This week, we will create a plan for moving a company from CMM Level 1 to Level 5. Specifically, we are to look at all the testing activities found at each of these levels.
Scenario
Recall our business case scenario from Week 01: you just got hired as a tester for H.E.L.P, Inc. This product is in its second release. Surprisingly, there was no test team for the first release; the development team did most of the testing. The resulting product had poor quality, prompting management to hire a dedicated testing team.
From these humble beginnings and based on your work this semester, you have created a hard-working and dedicated team of testers. You have even succeeded in shipping your first product. However, you have the feeling that success was more attributed to luck and heroic efforts by a few key employees. You are worried that you will not be able to repeat your success next time around.
To address these issues, you have become aware of the CMM levels. When you read about this, you were shocked to discover that your team is definitely Level 1. You decide to make a plan for getting to Level 5.
CMM
Our reading this week gave an overview of the CMM levels. A more detailed document is available here: Capability Maturity Model for Software, Version 1.1. Please pay special attention to Appendix A.
You and your partner(s) are to come up with plans to progress for Testing to go from Level 1 to Level 2, then Level 3, then Level 4, then Level 5. For each of the headings associated with testing,("Software Quality Assurance(Level 2)" ,"Peer Reviews(Level 3)", "Software Quality Management (Level 4)", and "Defect Prevention (Level 5)"), define the level and identify the goals. Research these goals and provide a single paragraph plan per goal as to how they can be integrated into your project.
You will need to provide a sentence or two about the specific level associated with heading. One or more sentences about the goals of the heading. Finally how those goals are going to be achieved in the project. This is where you can used some creativity.
For example, if I were to address Goal 1 of "Software Project Tracking and Oversight" in Level 2
for an edit team revising the documentation of tax software, my plan may be something like the following:
- The team plan is to have zero typographical errors (typos) by the twelfth week.
- This will be achieved by having no more than 50 new typos introduced the first week,
25 the second, 12 the third, 6 the forth, 3 the fifth, and no more than one typo introduced per week after that.
- The editors and content producers will be separate teams, the former motivated to find defects
and the later to avoid introducing them.
- Each typo will be reported on a status board, including the date the typo is found and the date the typo was introduced.
You will need to have 4 different paragraphs, one for each heading/level.
Finally, provide a one-paragraph summary of how these different levels built upon each other. In other words, how does Level 2 help you with Level 3 and so on?
Submission
Your team will submit a single document for your plan. The document needs to be in the PDF format.
Assessment
Your submission will be evaluated according to the following rubric:
| Exceptional 100% |
Good 90% |
Acceptable 70% |
Developing 50% |
Missing 0% |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal Comprehension 30% |
Each CMM goal is clearly understood by the team | There are no factual errors | It is unclear whether all the CMM goals are understood | There is at least one error | Mastery of the CMM goals has not been demonstrated |
| Plan Quality 40% |
The plan is realistic and likely to succeed | The plan is sufficiently detailed to cover all the CMM goals | One aspect of the plan is unrealistic or insufficiently described | Elements of the solution exist | The plan is missing or poorly formed |
| Professionalism 20% |
The report is professional, easy to read, and all the ideas are clearly communicated | The writing style is "professional:" there are no grammar, spelling, or formatting errors | There exists an instance of a spelling error, grammar error, overly verbose wording, poor formatting, or poor writing | Multiple spelling, grammatical, formatting, or writing errors | Gross spelling/grammar errors or other aspects of the writing that make the report difficult to read |
| Citations 10% |
Everything is fully cited and all the citations are from high-quality sources | Everything is fully cited | There exists a few missing citations or some citations are of insufficient quality | There are a few citations | No citations |