This tutorial covers CKA area #4 of the International Software Process Improvement Certification (ISPIC) requirements.

In this tutorial you will learn how to develop an improvement action plan based on the business goals and problems of your organization. This approach addresses the frustration that many people experience when improvement programs do not relate to the project work being done.

You will learn about:

• Setting compelling goals for your improvement program
• Directing all improvement towards achieving business goals and solving the organization's problems
• Developing an action plan based on the defined goals and problems
• Using an improvement model or standard to address the goals and problems
• Planning for process deployment
• Deriving metrics for the goals
• Identifying potential future problems (risks) with the action plan and mitigating the highest priority risks

• Assigning ownership to the process improvement plan, role of the SEPG and QA function
• Setting compelling goals for your improvement program
• Directing all improvement towards achieving business goals and solving the organization's problems
• Developing an action plan based on the defined goals and problems
• Using an improvement model or standard to address the goals and problems
• Identifying potential future problems (risks) with the action plan and mitigating the highest priority risks
• Planning for process deployment using the adoption curve
• Deriving metrics for the goals
• Measuring process improvement plan progress
• Measuring process framework adoption
• Using metrics to track progress based on defined goals
• Determining corrective actions needed to get the improvement program back on track
• Clarifying lessons learned and actions needed to make future executions of the improvement cycle more effective

Mary Sakry is co-founder of The Process Group, a company formed in 1990 that consults on process improvement, software engineering and project management.

She has 33 years of experience in software and process engineering. For 15 years she was a Software Manager within TI. In 1989 she lead TI's process assessment effort and was a member of an SEPG. Mary is an SEI authorized appraiser for SCAMPI appraisals, certified high-maturity appraiser, and Intro to CMMI instructor. She has an M.B.A. (St. Edwards) and B.S. in Computer Science (Minnesota). She is the co-author of Making Process Improvement Work - A Concise Action Guide for Software Managers and Practitioners , Addison-Wesley.

The Process Group consults to software, IT, systems and hardware organizations.