CMMI for Outsourcing: Guidelines for Software, Systems, and It Acquisition

College-level and technical computer libraries seeking a solid software engineer's reference will find CMMI For Outsourcing an important reference acquisition: it provides a basic introduction the initial CMMI-ACQ protocols and its use in technology acquisition, covering techniques proven to work in GM's own outsourcing program and reviewing the acquisition project lifecycle. The strength of CMMI FOR OUTSOURCING lies in its real-world scenarios and stories which reflect practical organizational and insider experience, including common tricks and pitfalls.

CMMI is a heavyweight process for software development, as well you should know, if you are at all considering this book. The twist here, compared to earlier books that focus exclusively on CMMI, is what happens if you also outsource. So now at the corporate level, there are two parties, your company and a supplier. The gist of the book involves a few, crucial aspects. One is to treat the supplier more as a partner. At some level, perhaps as akin to a subsidiary of your company, co-equal to the other divisions or groups within the company. Another is to have a very clear idea of what metrics you need. And you must have metrics, to have any realistic chance of monitoring progress, both inhouse and outsourced. Yet another aspect is to standardise as completely as possible the various work processes. Especially where these cross the boundary between your company and the supplier. You might find that if your company has already implemented some internal CMMI processes, that the transition to involving an outsourcer is not so drastic. Unless that supplier has had no experience in CMMI. It seems that the difference between this book and its predecessors is more in emphasis, rather than in a qualitatively new approach.