Systematic process improvement using ISO 9001:2000 and CMMI

234 Approaches Using ISO–CMMI ® Synergy
As in an earlier section, we distinguish two instances: In case 4(a), the
organization is ISO 9001:1994 registered and operates at CMM ® maturity
level 2, and in case 4(b), the organization is ISO 9001:1994 registered and
operates at CMM ® maturity level 3.
ISO 9001:1994 registered organization that operates at CMM ® level 2 Organizations
that are ISO 9001:1994 registered and operate at CMM ® maturity
level 2 will have to transition to ISO 9001:2000 and the CMMI ® by using
Table 6.12 in Section 6.4 and the steps outlined earlier in this chapter for
case 2(a).
ISO 9001:1994 registered organization that operates at CMM ® level 3 Organizations
that are ISO 9001:1994 registered and operate at CMM ® maturity
level 3 will have to transition to ISO 9001:2000 and the CMMI ® by using
Table 6.12 in Section 6.4 and the steps outlined earlier in this chapter for
case 2(b).
7.4.3 Process improvement planning
After selecting a process improvement approach using the ISO–CMMI ®
synergy, the organization is able to start process improvement planning.
Some organizations will distinguish strategic and tactical process improvement
plans. Strategic plans address top-level organizational issues, whereas
tactical plans address specific, mostly project-level, process improvement
implementation issues. The plan(s) prioritize the issues to be addressed,
describe the process improvement strategy, and estimate the resources
required to implement the plan. The plan also addresses responsibilities,
schedule, milestones, risks, and the measurements that will be used to track
process improvement progress. A typical table of contents for a process
improvement plan is shown in Table 7.7.
Organizations already familiar with process improvement under the
CMM ® will update their process improvement plans to reflect the new ISO
and CMMI ® requirements. In any case, resources and schedules for implementing
the plan must be determined.
An effective approach to implementing process improvement is the use
of PATs. Typically, a PAT is formed to address some process problem, such
as one of these:
• Defining a requirements development process;
• Investigating estimation techniques;
• Developing a decision and analysis process.