabilities of the contractors it hires; the model has been a key factor in maintaining quality and increasing productivity.
See how more organizations are benefiting from their CMMI appraisal by visiting the Who Uses CMMI? Web page.
“We’ve seen a significant amount of growth in the number of appraisals conducted since 2011,” said Botula. “This is truly an exciting time for businesses around the globe looking for continuous improvement to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace.”
For organizations that want to work with CMMI-appraised organizations, a full overview of CMMI-rated organizations is published in the Published Appraisal Results Site (PARS).
ISACA® Acquires Global Capability Maturity Leader CMMI® Institute
March 03, 2016
Acquisition expands opportunities to help organizations optimize their use of technology, increase stakeholder value and improve business performance
Rolling Meadows, IL, USA (3 March 2016) — ISACA®, the professional association for IT governance, assurance and cybersecurity professionals, today announced that it has acquired CMMI® Institute, the global leader in the advancement of best practices in people, process and technology. By joining forces, the two organizations will raise the level of enterprisewide performance for existing and prospective members and customers and reach more diverse markets.
ISACA provides knowledge, standards, networking, credentialing and career development to IT and cyber security professionals. Through its comprehensive guidance and services, ISACA defines the roles of information systems governance, security, risk and assurance professionals worldwide. CMMI Institute is the organization behind the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), the globally adopted capability improvement framework that guides organizations in high-performance operations. CMMI Institute provides the tools and support for organizations to benchmark their capabilities and build maturity by comparing their operations to best practices and identifying performance gaps.
“We are living in a time of dynamic change in our industry, and technology has more power than ever before to transform an organization. For nearly 50 years, ISACA has been committed to equipping the professions we serve with the resources they need to positively impact their enterprises,” said ISACA CEO Matt Loeb, CGEIT, CAE. “Our acquisition of CMMI Institute will help us to broaden our focus on helping professionals and their organizations optimize their use of technology, increase value for stakeholders and improve business performance.”
ISACA and CMMI Institute share a vision for advancing organizational performance that centers on driving excellence in the IT, information systems governance, data management governance, software, and systems engineering functions in organizations across a spectrum of industries.
“CMMI Institute is a natural fit for ISACA and we are very excited to unite with them to create new offerings for ISACA’s member community,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “Together, we’ll offer a stronger portfolio of business solutions and professional development to both of our global customer bases and accelerate the pace of capability improvement and high maturity operations in their organizations.”
The number of organizations earning a CMMI maturity level rating in 2015 increased 28 percent in the US and 17 percent globally. Fueled by the demand among global business leaders to improve organizational capabilities and drive business results, CMMI Institute continues to grow year over year in the number of CMMI maturity level ratings earned by organizations. In 2015, more than 1,900 high-performing organizations earned a CMMI maturity level rating.
ISACA serves more than 140,000 members and certification holders working in the information systems governance, security, audit and assurance functions across all industries. This acquisition will expand ISACA’s reach to the thousands of organizations to which CMMI Institute has awarded a maturity level rating to improve their organizational capabilities and achieve higher maturity in their operations through their software, systems engineering and process improvement functions.
“Information technology is the backbone of the world economy and an enabler of business innovation. ISACA helps professionals and their organizations in gaining value through the right technology models and by removing impeding factors like cyberthreats,” said Christos Dimitriadis, Ph.D. CISA, CISM, CRISC, international president of ISACA. “Our acquisition of CMMI positions us well to accelerate our mission toward a more holistic approach, focusing even further on products and services engineering and operations.”
ISACA and CMMI Institute will continue to operate separately, with CMMI Institute operating as a subsidiary of ISACA. Additional information is available at www.isaca.org/cmmi-institute.
About ISACA
ISACA (www.isaca.org) helps global professionals lead, adapt and assure trust in an evolving digital world by offering innovative and world-class knowledge, standards, networking, credentialing and career development. Established in 1969, ISACA is a global non-profit association of 140,000 professionals in 180 countries. ISACA also offers the Cybersecurity Nexus™ (CSX™), a holistic cybersecurity resource, and COBIT®, a business framework to govern enterprise technology.
CMMI® Institute’s Data Management Maturity (DMM) Model Leads Neoway Business Solutions’ Roadmap to Managing Critical Data Assets
January 22, 2016
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to a 2015 Experian Data Quality study, 92 percent of chief information officers have experienced problems due to poor data quality in the past 12 months. The accelerating influx of information in today’s business landscape further challenges what is already a complex environment. Without a cohesive data management program addressing the range of data needs, executives may struggle to make sound strategic decisions for their organizations.
Brazilian market intelligence company Neoway Business Solutions faced the challenge of adjusting its operations to scale with growth and required a process and strategy for handling its main business asset: data. Neoway turned to CMMI® Institute’s Data Management Maturity (DMM)SM model, a framework for best practices that supports organizations to become more proficient in managing critical data assets, improving operations, enabling analytics, and gaining competitive advantage.
“Managing every bit of data in a totally data-driven company can be quite complex,” said Michel Ávila, chief data officer at Neoway. “When we started to study the DMM model and implement its activities, we felt very confident that we were going in the right direction. It’s amazing how this model, built based on the reality of banks and large companies, is also a perfect fit for a small, agile IT startup like ours.”
The flexibility of the DMM model made it possible for Neoway to develop a clear and rapid path to process improvement that was aligned to the company’s specific business goals and supported by the entire organization. The DMM model enabled Neoway to evaluate its current-state data management capabilities, discover gaps to remediate, and identify strengths to leverage. The assessment method revealed priorities, business needs, and a vision for data management capability improvements.
“The DMM program has greatly improved our business,” said Rodrigo Barcia, product vice president and data steward at Neoway. “It has added great value, not just in terms of process and governance, but in actual product development. The DMM model brings a direct technical and business impact to our company and enhances our ability to add value to our customers. The program has had full support and involvement from our senior management, and has been embraced by the entire technical team.”
The DMM model applies a structured framework of best practices for data strategy, allowing organizations to build their own customized roadmaps to data management maturity and capitalize on their unique strengths. By building data process capability across business lines, executives are able to make better and faster decisions by employing a shared vision. Since the formation of the DMMmodel, over 600 organizations of all sizes have used it in a wide variety of industries, including financial, healthcare, technology, regulation, scientific research, government, and retail.
The DMM model is supported by a robust portfolio of offerings to bring data management maturity to your organization. Get started with a Data Management Maturity (DMM)assessment, a workshop-based process that rapidly identifies an organization’s current capabilities with a detailed report of recommendations that guide data strategy and implementation.
Source: CMMI Institute
Third & Fourth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2015
December 2015
Software Quality Center LLC is excited to have this opportunity to share with you, our worldwide friends and clients, an important milestone for us at SQC – powered by our strong partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and the technologies developed there at Carnegie Innovations’ subsidiaries, we have reached a milestone in bringing adoption and use of the CMMI® – Capability Maturity Model Integration, the Gold standard for best practice and benchmarking in Software and the ICT industry, and the service industries worldwide. In 2015, SQC has led and performed more than 105+ formal appraisals worldwide, for over 75+ organizations combined, across continents, cultures and types of companies. While our major focus has been and continues to be the Department of Defense (DoD) /Federal Government, and Aerospace, we have engaged with some the leading organizations across the US, India and the Middle East in several industries including Industrial Automation, Healthcare/Medical Devices and equipment manufacturers, Banking Financial and Insurance Services and prominent global multinationals. At this important and fulfilling milestone, all of us at SQC Global have only one thing to say, and to turn out thoughts to our customers, friends and partners and we say, with utmost humility, a heartfelt – THANK YOU!! We count on your good wishes to continue!
Agility comes with maturity
"Agile doesn't scale in large organisations organically, it needs a plan, a blueprint to follow and a serious level of commitment by proven change agents."
- Bradley de Souza
The Agile approach is ideal for small projects in small organisations but when larger scale is required, the model needs to be adjusted to be effective.
25 November 2015 – Bradley de Souza (CIO New Zealand)
In today’s demand driven, fast paced and competitive environment, very few organisations conduct reviews of project failures or poor performance. They, prefer instead to breathe a collective sigh of relief and move past the difficulties as quickly as possible.
In response to this behaviour, some companies have implemented an Agile development approach to solve project problems and poor business engagement.
Agile is positioned as a silver bullet and has gained significant momentum over the years. It is regarded by many as the answer to the complex problem of project delivery. It prescribes a collaborative approach to a number of common issues and honestly attempts to break through the well-recognised failings of other models.
CMMI takes a holistic approach to an organisation’s capability, not just focusing on software development or project delivery. It focuses on how capable an organisation is and how mature the processes are.
For Agile to be implemented successfully, an appropriate level of maturity is essential (typically CMMI level 2 to3, the higher the better). The common denominators between Agile and CMMI are defined structure, adherence to processes, discipline and repeatability.
The goal of CMMI is to align the organisation to a common level of capability maturity, identifying weaknesses and addressing them accordingly across all competencies. Conversely, an Agile only delivery methodology will not automatically resolve organisational and cultural inadequacies.
Lack of discipline and an inability to follow processes, are significant inhibitors to capability uplift for both Agile and CMMI.
When the dimension of capability maturity is considered, it becomes immediately obvious that a gap exists between the Agile proposition and CMMI. Agility is a function of maturity and not the other way around.
The Agile approach is ideal for small projects in small organisations but when larger scale is required, the model needs to be adjusted to be effective.
Large organisations need to implement a scaled agile framework such as SAFe so that Agile can be taken to the next level. Agile doesn’t scale in large organisations organically, it needs a plan, a blueprint to follow and a serious level of commitment by proven change agents.
Many practitioners blame failed Agile projects on a lack of dedication to the methodology. This all or nothing approach is difficult to achieve for large projects in big organisations. Most organisations are generally not prepared to commit to a long-term solution. Pressure to measure quarter on quarter performance drives an addiction to silver bullet solutions rather than looking at the problem from more angles. This is where capability maturity comes into play.
There is a crossover point between the Agile methodology and CMMI. There is a strong correlation between successful Agile projects and CMMI level 3+ organisations.
At CMMI level 3, processes are well characterised and understood. They are described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods.
The organisation’s set of standard processes, which is the basis for level 3, is established and improved over time. These standard processes are used to establish consistency across the organisation. Projects build upon the organisation’s set of standard processes, tailoring them accordingly. The organisation’s management establishes process objectives based on the company’s set of standard processes and ensures these objectives are appropriately addressed.
It may seem obvious, but project failures are more likely to occur in CMMI level 1 to 2 organisations. In these organisations, even successes aren’t always what they seem. Upon closer inspection, a lack of a defined approach, technical standards, processes and governance, hides the amount of technical debt or compromise that was agreed in order to meet deadlines.
Success in these organisations depends on the competence and heroics of the people in the organisation and not on the use of proven processes. In spite of this ad-hoc, chaotic environment, CMMI level 1 organisations often produce products and services that work; however, they frequently exceed budget and schedule. Level 1 organisations are characterised by a tendency to over commit, abandon processes in the time of crisis, and not be able to repeat past successes.
Many organisations that adopt the Agile methodology in response to project failures are at CMMI level 1. They ignore the fundamental immaturity which produced the failures to begin with and instead seek to ‘quick fix’ the problems with an Agile approach. This can only serve to exacerbate the problems caused by lack of documentation, poorly defined requirements, inadequate financial oversight, bad planning, etc.
Maturity and agility are not two sides of the same coin or are they interchangeable, instead one is a precursor of the other. Getting the order right is the key to delivering projects successfully, on time, to budget and meeting the requirements.
Bradley de Souza (bradley@xtanz.com) is an internationally recognised CIO/CTO who has specialised in change and transformation across industries around the world.
First & Second Quarter / Q1 & Q2 - 2015
CMMI® Institute Reports Record Number of Appraisals in 2014: Fueled by the demand to improve organizational capabilities and drive business results, 1,626 organizations earned a CMMI maturity and capability rating in 2014
March 12, 2015
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CMMI Institute announced today that a record number of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)® appraisals were completed in 2014 as business leaders across the globe continue to look for ways to assess their organization’s strengths and weaknesses to improve the capability of their businesses.
Organizations that want to continuously improve performance and deliver impact know that capability building is a top priority. In fact, McKinsey cites that 50% of CXOs rank capability building among the top three priorities in their organizations. (Source: McKinsey Building Capability Study, August 2014)
CMMI appraisals allow companies to measure their capability and maturity against a defined framework of best practices—and identify their sweet spots to be more competitive. CMMI Institute reported that 1,626 appraisals were completed in 2014, which represents its busiest year yet. This signifies a 12 percent increase in total CMMI appraisals since 2012 and the third consecutive year that CMMI Institute has achieved record growth in global adoption.
This increase demonstrates the continued value that organizations have realized and monetized since they started using CMMI in their organizations over 20 years ago — which has occurred in 100 countries across all seven continents including Antarctica — to improve their capabilities.
“By conducting a CMMI appraisal, business leaders can determine what their company needs to do in order to build or strengthen the skills and systems designed to lift a given enterprise, business unit, or specific function to the next level,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “We are encouraged to see the continued growth of CMMI as organizations look for proven ways to build their capabilities and gain sustainable competitive advantage in the global marketplace.”
Source: CMMI Institute
Updates from Business Development Institute International:
How good does it feels to get home?
April 3, 2015
We’re back! We weren’t really gone, as we’ve spent the last two years as part of another non-profit society. But in the end we decided that we could perform our mission better separately. So, the BD-Institute is back on its own…
We’re still committed to sharing insights and innovations on how to be more successful at winning competitive business. There are numerous topics that we hope you’ll agree need to be understood better and shared for the good of the professional – things like the current state-of-the-art in competitive results, how leading companies are performing competitive intelligence, what best practices in knowledge management are emerging, and many more.
Within the next 30-45 days, we’ll announce our first, big benchmarking study since gaining our independence in mid-March. Our goal is to get a lot more organizations involved in this project than ever before. Please watch for details, then plan to be part of the study and share the findings.
Who cares about win rate as a business-winning metric?
May 1, 2015
If you’ve read our book, Metrics to Manage Business Development Results, you know that we have substantial reservations about the value of win rate as a measure of BD operational performance. We find it especially problematic to use win rate to compare one organization’s business-winning success against another organization. Nonetheless, win rate remains the single, most-used metric that we’ve found in our research, so it appears that everybody cares about it as a metric.
Regardless of the problems associated with using win rate to measure BD performance, we support it as being very helpful if used appropriately within the organization. The secret is to take a different approach to how the data is structured and used, such that this metric is transformed from historical analysis to fact-based targeting of results. This shifts the focus of the metric from telling what happened to targeting results that the organization wants to achieve. It also brings organizations face-to-face with the question of their capability to do what needs to be done and what they can do to maximize probable success. This makes “win rate” much more meaningful in making the organization’s business-winning efforts successful.
Centralized vs decentralized organization – again?
May 1, 2015
The question about whether it’s better to have a centralized or decentralized BD organization keeps “raising its ugly head.” Most recently, a close colleague brought it up again in connection with a European company with which he’s currently working.
During our many studies and process assessments, we’ve had a good bit of experience in this area. In general, we’ve found that the split really is a function of strategic vs tactical business winning, especially if the primary organizational goal is growth. But a huge, underlying question is really, how we allocate resources (and funding) to centralized vs decentralized functions.
In one study that we did, we actually asked participants to assess whether they found centralized, decentralized, or hybrid organizations to be more effective. Respondents overwhelmingly characterized centralized organizations as providing better access to specialized expertise, being better able to develop and maintain resources, and having greater capacity to address multiple needs concurrently. The big concerns were greater overhead costs and propensities to become disconnected from the BD needs of individual operating units.
It’s not surprising, then, that a majority of leading organizations do indeed employ a “hybrid” solution that centralizes some functions and decentralizes others. In this scenario, organizations typically invest as much or more in the centralized staff as they do in staffing BD/sales functions in each of the operating units, while disproportionately funding the strategic pursuits for which the centralized organization is responsible and best suited.
Third Quarter & Fourth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2014
December 2014 – We have completed 13 years of operations. We have reached this milestone with your support and help and we take this opportunity to thank you all.
Washington Technology Article Features APMP PIC Initiatives
News/Post | 2014 | Product
Washington, DC, October 17, 2014 – The Association of Proposal Management Professionals® (APMP®) Procurement Improvement Committee (PIC) initiatives regarding Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) that control government procurement was featured in Washington Technology.
The article reviews findings from the APMP survey report, Closing the Procurement Gap, which surveyed more than 500 government and industry professionals and shows strong agreement regarding how to implement procurement improvements without reforming the FAR.
The survey results include recommendations from both perspectives regarding how to conduct better procurements and affect a reduced number of related protests. For example, the majority of respondents is not in favor of the practice of lowest priced, technically acceptable evaluation criteria for services bids. The survey results also provide feedback to support the importance of access to government in the early stages of the procurement process, open communication regarding release dates and leaving communication open until the final release of a Request for Proposal (RFP).
The results also show industry and government agreement that using requests for information (RFIs) is a valuable market research strategy to set technical requirements for procurements, as well as one-on-one meetings during "Industry Days,” where bidders attend procurement announcement meetings and learn about procurement requirements.
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2014
CMMI Institute Unveils the Data Management Maturity Model
News/Post | May 28, 2014
New Framework, Supported by a Portfolio of Services, Designed to Maximize the Value of Data While Strengthening the Collaboration between Business and IT
CMMI® Institute today unveiled the Data Management Maturity (DMM)™ model to enable organizations to improve data management practices across the full spectrum of their business. The DMM model, as the only reference model of its kind, provides organizations with a standard set of best practices to build a unique roadmap aligning data management strategy with individual business goals. The Data Management Maturity Portfolio, which will include the DMM model and a full complement of supporting services, will be available summer 2014.
The accelerating influx of information in today’s business landscape further challenges what is already a complex endeavor—building, optimizing and controlling an organization’s data assets to ensure timeliness, quality, shareability and fitness for business purposes. Achieving these goals is critical to agile business operations and fruitful data analytics, resulting in precisely targeted business decisions.
The companies that are able to leverage their corporate data assets to the fullest are the companies that will dominate in the current era of global business where information and access reign supreme,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “The DMM model is a powerful accelerator for aligning the interests of lines of business with IT to ensure that their critical data assets are strengthened, well-managed, and better utilized to achieve business goals. To date, over 150 individuals in early adopter organizations have employed the DMM model to evaluate their capabilities, practice by practice, work product by work product.”
The DMM model helps organizations build a common terminology and shared understanding of how their data assets need to be managed. Its successive capability levels provide a clear path for improvement in 25 process areas reflecting all the fundamental disciplines of data management. Throughout the development of the DMM model, over 70 organizations have evaluated their capabilities using the model. These early adopter organizations including Microsoft, Fannie Mae, the Federal Reserve System Statistics Function, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Freddie Mac reported significant benefits from the use of the DMM model, including the ability to galvanize organizational change by identifying and implementing collaborative actionable initiatives.
Data Alignment to Business Processes
The DMM model was developed based on the foundational principles of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®)—a proven approach to performance improvement and the gold standard of excellence in software and systems development for more than 20 years. Developed by CMMI Institute, with sponsors including Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation and Kingland Systems, the DMM model was created with the contributions of data management experts across multiple industries over the span of three and a half years.
The DMM model is currently undergoing a peer review by over 140 data management and CMMI experts. The model and a full ecosystem of supporting services will be available to all organizations and professionals during summer 2014. Components will include:
- Training and Certification: A full suite of successive training classes, providing a certification path and licensing, will be available for data management professionals. This program provides data management experts the ability to facilitate assessments against the DMM model and assist in implementing data management best practices. Qualifications for certifications are equally achievable by those who have line of business backgrounds as well as those working in the IT/data management space.
- Assessment Method: A proven, facilitated evaluation method led by a DMM-certified professional, which involves gathering a broad range of key stakeholders to evaluate capabilities together. When used in conjunction with the DMM model, this method allows an organization to quickly evaluate its current state of data management maturity relative to key goals and achieve actionable improvements, both strategic and tactical, to its data management program.
- Partner Program: CMMI Institute is powered by a community of more than 400 partner organizations that are guiding businesses in the successful use of the CMMI models. The DMM model will be included as part of the CMMI Partner Program to help partners evaluate and implement data management practices for organizations around the world.
CMMI Institute Extends Software Development Framework to Address Security
News/Post | April 1, 2014
Security by Design with CMMI for Development V1.3 is available now
PITTSBURGH – April 1, 2014 – The CMMI Institute, the leading center for global best practices and organizational benchmarking, announced today it has extended the CMMI for Development framework to address security concerns in software and systems development. This increased emphasis on security will help developers to protect their work from attack.
Security attacks against major companies have become regular headlines. In many cases, hackers are taking advantage of weaknesses resulting from inattention to basic security measures. An August 2013 study of Ponemon Institute and Security Innovation found that most software development organizations do not consider security in the development process, leaving the end applications and products vulnerable. While this absence may appear to keep costs down, any savings realized by disregarding security during development is lost many times over when costly updates are required after product releases, or worse, when a breach occurs and requires significant effort to remedy.
Another Ponemon Institute 2013 research study, sponsored by Symantec, found global security breach costs ranging from $1.1 to $5.4 million per breach.
CMMI adoption results in cost savings by increasing speed to market and reducing costs connected to defects and rework. CMMI for Development is a framework of practices designed to improve quality and reliability in development processes, and many users have included security efforts in CMMI adoptions. Today’s news addresses security in a new way, with a set of practices explicitly designed to include security concerns in CMMI adoption and appraisals.
With the release of a technical report entitled, Security by Design with CMMI for Development V1.3: An Application Guide for Improving Processes for Secure Products, the CMMI framework is extended to include guidelines for including security requirements as quality criteria in the development process. Specific new process areas include Organizational Preparedness for Secure Development, Security Management in Projects, Security Requirements and Technical Solution, and Security Verification and Validation. By integrating security into systematic management of the development process, companies will reduce security risks and costs for themselves and their customers.
“We understand that security issues concern every level of the technology centered enterprise,” said Kirk Botula, CEO, CMMI Institute. “At the institute, we are actively seeking ways to help CMMI users tailor the frameworks to best meet their organization’s business goals. We are pleased to help organizations to develop operational resiliency against attacks by creating sustainable methods for developing secure products.
Security by Design with CMMI for Development V1.3, along with a usage guide and a recording of a global webinar, is available for download at www.cmmiinstitute.com/securityextension
First Quarter / Q1 - 2014
Global Adoption of CMMI Performance Improvement Framework Continues to Rise
News/Post | Feb 24, 2014
CMMI Institute reports record number of appraisals in 2013 and CMMI models rank as “world class” business solutions for the elevation of organizational performance as evaluated by actual users
CMMI Institute announced today that a record number of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) appraisals were completed in 2013 as organizations across the globe elevate organizational performance by adopting CMMI. The company also released the findings of a customer satisfaction survey using the Net Promoter Score (NPS)® methodology in which individuals who utilize CMMI rated CMMI as the world class means of improving organizational performance.
CMMI appraisals allow companies to measure their capability maturity against a defined framework of best practices. More than 1,600 appraisals were completed in 2013, the most ever done in one year and an 11% increase over 2012, the previous record year for appraisals. Of the 2013 appraisals nearly 40% were completed in China, where the widespread adoption of CMMI is driving economic growth and development across the region.
“For over twenty years, CMMI has been the gold standard for process improvement in companies and industries that value quality and excellence,” said Kirk Botula, CEO of CMMI Institute. “We are excited to continue to grow with our customers across international borders, where CMMI appraisals help countries to boost competitiveness in the global marketplace and establish international credibility.”
CMMI appraisal ratings are recognized around the world as the mark of capability, allowing suppliers to distinguish themselves from their competition and helping buying firms to hire suppliers that have demonstrated an appropriate level of capability. For buyers looking to work with CMMI appraised organizations, a full overview of results is published in the Published Appraisal Results System (PARS).
The De Facto Standard for Process Improvement
Thousands of companies across multiple industry sectors in 94 countries have adopted CMMI practices to elevate performance and have been appraised for capability and maturity using CMMI models. As part of today’s news, CMMI Institute is releasing the results of its first customer loyalty survey for CMMI using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) methodology.
1,841 users of CMMI from around the world were asked to rate how likely they would be to recommend CMMI to elevate organizational performance to a friend or colleague. The results were used to calculate a Net Promoter Score™, which is a measure of customer loyalty used heavily in business markets and verticals. CMMI Institute earned an NPS™ of 41 with the 2013 survey.
Satmetrix, the company that co-created Net Promoter™ releases benchmark reports annually on NPS score by industry. According to their most recent report, the average NPS for B2B companies is 22 NPS, and the top quartile is 39 and above.
Deborah Eastman, Chief Customer Officer at Satmetrix, states “NPS has proven to be a leading indicator of future growth for companies because it measures the customer’s likelihood to continue to buy and refer their friends.”
Highlights from the survey include:
- 50% of individuals responded with a 9 or 10 while less than 9% provided a 6 or below resulting in a 41 NPS. This places CMMI in the “world class” category of business solutions as evaluated by actual users.
- When asked why they would recommend CMMI, 45% of respondents cited proven performance results, while another 54% described CMMI as the de facto standard for process improvement.
“CMMI makes the world work better,” added Botula. “We are very encouraged to see the reliability, predictability, and improved performance that CMMI brings to our customers’ business.”
Fourth Quarter / Q4 - 2013
A BIG THANK YOU from Software Quality Center LLC!!!
News/Post | October, 2013 | Software Quality Center
Software Quality Center LLC is excited to have this opportunity to share with you, our worldwide friends and clients, an exciting milestone for us at SQC - we were just honored at the CMMI conference in Pittsburgh for 10 years as an SEI Partner, as of the end of 2012!
We wish to THANK the CMMI Institute, the new home of the CMMI Product Suite, and members of Software Engineering Institute (SEI) to have enabled our achievement of this great honor. Lisa Masciantonio, the CMMI Institute's Partner Director, recently expressed to SQC in correspondence that ---
"The Partner Network is honored to welcome Software Quality Center LLC to the group of Partner organizations that have reached a milestone of 10 years of collaboration with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and newly formed Clearmodel, home of the CMMI Institute. You have helped the Partner Network become a world-class organization and the only source for official services outside of the institutes themselves. Every day, you help us achieve our mission to make the world work better for every company, government, or region committed to excellence. We are proud to honor you at this year's SEPG North America conference, recognizing your achievement among your peers and colleagues. Please accept this token as an acknowledgement of your dedication to our technologies and your commitment to excellence. We thank you for your dedication, and we celebrate your achievement."
We know that none of this would have been possible without all of you, our worldwide clients and friends. Whether you have been with us from the beginning or just now recently acquainted, we sincerely want to thank you for your support over the past 10+ years and we look forward to many more years of working together!
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2013
Nous Infosystems Appraised At CMMI SVC + SSD Version 1.3 Level 5
News/Post | July 30, 2013 | Nous Infosystems
Bangalore: Nous Infosystems, a Bangalore based IT Services organization, announced that its Global Software Services division has been appraised at CMMI SVC+SSD Version 1.3 Level 5. The appraisal was performed by Software Quality Center. This cements Nous' place among the very few companies in India to reach this coveted milestone.
Nous Infosystems is better positioned to offer on-time delivery and cost savings to clients, as well as assured results from its offshore development centers. CMMI is considered to be one of the most widely accepted and adopted process improvement models by organizations worldwide.
On the occasion, Ajith Pillai, CEO and MD, Nous Infosystems mentioned, "With the successful completion of this world renowned appraisal, Nous has achieved what every IT services organization aspires to. We are now one among the few companies who have gone through a CMMI Level 5 software services and development version 1.3 appraisal. This coveted appraisal would further strengthen our goal to lead from the front when it comes to delivering high quality product engineering and services to our customers."
According to Buddhadeb Das Gupta, COO, Nous Infosystems, "The planning phase through the final assessment was a very crucial period for the organization. It needed thorough appraisal, redefinition and recalibration of several key processes covering vital business functions across strategy, delivery and operations. Meticulous planning, constant evaluation of outcomes and reorientation of actions transformed this from an initiative into a 'way of life' within Nous and that finally helped us achieve this feat."
The Lead Appraiser from SQC, Kris Puthucode said, "Nous is an organization with a continued commitment to the pursuit of excellence through process improvement. Nous' journey with CMM/CMMI has provided the organization with a strong foundation for establishing, deploying and improving capability in quality, service effectiveness and reduced delivery time, thereby customers see tangible benefits of quantitatively and statistically improving processes.
Second Quarter / Q2- 2013
APMP Launches Center for Business Development Excellence
News/Post | June 07, 2013 | APMP,CBDE,Bid & Proposal Con 2013,BD-CMM
APMP©, the global association of record for bid, capture and business development professionals announced the formation of its new Center for Business Development Excellence (CBDE), a community for senior-level BD professionals throughout the world, at last week's Bid & Proposal Con 2013 in Atlanta, GA.
The CBDE is enabled by APMP's merger with the Business Development Institute International, which provides the industry's best research, benchmarking and education for sustainable results in winning business. The resulting CBDE offers organizational accreditation, knowledge management and best-practice guidance using fact-based research.
"As APMP continues to grow, the CBDE is a new place for organizations and individuals that want to acquire business through close customer relationships and achieve sustainable results from quality sales," said Rick Harris, APMP's Executive Director. "This new community launch will give global BD professionals a home," he added.
Led by Howard Nutt, the former Executive Director of the BD-Institute International, the CBDE will focus on providing BD professionals everywhere with publications, webinars, education, and networking to help them in their daily business pursuits.
Activities of the CBDE will be anchored by its signature product, the Capability Maturity Model© for Business Development (BD-CMM) version 2.0, a printed guidebook that addresses performance excellence across the full lifecycle of business development. As demonstrated by BD-Institute International research, companies that invest in BD capability as outlined by the BD-CMM achieve measurably greater revenue results than companies with less mature BD operations. (See figure.)
BD-CMM Benchmarking. BD-CMM adopters consistently win more business, especially high-value, strategic programs needed for long-term viability and growth.
"Merging the BD-Institute International's intellectual property, products and services into the dynamic APMP professional society provides exciting new opportunities for senior and executive BD professionals. This includes both individual growth and development and organizational innovation and transformation, which we believe are game changers in business winning," commented Howard Nutt, leader of the new CBDE.
You may participate in APMP's Center for Business Development Excellence by becoming a member of APMP for $125 USD. You'll receive deep member discounts on all CBDE products and educational events and be part of a growing community of BD professionals. Become an APMP member by clicking here.
In addition to management by Mr. Nutt and Mr. Harris, the CBDE will be led by an advisory committee that includes Tony Birch of Shipley Limited, Kelli Stephenson of Experian, Karen Shaw of BAE Systems, and Don Beynon of Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute.
For more information on BD-Institute International, please click here
Note: Capability Maturity Model©, CMM, and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.
CMMI Institute Announces SEPG North America 2013 is coming to Pittsburgh
News/Post | Apr 14, 2013 | CMMI,SEPG,Technology,America
The CMMI Institute is pleased to announce that SEPG North America 2013 will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 1-2, 2013. We are thrilled to welcome the community to our home city for two days of high-quality learning and networking. With a more compact schedule designed to maximize each moment, the conference will deliver high-value, practical information to end users and practitioners and offer excellent opportunities to connect with others in the performance improvement community.
"SEPG North America 2013 aims to provide 'structured informality,' encouraging spontaneous discussions amidst a strategically planned schedule of discussion-rich lightning talks, keynotes, and brief presentations," said Eileen Forrester, product manager at the CMMI Institute and SEPG program chair. "New this year, the program will primarily feature invited speakers who will deliver powerful, compelling presentations. We anticipate that the program committee will round out the line-up with a smaller number of speakers selected from an open call for participation."
As we speak, the CMMI Institute is forming the program committee that will build the technical program. We are working quickly to be able to announce information on speakers, registration, and more at www.sepgconference.org in the coming weeks. Developed with community feedback in mind, SEPG North America 2013 will bring together users, Partners, and the CMMI Institute to demonstrate to users CMMI's measurable, powerful impact on business performance and to help cultivate the next generation of adopters.
CMMI Institute Speakers Featured at SPIN London Town Hall Meeting
News/Post | Apr 03, 2013 | CMMI,SPIN,Technology,London
Lisa Masciantonio, partner and client operations director, and Jay Douglass, business development director, spoke on behalf of the CMMI Institute at a town hall meeting hosted by SPIN London held on February 25, 2013. Masciantonio and Douglass shared plans for the CMMI Institute, the new organizational steward of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), and gathered community feedback on ideas for the future of this world-class technology.
"The CMMI Institute is committed to continuing great relationships with the worldwide process community, building on CMMI's credibility, and innovating to continue to help organizations achieve measurable results from CMMI," said Masciantonio. "We enjoyed an active exchange with the members of SPIN London."
SPIN London is a community of professionals who share their successes and challenges with an aim to improve organizational performance, excellence, and contribution to the society.
"Lisa and Jay have a rich history of supporting and growing the global community of CMMI users and licensees," commented Vinay Gulati, coordinator, SPIN London. "The town hall meeting provided an engaging venue for them to share the CMMI Institute's mission and to generate interest and ideas for the future of process and performance excellence."
More information on SPIN London is available at http://spinlondon.co.uk/.
First Quarter / Q1 - 2013
KPO > Q1 –Q3 2008
News/Post | Jan 18, 2013 | Jeff Dalton,Hillel Glazer,strategy,America
A recent issue of Cutter IT Journal featured two CMMI Institute Partners in an issue that explores topics related to agile CMMI.
CMMI Institute Partner Hillel Glazer serves as guest editor and provides a preview on the articles included in the issue and perspective on the agile CMMI conversation. Glazer states,
"I'm pleased to report that the question is no longer one of whether or not agile and CMMI can coexist. Instead, the question has, if you'll pardon the term, matured to the point where we're asking what's going wrong when they don't work well together and what's going right when they do."
In an article, titled "CMMI vs. Scrum? No-CMMI + Scrum!" CMMI Institute Partner and Partner Advisory Board Chairman Jeff Dalton explores CMMI in Scrum settings. He demonstrates an approach to CMMI that is not only compatible with Scrum, but also uses Scrum and agile thinking to facilitate CMMI.
In the article, which is available for download compliments of Cutter Consortium, Dalton urges readers,
"Instead of trying to achieve 'a level of CMMI,' embrace CMMI to improve what is already being done within the Scrum team, to scale Scrum to the enterprise, and to expand the scope and influence of agile methods from the team room to the boardroom."
Federal Computer Week Reports CMMI Helped the IRS Improve Operations
News/Post | Jan 18, 2013 | Federal,IRS, Federal Computer Week,Maturity Level 3
Terry Millholland, the IRS's first CTO, proposed a plan to improve the IRS operations through Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). Federal Computer Week covered Millholland's efforts to improve software development with CMMI and its journey to a Maturity Level 3 rating.
In the article, Millholland said of CMMI,
"The net of this is to dramatically improve the processes so that the estimates for completion are far more accurate, the quality is far more accurate, and you have a lot less waste in your activities... you've expanded your capacity to do more. They-the people who were doing the work-could see the value of this."
Visit Federal Computer Week to learn more about how the IRS improved its operations with CMMI.
From the CMMI Working Group - NDIA SE Division publication
News/Post | Jan 18, 2013 | Software,Quality,Group
"Work-In-Progress" at the CMMI Institute - SCAMPI Maintenance (SCAMPI M) Appraisals provide an opportunity for organizations to extend a previously achieved SCAMPI A rating beyond its 3 year validity period.
- A successful SCAMPI M extends a SCAMPI A rating for up to 2 years.
- Maximum time between SCAMPI As is 5 years (one 2-year extension)-TBR
- Multiple SCAMPI Ms can be performed in that timeframe
SCAMPI M Appraisals are designed to sustain the integrity of the SCAMPI benchmarking process.
- Defines a model sample scope consisting of specific goals and generic practices and appraises organizational unit implementations
- Incorporates SCAMPI A features (e.g., organizational scoping, practice characterizations and goal rating)
- Uses certified SCAMPI M lead appraisers and highly-qualified team members.
SCAMPI M Appraisals are designed to cost 25-30% of a SCAMPI A.
Savings are achieved by:
- Model sampling
- Abstracting some appraisal method activities to the goal level
- Relying on high yield artifacts to drive investigative samples for areas of potential weakness
- Smaller appraisal team size
- The action plan concept encourages accepting some recoverable ratings risk instead of perfecting objective evidence and conducting a costly series of intermediate appraisals (C, B, A) that provide little business improvement value
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2012
SEI Acquisition Model to Help Program Offices Avoid Common Pitfalls
News/Post | July 3, 2012 | Nous Infosystems
An acquisition project starts with the best intentions: field a high-quality system that provides new or improved capabilities to the warfighter. Unfortunately, somewhere between the prototype and deployment of the finished system, the effort goes awry, and the system, as initially envisioned, takes much longer than expected, or may never come to fruition.
As developers spend more time supporting field users, development progress slows. A lack of either project management experience or a formal organization also creates problems as developers try to scale the effort up into a formal program, resulting in a difficult transition as warfighters wait years for a production-quality system.
The problem is common enough that SEI researchers aggregated work on five independent technology assessments (ITAs) from 2006-2009 to develop a model of this acquisition scenario, titled “The Evolution of a Science Project.” The scenario goes like this: A project begins with an informal team of operational people building a small, throwaway, proof-of-concept prototype to solicit funding. A successful, initial deployment of the prototype builds demand for more capabilities and broader deployment. The project builds on top of the initial prototype to save time, but then starts to find increasing architectural, robustness, performance, usability, and documentation issues. As developers spend more time supporting field users, development progress slows. A lack of either project management experience or a formal organization also creates problems as developers try to scale the effort up into a formal program, resulting in a difficult transition as warfighters wait years for a production-quality system.
Bill Novak, a senior member of the SEI technical staff with the Acquisition Support Program, noted that there are at least two dynamics at work behind the scenes in this scenario. "First, the project is often initiated by operational users who may lack software acquisition expertise," Novak said. "They focus primarily on quick deployment and operational support, which can result in informal requirements, poor design and code quality, and inadequate documentation."
The second dynamic is called "firefighting." "People who are slated to do new development of the next release must be diverted to fix problems in previously fielded releases," said Novak. "This not only slows new development, but the lack of developers can inject additional problems in the next release that will require even more people to fix."
Andy Moore, from the Enterprise Threat and Vulnerability Management Team in the CERT Program, described a couple of preliminary findings from the modeling effort. "The accumulation of undiscovered rework from development of the science project prototype moves the development efforts past a tipping point of escalating repair work during the follow-on development." The tipping point was found to contribute to the "90 Percent Syndrome" experienced in many software development efforts, causing the program to shift from completing normally, to having defects accumulate as rapidly as they can be corrected. Moore commented that "this syndrome occurs during the later stages of development when progress drastically slows down as a much bigger percentage of the effort is devoted to repair work rather than development."
Some of the key factors behind reaching the tipping point include:
- excessive pressure being applied to the developers
- an emphasis on meeting schedule, rather than on quality
- the timing of the transition from prototype to production development (an earlier transition has fewer undiscovered defects in it)
"These are preliminary findings, as we will be performing additional model validation in the coming year," Novak pointed out, while observing that, "the model's qualitative behavior is similar to what we observe in actual programs."
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2012
CMMI SVC – A status update
News/Post | June 01, 2012 | CMMI,SEI
Ever since CMMI for Services (SVC) was launched, it has been continuously gaining popularity in the process improvement industry. CMMI SVC was specifically introduced by SEI to meet the process improvement needs of the "service" industry (those who provide service to their clients), and was designed to help them build, manage and improve service related processes.
As of June 1, 2012, 197 formal SCAMPIs were reported. It should be noted that this figure represents 2 years of CMMI-SVC appraisals. By comparison, it took 5 years for the Software CMM to reach 100 appraisals. There have been two ML5 appraisals, with one being enterprise and one being multi model. The biggest takers of this framework have been the Business Services – 38% and Engineering & Management Services – 33%. Appraised companies have reported tremendous improvement in their income and service delivery capacity. CMMI SVC has an edge over other models as only CMMI framework analyzes process for continuous improvement. Translations for Chinese and Arabic are currently underway.
CMMI SVC framework now boasts of over 180 lead appraisers and over 320 instructors. The framework has been taught to over 5700 students.
SQC has already completed SVC appraisals and is currently engaged with several others companies worldwide for implementing CMMI SVC, including a ML5 appraisal.
A detailed update on CMMI SVC from SEI can be accessed here
Third & Fourth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2011
SQC develops capabilities in delivering the new SEI’s Introduction to CMMI for Services (SVC) Training
News/Post | 2011 | Kan-ban
SQC has now developed capability to deliver the SEI’s newly introduced Introduction to CMMI for Services (SVC) 3-Day training course. SQC is among the handful of companies with individuals certified to deliver the new course in the new format, which uses a lot of learning techniques from the contemporary techniques including “Kan-ban” instruction method. This is a unique kind of course offering ensuring and assuring 100% learning objectives being met of the attendees
About the new course:
This three-day course is the definitive introductory course about the CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) model. The course provides the knowledge you need to take your first steps with CMMI-SVC and is a prerequisite for any certification or subsequent course that calls for an Introduction to CMMI requirement. CMMI-SVC is a comprehensive set of guidelines that helps organizations to establish and improve processes for delivering service.
CMMI-SVC adapts and extends proven standards and best practices to reflect the unique challenges faced in service industries. This set of guidelines also serves as a practical framework for achieving superior service quality, controlling costs, improving schedule performance, and ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction.
The course is highly interactive and composed of exercises, discussion, and presentations. After attending the course, you will be able to describe the CMMI-SVC model, apply the model's process areas, and locate information in the model.
SEI Releases the 2011 Smart Grid Maturity Model Update
News/Post | 2011 | Smart Grid Maturity Model
Pittsburgh: The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University today released the 2011 Smart Grid Maturity Model (SGMM) update at the GridWeek 2011 conference. The update announces Version 1.2 enhancements to the entire product suite and provides updates on the worldwide community of SGMM users and partners. The SGMM is a management tool to help utilities plan their smart grid journeys, prioritize their options, and measure progress as they move toward the realization of a modernized electric power grid.
"Our focus this year has been to improve the worldwide availability of SGMM Navigation, and we have accomplished that by enlisting seven partner organizations and training more than 30 SGMM Navigators," said Austin Montgomery, Smart Grid Program Executive. SGMM Navigators are industry experts who have been trained and certified to guide utilities through the SGMM Navigation process, a five-step structured approach to applying the SGMM. "Our SGMM Partners are industry leaders who work directly with utilities to help them use the model as part of their roadmap and strategy development." The update document provides details on the seven partner organizations.
The update document, now in its third volume also provides news and information on the use of SGMM and revised community statistics for 2011. "The SGMM community data demonstrates that the model is being used by a diverse set of utilities around the world, and repeat use data shows that utilities using the model are making progress with their smart grid implementations," said David White, Smart Grid Maturity Model Team Lead. "The upcoming release of version 1.2 will leverage lessons learned from users to date and from partners to make the model easier to interpret and use."
With version 1.2, SGMM users will see the most significant changes within the Compass survey. Compass is a questionnaire-based assessment instrument that yields maturity ratings and performance comparisons of utilities using the SGMM. "We've reconstructed the Compass survey to collect a richer set of information about the utility and its performance to enable more sophisticated peer-to-peer comparisons and inform aspirations setting during assessments led by an SGMM Navigator," said White.
The release of SGMM Version 1.2 also marks the end of the pilot license period. The licensing opportunity is now open to any organization that wishes to apply. This change will further support the global availability of SGMM technology. "Over the last two years we've seen the SGMM applied to a variety of types, sizes, and geographical settings of utilities," said Austin Montgomery. "With this release we wanted to create the opportunity for more organizations to become licensed SGMM partners. As more and more utilities participate and the SGMM experience base continues to grow, the more the model can be used to help inform the industry's smart grid transformation."
While there are many updates to the model, there were no significant structural changes, so organizations can still compare their V1.2 results with earlier versions of the SGMM. The SGMM V1.2 Model Definition Document, Matrix, and Compass Survey will be available for download on the SEI website this fall.
For more information or to download SGMM materials, visit the SEI website at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/smartgrid/.
First & Second Quarter / Q1 & Q2 - 2011
SEI releases new version Of CMMI - CMMI V1.3
News/Post | 2011 | Product
Last Quarter of 2010 saw SEI announcing the new version of CMMI - CMMI v1.3. The press release on the SEI website can be accessed here and more detail information can be accessed here.
In a nut shell, CMMI Version 1.3 includes changes to the high maturity material and other improvements that will better meet the needs of organizations that use CMMI models. As the development team began the work on Version 1.3, a high priority was to clarify high maturity. SEI commissioned a High Maturity Team with majority representation from industry participants to ensure that the improvements represented current best practices in the community. SEI investigated the impact of this change by reviewing the collection of existing high capability appraisals in the SEI appraisal database. Of about 1,000 appraisals that investigated high capability or high maturity, only a dozen identified capabilities beyond CL3. Several of these appraisal results were focused investigations of particular processes or groups of processes.
Version 1.3 changes will not eliminate the continuous representation or the staged representation. The Product Development Team feels that the best path is to fully deploy the continuous representation for levels 0-3. In fact, the additional clarity that the capability levels provide to distinguish process areas as they move from being unsatisfied (level 0) and well defined (level 3) merits description in all SCAMPI A appraisals. Therefore, beginning with Version 1.3, all process areas will be described in appraisals against capability levels. No major changes have happened to CMMI Maturity levels 2 and 3.
SQC's consultants have undergone the requisite SEI trainings and certification to offer this program to their clients. For any additional information on how CMMI v1.3 can impact you organization, do write to us at info@sqcglobal.com.
Shipley Proposal Guide now on iPhone and iPad
News/Post | 2011 | Shipley
The best seller on proposal writing has just become more accessible for the executive on the move. SQC-Shipley is glad to announce that "Shipley's Proposal Guide" - the de-facto reference guide for business and proposal executives is now available on iPad and iPhon through Apples iTunes portal. Apart from the book content being made accessible on these mobile platforms, executives subscribing to this apps can now “Request Resources” and locate the Shipley Proposal Consultant best qualified to assist them in proposal and bid pursuits. Subscribers just need to select their area of the world, enter a short description of their support needs, and an e-mail is sent to Shipley’s world headquarters!!
For more information on this app, please click here.
CMMI SVC – A status update
News/Post | 2011 | Framework
Ever since CMMI for Services (SVC) was launched a year ago, it has been continuously gaining popularity in the process improvement industry. CMMI SVC was specifically introduced by SEI to meet the process improvement needs of the "service" industry (those who provide service to their clients), and was designed to help them build, manage and improve service related processes.
As of March 2011, 46 organizations worldwide have been appraised using this framework with one of the appraisal being a ML5. The biggest takers of this framework have been the Business Services – 38% and Engineering & Management Services – 34%. Appraised companies have reported tremendous improvement in their income and service delivery capacity. CMMI SVC has an edge over other models as only CMMI framework analyzes process for continuous improvement.
CMMI SVC framework now boasts of over 150 lead appraisers and over 225 instructors. The framework has been taught to over 3200 students.
SQC is currently engaged with two organizations in USA for implementing CMMI SVC ML3.
A detailed update on CMMI SVC from SEI can be accessed here.
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2010
Shipley-SQC continues to be the only preferred partner for Proposal management best practices in South Asia. Shipley-SQC gets a new formal identify, and branding, with a catch phrase “Win Smart”
News/Post | 2010 | Consulting & Benchmarking
Shipley-SQC, a division of SQC, continues its strong growth in supporting many top-line customers in the emerging markets of India and surrounding areas, and partnering with companies to provide proposal writing, proposal management, consulting and benchmarking services. Shipley with a history of over 35+ years, has become the defacto standard for proposal best practices and proposal writing skills. The quality of what we deliver, in our training and consulting sessions, speaks for itself. Since inception in 2007, Shipley-SQC has been constantly providing more companies with much needed training, consulting, mentoring and benchmarking services in the area of proposal management. We continue our wins of new clients every quarter and appreciation and longer term engagements from existing partners and clients.
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2010
SQC becomes a preferred partner for many DoD and Federal IT process improvement projects
News/Post | 2010 | DoD and Federal IT
Software Quality Center (SQC) continues its strong growth in the process improvement/QA consulting area, and has become a preferred partner for a long list of DoD and Federal IT project contractors. With a strong envious expertise, matched to none, SQC works as a sub contractor to help many DoD and Federal projects improve processes, implement best practices through the lifecycle of business development, engineering and implementation, through systematic model-based improvement and successful best industry practices. Some of our recent client partnership endorse and acknowledge our proven track record in this area. A related link is to read our recent blog on how Agile development, becoming popular in Government sector, is working.
Third Quarter / Q3 - 2009
India's first BD and Proposal Management Excellence conference a great success!
News/Post | July 23 & 24, 2009 | BD and Proposal Management
Held in Bangalore, India, the first ever BD and Proposal Management conference organized by SQC, Shipley and the BD-Institute International became an instant hit! There was representation from a large cross section of staff from IT and IT services industry and professionals in the BD and Proposal Management area.
The event was rated highly by participants and speakers from around the world shared state-of-the-art best practices in the BD and Proposal management areas
SQC and iCarnegie Inc. to establish a partnership to bring world-class software engineering and management training to professionals
News/Post | 2009
We are excited to share with you a new development at SQC. iCarnegie Inc. and SQC are to enter into an alliance to bring iCarnegie's world-class executive software engineering and management courseware in the US and the Indian subcontinent. iCarnegie Inc., with curriculum powered by Carnegie Mellon University & owned by Carnegie Mellon, provides top-quality certificate programs in computer science, and information technology through partners worldwide.
This is expected to help busy working executives to keep pace with ever changing field of information technology and add valuable professional skills. Partnering with iCarnegie is a exciting for SQC in expanding our capabilities in providing the most exceptional and reputed skills and training in contemporary IT scenario, with a variety of virtual offerings and face-to-face offerings for maximum impact. Faculty at iCarnegie and the credibility they carry in the Computer Science world is not new, and this step is a natural fit into SQC's global vision of being the "most credible" best practices solution provider.
iCarnegie's full suite of courses include a wide-array of topics from Software Architecture to Managing Technical People, Agile, Software Engineering Practices & Managing Software Development. iCarnegie has a long history and reputation of being a phenomenal brand and courses that are highly practical, is current and completely industry focused.
Commenting on this partnership, Gil Taran, CEO of iCarnegie says "Partnering with SQC Global helps us move in a strategic direction of expanding premier offerings from Carnegie Mellon in the United States and India. As a global best practices consulting and training organization, SQC is an outstanding partner whose capabilities will provide iCarnegie with brand exposure and market reach. We look forward to a long-term mutual collaboration that helps both companies provide content that is unique, practical, high quality, and that meets customer needs and expectations."
For more information on iCarnegie, visit www.icarnegie.com
Contact us at our US Office(1-888-497-0666) or at Bangalore, India (+91-80-2654 4145), or e-mail us (info@sqcglobal.com) for interest in learning more and if you wish to pursue and hone your skills through one of these highly acclaimed training. We are looking at "early-bird" organizations (with special benefits offered) to kick-off our activities in this practice.
SQC to organize India’s first Business Development and Proposal Management Excellence conference
News/Post | Jul 23 & 24, 2009
SQC, Shipley and the Business Development Institute International are jointly organizing the first of its kind, “Business Development and Proposal Management excellence” event in Bangalore, India on July 23-24th, 2009.
We are excited to bring you an outline of the event:
Creating and Sustaining Proposal Management and Business Development Excellence: A Two-Day colloquium in Bangalore, India Organized by SQC, Shipley & the Business Development Institute International, USA
In these troubled times, organizations are gearing up to make their business development activities accountable for every rupee spent. While an accountable and sustaining business development process is the need of the hour, how does an organization go about laying the framework for such a practice? How does an organization pursue it business development efforts in a manner that is cost effective, measurable and replicable?
To address these needs, Software Quality Center along with its partners – Shipley Ltd, UK and BD- Institute International - USA brings to you a two day high powered event aimed at better equipping you to deal with the new realities facing business development professionals and most importantly, network with professionals and peers in your profession. The event has world renowned professionals and thought leaders engaging you through a series of lectures, panel discussions and Q&A sessions reflecting current market scenario and effective solutions in overcoming market obstacles. The calendar for this two day event shall be as follows:
Event: Creating and Sustaining Proposal Management and Business Development Excellence Dates: 23rd – 24th July, 2009 – 9.00am to 4.00pm Venue: The Atria Hotel, Palace Road, Bangalore
Agenda of events:
* Day 1: 23rd July 2009
- Inaugural keynote speech – 9.00am – 9:45am – by Tony Birch – Managing Director of Shipley Ltd, UK
- Tea Break – 9.45am – 10.00am
- Session 1 – Benchmarks in world-class proposal writing (BD-Institute International) – 10.00am – 1.00pm – by Howard Nutt – ED and Chairman of BD -Institute, USA
- Lunch – 1.00pm – 2.15pm
- Session 1 contd. – 2.15pm – 4.00pm
* Day 2: 24th July 2009
- Industry Expert keynote session – 9.00am – 9.45am
- Tea Break – 9.45am – 10.00am
- Session 1 – Characteristics of a Winning Proposal – 10.00am to 1.00pm – by Tony Birch
- Lunch – 1.00pm – 2.15pm
- Session 2 – Integrating proposal writing and BD into a sustainable process suite – 2.15pm – 3.00pm – by Kris Puthucode – CEO and Principal Consultant, SQC
- Session 3 - Panel Discussion – How to sustain business development excellence in tough times – 3.00pm – 4.00pm - Panelists include Tony Birch, Howard Nutt, Kris Puthucode and senior members from the industry
- Press Conference/Press room Q & A on the event – 6:00 – 8:00 pm with Dinner & cocktails
Speakers:
- Tony Birch: Tony Birch is the founder and Managing Director of Shipley Limited, in the UK. He serves on the Boards of both the APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) and the BDII (Business Development Institute, International). Shipley Limited has a subsidiary operation in Germany and Joint Venture operations in India and Spain. A fully accredited Proposal Professional, under the APMP Accreditation Program, Tony’s background is in Sales in the Defense & IT Sectors. Since founding Shipley, Tony has trained over 10,000 sales and bid professionals around the world. Tony works with companies in range across sectors as diverse as IT Services, Telecom, Automotive, Construction, Defense, Finance, Information Management, and Insurance.
- About Shipley: Shipley is one of very few training and consultancy companies in the world that specializes in helping its clients in all aspects of business winning. Shipley and its associates provide bid training, process development, benchmarking and proposal consultancy services across the world. Shipley has a joint venture with SQC for addressing the needs of the Indian sub continent. For more information on Shipley please visit shipleywins.co.uk.
- Howard Nutt: Howard is Executive Director and Chairman of the BD-Institute International Board of Directors. He has more than 25 years of experience in business development and led development of the BD-CMM. In addition, he helped organize and is a charter member of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP).
- About BD-Institute International: Phoenix based BD-Institute International is a non- profit organization involved with development of BD CMM - a framework that is loosely based upon SEI CMM model and focuses on implementing a process framework for continuous business development process improvement as per an organizations needs. Implementation of the framework ensures that an organization aligns its BD related practices based on best practices and ensures that the processes are put on a continuous improvement and replicable mode. SQC is the exclusive partner for offering BD-Institute International courses and consulting engagements in India. Please visit bd-institute.org for more information on BD-Institute International and BD CMM.
Contact us at any of our offices to learn more and register for this first of a kind event.
First, Second & Third Quarter / Q1, Q2 & Q3 - 2008
KPO | Q1–Q3 2008
News/Post | Jan 17, 2008
SQC expands on Proposal/Bid Management KPO
Pheonix, Arizona: Drawing from the strengths of its consulting arm in the area of Business Development and Proposal Management, SQC’s continues to expand its operations on Proposal/Bid Management KPO. This service is targeted at organizations who would like to build customer proposals which The proposal management is built around the best practices in proposal building from Shipley™ & APMP™. The practice helps SQC’s clients in building quality documents pertaining to pre RFP stage documents, responses to RFIs, complete bid etc. The engagement model is based on complete outsourcing. The salient features of the engagement are:
- Building of bids/proposals based on best practices from Shipley & APMP
- Building of structured bids / proposals that capture the essence of the product / service/complex solution highlighting the pain areas of the prospect, deployment of the solution and its benefits etc, in a manner that that is easy to comprehend
- Building of the bids/proposals happens in an environment of collaboration between SQC and the client and encompasses the entire sales cycle right from the pre bidding stage to submission of bids
- Completely secure and embedded with robust quality check mechanism
BD CMM | Q1 –Q3 2008
News/Post | Jan 14, 2008
Business Development Institute International Announces a Major Study to Establish Benchmarks for World-Class Proposal Writing
Washington D.C: The Business Development Institute International (BD-Institute International) announced plans today for a major study to establish benchmarks for world-class proposal writing.
"The BD-Institute International will form an industry wide working group to identify study criteria and finalize plans," stated Charlie Divine, Principal Investigator for the BD-Institute International. The study is sponsored by BAE Systems’ Electronics & Integrated Solutions unit in Nashua, NH. The sponsoring Vice President of Business Development, Paul Handwerker, stated, "The goal of this project is to identify those attributes that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization’s proposal writing capabilities across all types of proposal activity. We believe that the BD-Institute International provides the best partner for this important work, and we look forward to collaborating with them over the next six months."
The study will focus on five major areas:
- Proposal development steps – The study will investigate areas such as storyboarding, theme development, key milestones (kick-off meetings, gates, management reviews), use of templates, boilerplate, compliance matrices and the timing of these elements. The research will also incorporate analysis of price-to-win/cost-to-win in process steps.
- Use of automation tools – Key elements of tools that help companies implement and institutionalize the proposal development steps will be studied. Areas include: requirements shredders, collaborative work environments, online data/art repositories, knowledge management systems and other tools.
- Organizational constructs – An exploration of staffing options, including dedicated in-house staff, temporary consultants, permanent outsourcing, and other arrangements.
- Training – An evaluation of training, including depth and types of training, technologies, curriculum, quality, audience analysis, instructors, and other factors.
- Other factors that contribute to excellence – This area will focus on the contribution of leadership roles and behaviors, process tailoring, incentives, resource allocation and other factors on the proposal writing process.
About Business Development Institute International
The BD-Institute International is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting business development excellence through the Capability Maturity Model for Business Development (BD-CMM). The BD-Institute International’s mission is to promote an innovative community of practice in business development through appraisals and self-assessments, best practices, certifications and benchmarking. The BD-Institute International provides a basis for collaboration among diverse communities of practice, and emphasizes business-development transformation and continuous improvement as prerequisites for cutting-edge business results.
www.bd-institute.org
® Capability Maturity Model and CMM are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.
SQC-BMC Partnership
News/Post | 2008
Business Management Consultants’ (www.bmc-online.com) Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters has entered into a bi-party alliance with SQC. BMC is one of the world’s dominant players in the Project Management consulting and training related markets. This bi-party agreement it expected to deliver huge value to the both SQC’s & BMC’s clients as the services offered by either party are uniquely complementary. Indian based organizations with focus on project execution will now enjoy a reliable offering on project management (PM) from the most respected PM consulting organizations in the world. BMC’s clients in the software and IT sector will similarly benefit from SQC’s vast offering in the field of software quality & business development related offerings. SQC looks forward to a great partnership with BMC!
Third & Fourth Quarter / Q3 & Q4 - 2007
Shipley Announces the Worldwide launch of BidBenchSolo™
News/Post | 2007 | BidBenchSolo
Knowing how your proposals or proposal sections compare to best practice standards has always been a mystery. Is your writing customer focused? Can evaluators find what they need quickly? Is your win strategy consistent?
Responsive to the needs of Bid & Proposal Managers, Shipley has developed BidBenchSolo™ - the online pay-per-use proposal improvement and benchmarking tool.
When you log on you will be asked to answer 21 multiple choice questions, press the report button and you will receive by email a bespoke improvement report, and specific benchmark analysis, updated each time the tool is used – so no more out of date comparisons.
To access Shipley’s BidBenchSolo™
UK/EUROPE/INDIA: Shipley Limited
Email: bidbenchsolo@shipleywins.co.uk
Website: www.shipleywins.co.uk
USA: Shipley Associates
Email: bidbenchsolo@shipleywins.com
Website: www.shipleywins.com
AUSTRALIA/ASIA: Shipley Asia Pacific
Email: bidbenchsolo@shipleywins.com.au
Website: www.shipleywins.com.au
NORDIC/BALTIC: Shipley Nordic ApS
Email: bidbenchsolo@shipley.dk
Website: www.shipley.dk
SQC becomes the exclusive provider of Shipley Limited's services in India
News/Post | 2007 | Bid Training,Bid Consulting
Software Quality Centre, Bangalore, Becomes The Only Licensed Provider Of Shipley Limited’s Bid Training And Consulting Services In India.
Software Quality Centre (SQC), Bangalore, and Shipley Limited, UK, have partnered to deliver training and consulting services around bid management and business improvement areas.
Expertise offered will be in the areas of. Sales & Bid Training, Skills Transfer Coaching, Professional Accreditation and Business Development Processes.
Professionals working in the area of bid management and proposal consulting, in India, can now get an international accreditation from the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP).
"The industry has never had formal education or certification so far and professionals only learnt on-the-job," said Kris Puthucode, President and CEO, Software Quality Centre LLC. He went on to say:“Though no exact estimates are available on the number of professionals in the area in the country, a ballpark figure of 2,500-3,000 is what rough calculations would lead to,”
Tony Birch, Managing Director, Shipley Limited, who has trained over 10,000 professionals in the area, is upbeat about the Indian market. “Professional Accreditation in writing proposals and managing bids for sales existed only in the US and UK till recently. A large number of people in India write proposals without knowing that it is an important skill”
Cathy Day, Director of the APMP Accreditation Programme, who led the development of the project, is confident that this move will lead to Indian companies winning more business. She says “Feedback to the APMP, over the two years since the programme has been launched, has shown that those organisations that support their staff, in going through this programme, have improved the quality of their bids, resulting in them winning more business”
The establishment and success of software service firms in Bangalore after the liberalisation of India's economy has led to the growth of India's information technology industry. Bangalore is referred to as the Silicon Valley of India and accounts for 35 percent of India's software exports.
Through this exciting new partnership, Shipley and SQC will jointly bring to India a host of training and consulting services geared around proposal, bid management and business development improvement areas. SQC and Shipley will offer highly experienced consultants that can offer expertise across the full range of Shipley services. The major industries that will be served are IT, Software Services, Manufacturing, Telecoms, Banking Financial Services and Insurance among others.
Contact Us
For more information about these services in India contact
Software Quality Center
Software Quality Center Pvt. Ltd.
#697 8th B Main Road,
Vijaya Bank Layout
Behind IIM,
Bannerghatta Road
Bangalore - 560076
INDIA
Tel: +91-80-2648 4913
Fax: +91-80-4120 8947
Or contact us via our on line enquiry form at www.shipleywins.co.uk
Second Quarter / Q2 - 2007
Proposal management pros can soon get certified
News/Article | May 18, 2007 | The Hindu Business Line, Bangalore
Bangalore May 17, Professionals working in the area of bid management and proposal consulting in the country can now get an international accreditation from the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP).
Software Quality Centre India and Shipley Ltd, UK, have partnered to bring training and consulting services around proposal, bid management and business improvement areas, leading to a certification by APMP.
Currently APMP is offering three levels of certification for bid and proposal management professionals: Foundation, practitioner and professional for people with one, three and seven years experience in the area.
Expertise offered will be in the areas of writing winning executive summaries, managing proposal content development and managing proposal kick-off meetings and reviews.
"The industry has never had formal education or certification so far and professionals only learnt on-the-job," says Mr Krish Puthucode, President and CEO, Software Quality Centre LLC. Though no exact estimates are available on the number of professionals in the area in the country, a ballpark figure of 2,500-3,000 is what rough calculations would lead to, says Mr Puthucode. The plan is to enrol four early adapters to the programme (comprising big names in IT) and let word-of-mouth do the rest, he adds. Mr Tony Birch, Managing Director, Shipley Ltd, who has trained over 10,000 professionals in the area, is upbeat about the Indian market. "If India can offer us even 1,000 professionals in the foundation course initially, it's going to keep us busy," he says.
SQC, SHIPLEY Enter Alliance
News/Article | May 17, 2007 | Shipley,EFY Times
To jointly bring association of proposal management professionals (APMP) accreditation to India.
Thursday, May 17, 2007: Software Quality Center India, a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based Software Quality Center LLC, has announced a strategic partnership with Shipley Limited, UK, a proposal consulting and training organisation. Shipley and SQC will jointly bring to India a host of training and consulting services geared around proposal, bid management and business development improvement areas.
The two companies will bring association of proposal management professionals (APMP) accreditation to India. The APMP mission is to advance the arts, sciences and technology of new business acquisition and to promote the professionalism of those engaged in those pursuits. Through association and education, APMP provides members access to tools, methods, processes, innovations, talent and specialised expertise that can directly improve the ability to acquire new business and to sustain growth and competitiveness in a dynamic and demanding marketplace.
SQC and Shipley will offer highly experienced consultants that will offer expertise in the following: win strategy development; writing winning executive summaries; managing proposal content development; and managing proposal kick-off meetings and reviews. Proposal consultants can be involved in proposal efforts from start to finish or can assist with a specific section of a procurement.
The major industries that will be served are IT, software services, manufacturing, telecoms, banking financial services and insurance amongst others. The companies recently organised 'Writing Winning Proposals' workshop and the first batch of APMP Accreditation exam in Bengaluru from 14 May to 16 May 2007.
SQC, SHIPLEY Enter Alliance
News/Article | May 17, 2007 | Shipley,Times Medianet
Software Quality Center (SQC) and Shipley Limited, UK partner to bring Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) accreditation to India
New Delhi | May 17, 2007: Software Quality Center India, a wholly owned subsidiary of the US based Software Quality Center LLC, among the world’s Top 5 full service IT, Software and Systems, & Business best practices consulting, announced today about a strategic partnership with Shipley Limited, UK, world leading proposal consulting and training organization.
About Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP): The APMP mission is to advance the arts, sciences, and technology of new business acquisition and to promote the professionalism of those engaged in those pursuits. Through association and education, APMP provides members access to tools, methods, processes, innovations, talent and specialized expertise that can directly improve the ability to acquire new business and to sustain growth and competitiveness in a dynamic and demanding marketplace. APMP membership is growing rapidly into an internationally recognized association with membership and corporate sponsors from a diverse range of disciplines and industries. Our members are committed to the pursuit of proposal excellence. Our journey has been one of promoting the professionalism of our members and shaping the future of the proposal profession in the United States and throughout the world.
About the Partnership: Shipley and SQC will jointly bring to India a host of training and consulting services geared around proposal, bid management and business development improvement areas. To begin with an offering of the much sought after “Writing Winning Proposals” workshop and the first batch of APMP Accreditation exam was held in Bangalore from May 14th-16th, 2007. With more proposal management and documentation teams of large global companies moving offshore to destinations like India, it is imperative to have teams of people that know what the ingredients of winning proposals are, and best practices would mean. This will ultimately lead to winning more business for such companies.
Benefits to the Indian Industry: With a proposal consulting win rate of 82%, Shipley Limited provides consulting in support of proposal efforts, allowing clients to tap into Shipley’s world-class consulting expertise at strategic milestones in their proposal development process. SQC and Shipley will offer highly experienced consultants that will offer expertise in: Win strategy development Writing winning Executive Summaries Managing proposal content development Managing proposal kick-off meetings and reviews Proposal consultants can be involved in proposal efforts from start to finish, or can assist with a specific section of a procurement. The major industries that will be served are IT, Software Services, Manufacturing, Telecoms, Banking Financial Services and Insurance among others.
About SQC: SQC has been a leading player in technology amplification through partnerships with leading best practice leaders in IT and other industries. Notable among them are the Business Development Institute International, the US DoD’s Software Engineering Institute, ISO/SPICE, Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and so on. SQC offers high-end business improvement consulting, IT & management consulting, software process improvement and quality assurance services, Education and Training and R & D services across a range of Industries including US DoD contractors, State and Federal contractors, and commercial industries in several domains including Telecom, IT and Software services, Aerospace and Avionics, Banking Finance and Insurance, Healthcare, High Tech, Utilities etc. SQC’s long list of growing clients include large companies like Rockwell Automation, NASA, Verizon, LG, Ministry of Defence India, and a host of several small and medium size companies worldwide.
About Shipley: Shipley is a leading, worldwide, provider of Business Development training services; with over 35 years experience in this field. Approved by the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), as an organization that provides suitable training, since January 2006, Shipley has offered workshops for proposal managers and writers that wish to be accredited, at Foundation-level, under the APMP Accreditation Program. Shipley’s mission is to help its clients improve their business winning capability, by helping them determine the gaps between best practice and the way their Business Development process is operating. Shipley provides, training, mentoring and process improvement solutions to help its clients address performance gaps.