Update to "Changes to Policies on SCAMPI Appraisals in CMMI Version 1.2"
August 1, 2007
To make appraisal results more useful to customers of organizations adopting CMMI, there is one addition and one change to the September 10, 2006 policy statement on version 1.2 SCAMPI Class A appraisals, effective September 1, 2007. In addition, see information clarifying CMMI level 4-5 interpretation and implementations.
Policy Addition
Before the results of any v1.2 Class A SCAMPI appraisal become public record (e.g., announced in a press release or on an organization's Web site, posted on a published SCAMPI appraisal results Web page, or used in response to a request for a proposal) the appraisal must first be accepted by the SEI. The SEI performs the following steps before an appraisal is accepted:
- The SEI confirms that the SCAMPI appraisal was conducted according to the SCAMPI Method Definition (i.e., the team was led by an SEI-authorized or certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, team members received required CMMI and appraisal method training, all appraisal data was submitted to the SEI by the lead appraiser, etc.).
- The SEI verifies that the electronic entry of the Appraisal Disclosure Statement (ADS) by the lead appraiser meets the compatibility criteria within the key fields of the Published Appraisal Results System (PARS) database (e.g., the organization name, sponsor names, and organization identification have been provided and the appraisal adheres to the rules on concealing sensitive data) prior to acceptance for entry onto the publicly viewable published listings at http://sas.sei.cmu.edu/pars/.
The acceptance is not an SEI confirmation or certification of the appraisal.
The following points support implementation of this policy:
- When a SCAMPI appraisal is successfully submitted by a lead appraiser, the SEI will inform or remind the appraisal sponsor of this policy. The communication will indicate that the appraisal has been submitted by the lead appraiser and the results are only preliminary and are subject to the SEI quality review and acceptance. This communication will also be sent to the lead appraiser and to the business point of contact of the SEI Partner associated with the appraisal.
- The Appraisal Sponsor Affirmation section of the ADS will be modified to include the following statement: "Results of this appraisal will not be made public record or used in response to any request for proposal, etc., until I have been notified that the appraisal has been reviewed and accepted by the SEI."
- The SEI's intention is to provide the acceptance/non-acceptance/rejection statement to the appraisal sponsor within 30 calendar days from the completed appraisal submission to the SEI by the SCAMPI Lead Appraiser. This communication will also be sent to the lead appraiser and to the business point of contact of the SEI Partner associated with the appraisal. The time frame the lead appraiser has to complete the submission is up to 30 calendar days from delivery of the final findings briefing to the appraisal sponsor. If there is urgency in publishing or announcing the appraisal results, then the lead appraiser's successful submission to the SEI should be completed as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the time frame for receiving the SEI response could be up to 60 calendar days.
- The SEI will work with the lead appraiser and, potentially, with the appraisal sponsor and the SEI Partner's business point of contact, to resolve issues with any non-accepted appraisals. Non-accepted appraisal submissions may go into further review or audit and will likely not be resolved within the 30-day intended time frame.
- The SEI has implemented a new system, the SEI Appraisal System (SAS), to support a timely processing of properly submitted appraisals in order to meet the intended 30 calendar day turnaround.
Policy Change
There is one change to the policy statement. The fifth bullet on that page is no longer valid: there will not be a separate government Web site similar to the SEI's PARS site.
If you have questions or comments, send email to: cmmi-comments@sei.cmu.edu
