Big companies like IBM, Nedbank and FNB agree that Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) improves software development and achieves international quality recognition, but many smaller companies believe the process is too expensive.
"This is just not true," says Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) academic director Barry Dwolatzky. "There is a lot of ignorance in the local market around CMMI and this includes the perception that only banks and other big companies can afford it," he continues.
The JCSE is spearheading a CMMI pilot project to expose a wider range of South African companies to the benefits of the programme and to make it more affordable.
"By bringing CMMI training and assessment to SA, the JCSE has enabled local companies to reap the benefits of CMMI without the cost of sending staff overseas or flying in people from the US or Europe," says Dwolatzky.
CMMI was originally developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University in the US, to help companies from various industry sectors to improve their software development processes.
Broader research project
"With the participation of companies like Psybergate in the pilot programme, we are aiming to prove that CMMI is not only for the big boys," explains Dwolatzky. International statistics show that an increasing number of smaller companies are implementing CMMI, he adds.
The JCSE's CMMI pilot programme, begun in November, will form part of a broader international research project being conducted by SEI to focus on CMMI for smaller companies. The pilot is also aimed at securing government support for the mass adoption of the tool to help attract the international market.
At a recent export readiness workshop hosted by the Dutch government in Rotterdam, the lack of internationally recognised quality standards was identified as a weakness among South African IT companies.
Nedbank is one of the sponsors of the pilot programme. The bank's CIO Len de Villiers is on record as saying CMMI could play a significant role in developing much needed local hardware, software, systems engineering and process management skills. He has also said CMMI could help position SA as a feasible technology outsource destination.
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