Siemens PEPP PPP:D-SEI CMM Analysis

Abstract

Siemens Communication Software Ltd. (SCS), the Indian Development Centre for the global telecommunications division of Siemens A.G. follows the Siemens internal Product Engineering Process Plan (PEPP) to deliver Software services. SCS is in the process of enhancing its software process capability as part of its organisational improvement program. Towards this endeavour, it has to define a baseline for its current process maturity and define steps to enhance the same. The Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is widely used to measure an organisation's software development process maturity and has been used by several software organisations as a conceptual structure for improving the management and development of software products in a disciplined and consistent way. This study highlights the areas of improvement in the application of software development processes and practises at Siemens by performing a Gap analysis based on the Key Process Areas and practises prescribed in SW-CMM. Using CMM and the goals of its Key Process Areas as a tool, this study identifies the current process application gaps and provides suitable recommendations (upto Level 3 maturity) to plug the identified weaknesses. This will aid SCS in improving its software process on three vital counts: Predictability, Control and Effectiveness. The CMM is not a comprehensive silver bullet that addresses all issues important for realising successful software projects. Hence, the recommendations from this study have to be tailored appropriately to suit the application domain, specific software technologies and people issues at SCS. This is an abridged version of the original report, which is confidential and available only for Siemens internal usage.