SeaSpin

by Nelson Perez 

This presentation is entitled “Applying Agile Techniques to Process Development: Lessons Learned” and is based on an article published in the August 2007 issue of Crosstalk, the Journal of Defense Software Engineering.  It presents lessons learned from a process improvement effort that took an organization from no formal process capability to the implementation of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI^SM) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI^®) using the continuous representation with a focus on the staged representation’s maturity level 2 process areas.  This presentation summarizes techniques that were used to reduce the overall time to achieve institutionalization of new processes as well as what worked well and what could be further improved.  The topics to be covered are a) resource utilization, b) process development, c) using Agile methods to run the process improvement effort and develop related outputs, d) process piloting approach used, e) addressing process improvement via technology improvements, f) leveraging the internet and IEEE standards to speed process development, g) employing the continuous representation of the CMMI model, h) issues associated with QA, and i) process rollout management strategies used.

The presentation is being delivered in two (2) parts.  The first part (October 15, 2007) covers the theory and methods.  The second part (November 19, 2007) covers the lessons learned in a real world example.