Two Key Challenges to Implementing CMMI

So, in answer to the earlier question, CMMI can work equally well in very different environments as long as the way in which CMMI is implemented is completely a reflection of what works for each particular environment.  In other words, if an organization has a way of managing and developing software that fulfills its clients’ needs as well as its own business goals, successful CMMI implementation must start with those existing business processes.  (If the company’s existing development and/or management processes are a chaotic mess, then certainly, such basics must be established first before CMMI will do any good.)

Finally, while we’ve established that what works for one company may not work for another, what still needs to be addressed is how to make it work for your company.  The steps are simple.  Any company can follow these steps with or without a CMMI (software process improvement) consultant, although seeing the world the way the CMMI sees the world is a little tricky at first.

Whether you want to be assessed to the CMMI or just achieve much of the best practices from it, follow these steps:

1. Understand your company’s current software management and development processes;
2. Understand the CMMI;
3. Perform a gap analysis between your company’s existing processes and the CMMI’s activities;
4. Target whichever CMMI/internal process area(s) you feel will have the most immediate (or overt, measurable) impact; and
5. Create and follow an implementation plan that includes formalizing and piloting your processes in line with what works for your company and the level of process discipline your company can realistically be expected to assume.

While implementing CMMI has its challenges, overcoming them is fairly straight-forward.  A software process improvement consultant who takes the time to understand your organization can cut much of the guesswork out.  Whether a company takes to implementing the full CMMI or is looking for just enough process to provide it with insight into and control over its work practices, there is a way to do so without throwing its development environment for a loop.  For those companies who do so, the benefits gained brightly outshine the initial challenges.

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