Process Improvement Roadmap

Process Improvement Roadmap

Eng Hany Omar, PMP, ITIL, 6 SigmaSenior Management and Quality Consultant

الرحيم الرحمن الله بسم

Introduction This presentation gives an overview of the proposed activities,

recommendations and success factors for a software organization that wishes to implement a process improvement initiative

Information included here is based on 21+ years of experience in the software industry, including 15 years in management positions and 8+ years of practical process improvement

Project Scope The scope of the work is to define processes and templates in

software development departments, implement them in projects, and undergo formal appraisals

Many businesses today recognize the need for quality processes and a standardized method of work

Stakeholders include senior management, all development-related personnel, quality personnel and HR

Out of scope: developing processes for non-technical functions such as finance, business development, etc

Critical success factors Senior management commitment

Practitioner participation The project is NOT a one-man show

Willingness to accept the cost of quality (time and funds)

Assigning sufficient privileges to the EPG head (the person managing the improvement initiative)

Trusting the quality team to get the work done

Project Phases

Initiation

• Includes assembling EPG

• Agreeing on the framework (CMMI, we just want to improve, etc)

Gap Analysis

• Where are we now?

Action Planning

• Where do we want to be?

Execution Pre-appraisal

• Are we ready for the appraisal?

Formal appraisal

Maintenance and

continual improvemen

t

Execution phase Initial introduction to the process improvement framework

Define processes and templates

Define process KPIs

Evaluate tools

Train practitioners in the processes

Implement processes in projects

Regularly conduct reviews, collect feedback and improve

Project duration Average time from initiation to final appraisal for one branch: 1.5 to 2

years

Improvements that are often overlooked Reporting status regularly to senior management

Having documented job descriptions

Providing personnel with necessary training and certification

Obtaining customer approval of requirements prior to implementing them

Having a dedicated testing team

Quality Org Chart & Roles

Top-level management

VP of Quality/ Quality

Director/ EPG Head

EPG team

QA team

Quality Org Chart & Roles Process owners and backups:

Employees will be assigned process ownership based on their expertise For example, the project management process will be owned by one of the

project managers

Recommendations Automate, automate, automate!

Signing up with an external consultant to assist with some of the major activities and parts of the training

Leverage any existing best practices that are compatible with the framework

Risks Change resistance

Urgent project delivery dates

Employees too busy with their everyday tasks

Not all necessary personnel hired yet

Thank you! Hany Omar

hanykader@yahoo.com