Friday, October 7, 2005

Meeting Topic:

Techniques For Objectively Making Hard Decisions

Presenter: Emanuel Baker PhD

Abstract

"Successful process improvement is generally based on a well-thought-out strategic plan. The plan must reflect the true needs of the software organization and the business that it supports. Many organizations have determined that linking process improvements to business objectives is the key to good planning. While an assessment can identify the most critical process problems, developing a rational strategy and plan for addressing the problems requires evaluating and prioritizing recommended solutions. When strategic planning techniques are applied to software process, a sound business case can be developed for the needed resources, funds, and commitment.

“This paper describes several techniques that have been adopted in a wide variety of software organizations to help objectively make the hard choices in process improvement investments and to ensure organizational support and commitment to the results. The techniques focus on formulating process improvement proposals and evaluating them with regard to their impact on the business objectives, their implementation risk, and their alignment with the general priorities suggested by the Capability Maturity Model for Software. Optimal planning results are achieved when the techniques are used in planning workshops involving managers and practitioners and are supported by facilitation techniques.

Your Presenter: Emanuel R. Baker is a Principal and co-founder of Process Strategies, Inc., specializes in software process management consulting. He has thirty years of software development, management, and consulting experience. His areas of expertise include software process assessments, software systems engineering, software configuration management, software quality assurance, software test, software standards development, requirements management, as well as training in these disciplines.

Dr. Baker has worked with leading companies and government organizations in the United States and overseas in a diverse number of industries such as pharmaceuticals, aerospace, technology, telecommunications, software development, research, and retailing.

Emanuel R. Baker at: erbaker@swengcon.com

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