Systematic process improvement using ISO 9001:2000 and CMMI

244 Appraisal/Registration
The concept of organizational scope was introduced earlier in this chapter.
The importance of organizational scope is in determining the breadth of
implementation of the CMMI ® practices. Practices are implemented at the
project level, 1 and the extent to which they are implemented in the organizational
unit can be determined only by aggregating the extent to which those
practices are implemented in the projects. Therefore, objective evidence must
be collected for each practice at the project level. The evidence must have
several sources: (1) artifacts resulting from the practice implementation and
(2) face-to-face interviews. For example, if four projects are selected for the
appraisal, objective evidence of each practice’s implementation in each of
the four projects must be collected, examined, and analyzed, and then aggregated
to the organizational unit level.
To support that evaluation, the SCAMPI SM method has introduced the
practice implementation indicator (PII). The PII is an objective attribute or characteristic
used to verify the conduct of an activity or implementation of a
CMMI ® practice [1]. There are three types of PIIs:
1. Direct artifacts are outputs resulting from implementation of the process.
2. Indirect artifacts arise as consequences of performing a practice or
substantiate its implementation.
3. Affirmations are oral or written statements confirming or supporting
implementation of a practice.
Items listed as ‘‘typical work products’’ in the CMMI ® documents are
representative of direct and indirect artifacts. Meeting minutes, review
results, and status reports are also indirect artifacts. Affirmations are obtained
from interviews or through questionnaire responses. Each type of objective
evidence must be collected for every practice in order to corroborate the
practice implementation.
PIIs are verified throughout the appraisal process until there is sufficient
objective evidence to characterize the implementation of a practice. For
practice implementation evidence to be declared sufficient, it has to contain
direct artifacts corroborated by either indirect artifacts or affirmations. This
concept is shown in Figure 8.2.
1. The SCAMPI SM method refers to the ‘‘instantiation of the process’’ rather than to project implementation,
because OPF, OPD, and OT practices are implemented at the organizational level and have no meaning at the
project level. By using the term instantiation, the concept of practice implementation is generalized.