SCAMPI, "Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement", is a method which uses the CMMI as a baseline to identify the strengths and weaknesses of software and/or systems processes of an organization or agency. The method relies on a discipline and strict rules which assure the exhaustiveness and objectivity of an appraisal following the SCAMPI Method description as defined by the SEI.
By extension, a process evaluation accomplished using the SCAMPI method is often referred to as a "SCAMPI". Several SCAMPIs have been conducted worldwide since the publication of the SCAMPI method.
The present version is SCAMPI V1.2.
Does the SCAMPI method only apply to large companies?Although conceived to evaluate large projects, the SCAMPI is not only for large companies or agencies. Several defined variations within the method permit a SCAMPI to be adapted to the profile of each organization or agency.
However, there are important limits in the ability to apply the SCAMPI method to small entities (less than 20 people in the evaluated division). In this case, other evaluation methods which are better suited to small entities should be used.
SEI release the CMMI Adoption Trends on their website.
The rigorous approach of the SCAMPI method combined with the systematic use of a coherent reference (the CMMI), allows us to compare the maturity of our own software process with the rest of the software industry, using the statistics published by the SEI. The SCAMPI method permits you to compare the maturity of your organization or its process capability on a scale defined by the CMMI and to precisely determine the degree of achievement of the objectives.
We can compare this data with the published results and adoption trends, and then easily see the relative position of the company in relation to other companies and agencies in the industry that have used the SCAMPI method to assess their own processes.
Is it considered a conflict of interest if an external consultant is hired by a company for the implementation of a process improvement program based on CMMI and a person from the same consulting company performs a SCAMPI appraisal on the company?
Is there something that could be done to make this situation acceptable to the SEI or is it a situation that should be avoided completely?Any time an employee of an organization is in the position of appraising work done by other members of their own organization, there is a potential for conflict of interest. The lead appraiser should do his or her best to avoid these situations.
Refer to the Code of Professional Conduct on page 8 where it states, "Ensure that the inherent conflicts of interest that occur when your Authorized or Certified Professionals and Candidates are placed in the role of evaluating their own work or your organizations work are disclosed to all affected parties (see Section 4.2) and take action to minimize the impact or eliminate the conflict."
On page 13 in Section 4.2, Conflict of Interest Disclosure, it also states, "When a situation involving a conflict of interest is inherent or cannot be avoided, disclose the conflict to the affected parties, including your own organization, the Client, and the SEI. The disclosure report is available at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/partners/conflict-form.html. "
If this situation is unavoidable, there are ways to mitigate the risk:When feasible, the lead appraiser delivering the appraisal should be from a different part of the consulting company (e.g., different division) than the person who delivered the consulting, and should also report to a different manager than the person who delivered the consulting.
Utilize appraisal team members who are independent from the organization being appraised, perhaps external to the company being appraised and from the consulting company. The conflict should also be addressed in the risks and mitigation section of the appraisal plan so that a quality review will see that it was disclosed and addressed.
Organizations map their processes to CMMI process areas and use this mapping to track their level of conformance to the CMMI model they are using. Typically, there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the CMMI process areas and an organization's processes.
No. An appraisal does not necessarily result in a maturity level rating. The SCAMPI A method can be enacted as either a staged or continuous process improvement model. When using a staged implementation, a maturity level can be awarded, but is not required. When using a continuous implementation, the model may produce capability levels for appraised process areas. A maturity level can be established through the continuous method by following the rules for Equivalent Staging. Your SCAMPI Lead Appraiser is trained in this activity.
Does my organization receive a certificate for achieving a maturity level rating?The SEI does not validate the appraisal results of an organization, and therefore does not provide a certificate or any other artifact that acknowledges the appraisal results. However, this does not prevent the SEI Partner that performs an appraisal from presenting a certificate with the appraisal results to the organization.
The SEI does encourage standardized reporting of selected appraisal results so as to provide a reasonable basis for drawing inferences from reported appraisal results. For example, the SCAMPI method has a mandatory reporting requirement (the Appraisal Disclosure Statement). However, the use of the SEI logo on reporting forms is not permitted as it could be misconstrued to mean that the SEI verifies the accuracy of the information reported.
How does my organization receive CMMI certification?The SEI does not certify the results of any appraisal nor is there an official accreditation body for CMMI. True certification of appraisal results would involve the ongoing monitoring of organizations' capabilities, a shelf life for appraisal results, and other administrative elements.
The SEI does not have a defined requirement for periodic follow-up after appraisals, nor does it accept legal responsibility for the performance of appraised organizations. All of these characteristics are required for a program that would provide certification of appraisal results.
The SEI urges customers to request a copy of an Appraisal Disclosure Statement (ADS) when evaluating suppliers. The ADS not only documents the achieved maturity level or capability level profile but also documents which parts of the organization were appraised.
Organizations can report their CMMI-based achievements to the SEI to be published on the List of Published SCAMPI Appraisal Results Web page. See that page for more information.
The lifecycle covered in a SCAMPI A appraisal is defined by the scope of the CMMI model process areas selected for the appraisal.
The lifecycle selected does not need to be covered by each representative project; it can be covered collectively by the identified representative projects.
SCAMPI is based on the fundamental premise that to make valid inferences about the extent to which best practices are implemented at the organizational level, a representative number of instantiations of the practice must be examined. For practices that relate to a project activity (as opposed to an organizational activity such as engineering process groups), a representative sample of projects is identified as part of the appraisal planning and preparation phase.
In appraisals where the reference model scope includes any project-related process area, the organizational scope must include at least one focus project. If the organizational unit includes more than three projects, then the organizational scope must include sufficient focus projects and non-focus projects to generate at least three instances of each practice in each project-related PA in the model scope of the appraisal.
The SEI audits all appraisal artifacts provided by SCAMPI Lead Appraisers and SCAMPI B&C Team Leaders. An on-site audit of an appraisal may be initiated by one or more of the following:
- request of the appraisal sponsor
- credible reports of misconduct
- failure to fulfill SCAMPI Lead Appraiser or SCAMPI B&C Team Leader responsibilities
- random selection
Additionally, the SEI will soon verify the results of all appraisals prior to allowing the appraised organization to release the results outside of the appraised organization. Such verification will be accomplished within 30 days of submittal of the results.