Organizational Process Definition: Institutionalize a Defined Process

The process is institutionalized as a defined process.

Commitment to Perform
GP 2.1 (CO 1) Establish an Organizational Policy
Establish and maintain an organizational policy for planning and performing the organizational process definition process.
Elaboration:
This policy establishes organizational expectations for establishing and maintaining a set of standard processes for use by the organization and making organizational process assets available across the organization.

Ability to Perform
GP 3.1 (AB 1) Establish a Defined Process
Establish and maintain the description of a defined organizational process definition process.
GP 2.2 (AB 2) Plan the Process
Establish and maintain the plan for performing the organizational process definition process.

Elaboration:
Typically, this plan for performing the organizational process definition process is a part of the organization’s process-improvement plan.

GP 2.3 (AB 3) Provide Resources
Provide adequate resources for performing the organizational process definition process, developing the work products, and providing the services of the process.

Elaboration:
A process group typically manages the organizational process definition activities. This group is typically staffed by a core of professionals whose primary responsibility is coordinating organizational process
improvement. This group is supported by process owners and people with expertise in various disciplines such as the following:
· Project management
· The appropriate engineering disciplines
· Configuration management
· Quality assurance
Examples of other resources provided include the following tools:
· Database management systems
· Process modeling tools
· Web page builders and browsers

GP 2.4 (AB 4) Assign Responsibility
Assign responsibility and authority for performing the process, developing the work products, and providing the services of the organizational process definition process.

GP 2.5 (AB 5) Train People
Train the people performing or supporting the organizational process definition process as needed. Elaboration:
Examples of training topics include the following:
· CMMI and other process and process-improvement reference models
· Planning, managing, and monitoring processes
· Process modeling and definition
· Developing a tailorable standard process


Directing Implementation
GP 2.6 (DI 1) Manage Configurations
Place designated work products of the organizational process definition process under appropriate levels of configuration management.

Elaboration:
Examples of work products placed under configuration management include the following:
· Organization’s set of standard processes
· Descriptions of the life-cycle models
· Tailoring guidelines for the organization’s set of standard processes
· Definitions of the common set of product and process measures
· Organization’s measurement data
GP 2.7 (DI 2) Identify and Involve Relevant Stakeholders
Identify and involve the relevant stakeholders of the organizational process definition process as planned.
Elaboration:
Examples of activities for stakeholder involvement include the following:
· Reviewing the organization’s set of standard processes
· Reviewing the organization’s life-cycle models
· Resolving issues on the tailoring guidelines
· Assessing the definitions of the common set of process and product measures
GP 2.8 (DI 3) Monitor and Control the Process
Monitor and control the organizational process definition process against the plan for performing the process and take appropriate corrective action.

Elaboration:
Examples of measures used in monitoring and controlling include the following:
· Percentage of projects using the process architectures and process elements of the organization's set of standard processes
· Defect density of each process element of the organization’s set of standard processes
GP 3.2 (DI 4) Collect Improvement Information
Collect work products, measures, measurement results, and improvement information derived from planning and performing the organizational process definition process to support the future use and improvement of the organization’s processes and process assets.
Verifying Implementation
GP 2.9 (VE 1) Objectively Evaluate Adherence
Objectively evaluate adherence of the organizational process definition process against its process description, standards, and procedures, and address noncompliance.
Elaboration:
Examples of activities reviewed include the following:
· Establishing organizational process assets
Examples of work products reviewed include the following:
· Organization’s set of standard processes
· Descriptions of the life-cycle models
· Tailoring guidelines for the organization’s set of standard processes
· Organization’s measurement data

GP 2.10 (VE 2) Review Status with Higher Level Management
Review the activities, status, and results of the organizational process definition process with higher level management and resolve issues.

Organizational Process Focus: Specific Practice By Goal SP1.5

Establish the Organization’s Process Asset Library
Establish and maintain the organization's process asset library.
Examples of items to be stored in the organization’s process asset library include the following:
· Organizational policies
· Defined process descriptions
· Procedures (e.g., estimating procedure)
· Development plans
· Quality assurance plans
· Training materials
· Process aids (e.g., checklists)
· Lessons-learned reports

Typical Work Products
1. Design of the organization’s process asset library
2. Organization's process asset library
3. Selected items to be included in the organization’s process asset library
4. Catalog of items in the organization’s process asset library

Subpractices
1. Design and implement the organization’s process asset library,including the library structure and support environment.
2. Specify the criteria for including items in the library.
The items are selected based primarily on their relationship to the organization's set of standard processes.
3. Specify the procedures for storing and retrieving items.
4. Enter the selected items into the library and catalog them for easy reference and retrieval.
5. Make the items available for use by the projects.
6. Periodically review the use of each item and use the results to maintain the library contents.
7. Revise the organization’s process asset library as necessary.

Examples of when the library may need to be revised include the following:
· New items are added
· Items are retired
· Current versions of items are changed

Organizational Process Focus: Specific Practice By Goal SP1.4

Establish the Organization’s Measurement Repository
Establish and maintain the organization’s measurement repository.
The repository contains both product and process measures that are related to the organization's set of standard processes. It also contains or refers to the information needed to understand and interpret the
measures and assess them for reasonableness and applicability. For example, the definitions of the measures are used to compare similar measures from different processes.

Typical Work Products
1. Definition of the common set of product and process measures for the organization's set of standard processes
2. Design of the organization’s measurement repository
3. Organization's measurement repository (i.e., the repository structure and support environment)
4. Organization’s measurement data

Subpractices
1. Determine the organization's needs for storing, retrieving, and analyzing measurements.
2. Define a common set of process and product measures for the organization's set of standard processes.
The measures in the common set are selected based on the organization's set of standard processes. The common set of measures may vary for different standard processes.
Operational definitions for the measures specify the procedures for collecting valid data and the point in the process where the data will be collected.
Examples of classes of commonly used measures include the following:
· Estimates of work product size (e.g., pages)
· Estimates of effort and cost (e.g., person hours)
· Actual measures of size, effort, and cost
· Quality measures (e.g., number of defects found, severity of defects)
· Peer review coverage
· Test coverage
· Reliability measures (e.g., mean time to failure)
3. Design and implement the measurement repository.
4. Specify the procedures for storing, updating, and retrieving measures.
5. Conduct peer reviews on the definitions of the common set of measures and the procedures for storing and retrieving measures.
6. Enter the specified measures into the repository.
7. Make the contents of the measurement repository available for use by the organization and projects as appropriate.
8. Revise the measurement repository, common set of measures, and procedures as the organization’s needs change.
Examples of when the common set of measures may need to be revised include the following:
· New processes are added
· Processes are revised and new product or process measures are needed
· Finer granularity of data is required
· Greater visibility into the process is required
· Measures are retired