Process and Product Quality Assurance (PPQA) Process Area in CMMi

The purpose of Process and Product Quality Assurance (PPQA) is to provide staff and management with objective insight into processes and associated work products. A Support Process Area at Maturity Level 2.
The Process and Product Quality Assurance process area involves the following activities :

- Objectively evaluating performed processes, work products, and services against applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures.
- Identifying and documenting noncompliance issues.
- Providing feedback to project staff and managers on the results of quality assurance activities.
- Ensuring that noncompliance issues are addressed.
The Process and Product Quality Assurance process area supports the delivery of high-quality products and services by providing project staff and managers at all levels with appropriate visibility into, and feedback on, processes and associated work products throughout the life of the project.

Specific Goals and Practices

SG 1 Objectively Evaluate Processes and Work Products
Adherence of the performed process and associated work products and services to applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures is objectively evaluated.
- SP 1.1 Objectively Evaluate Processes.
Objectively evaluate the designated performed processes against the applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures. Objectivity in quality assurance evaluations is critical to the success of the project. A description of the quality assurance reporting chain and how it ensures objectivity should be defined.
- SP 1.2 Objectively Evaluate Work Products and Services.
Objectively evaluate the designated work products and services against the applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures. The intent of this subpractice is to provide criteria, based on business needs, such as the following:
. What will be evaluated during the evaluation of a work product?
. When or how often a work product will be evaluated?
. How the evaluation will be conducted?
. Who must be involved in the evaluation?

SG 2 Provide Objective Insight
Noncompliance issues are objectively tracked and communicated, and resolution is ensured.
- SP 2.1 Communicate and Ensure Resolution of Noncompliance Issues.
Communicate quality issues and ensure resolution of noncompliance issues with the staff and managers. Noncompliance issues are problems identified in evaluations that reflect a lack of adherence to applicable standards, process descriptions, or procedures. The status of noncompliance issues provides an indication of quality trends. Quality issues include noncompliance issues and results of trend analysis.
When local resolution of noncompliance issues cannot be obtained, use established escalation mechanisms to ensure that the appropriate level of management can resolve the issue. Track noncompliance issues to resolution.
- SP 2.2 Establish Records.
Establish and maintain records of the quality assurance activities. Typical Work Products are evaluation logs, quality assurance reports, status reports of corrective actions and reports of quality trends.

Project Monitoring and Control (PMC) Process Area in CMMi

The purpose of Project Monitoring and Control (PMC) is to provide an understanding of the project’s progress so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken when the project’s performance deviates significantly from the plan. A Project Management Process Area at Maturity Level 2.
A project’s documented plan is the basis for monitoring activities, communicating status, and taking corrective action. Progress is primarily determined by comparing actual work product and task attributes, effort, cost, and schedule to the plan at prescribed milestones or control levels in the project schedule or WBS. Appropriate visibility of progress enables timely corrective action to be taken when performance deviates significantly from the plan. A deviation is significant if, when left unresolved, it precludes the project from meeting its objectives.

Specific Goals and Practices

SG 1 Monitor Project Against Plan
- SP 1.1 Monitor Project Planning Parameters.
Monitor the actual values of the project planning parameters against the project plan. Monitoring typically involves measuring the actual values of project planning parameters, comparing actual values to the estimates in the plan, and identifying significant deviations. Recording actual values of the project planning parameters includes recording associated contextual information to help understand the measures.
- SP 1.2 Monitor Commitments.
Monitor commitments against those identified in the project plan.
- SP 1.3 Monitor Project Risks.
Monitor risks against those identified in the project plan.
- SP 1.4 Monitor Data Management.
Monitor the management of project data against the project plan. Once the plans for the management of project data are made, the management of that data must be monitored to ensure that those plans are accomplished.
- SP 1.5 Monitor Stakeholder Involvement.
Once the stakeholders are identified and the extent of their involvement within the project is specified in project planning, that involvement must be monitored to ensure that the appropriate interactions are occurring.
- SP 1.6 Conduct Progress Reviews.
Periodically review the project's progress, performance, and issues. Progress reviews are reviews on the project to keep stakeholders informed. These project reviews can be informal reviews and may not be specified explicitly in the project plans.
- SP 1.7 Conduct Milestone Reviews.
Review the accomplishments and results of the project at selected project milestones.
Milestone reviews are planned during project planning and are typically formal reviews.

SG 2 Manage Corrective Action to Closure
Corrective actions are managed to closure when the project's performance or results deviate significantly from the plan. Many product integration problems arise from unknown or uncontrolled aspects of both internal and external interfaces. Effective management of product component interface requirements, specifications, and designs helps ensure that implemented interfaces will be complete and compatible.
- SP 2.1 Analyze Issues.
Collect and analyze the issues and determine the corrective actions necessary to address the issues.
- SP 2.2 Take Corrective Action.
Take corrective action on identified issues. Examples of potential actions include modifying the statement of work, modifying requirements, revising estimates and plans, renegotiating commitments, adding resources, changing processes, revising project risks .
- SP 2.3 Manage Corrective Action.
Manage corrective actions to closure. Lessons learned as a result of taking corrective action can be inputs to planning and risk management processes.

Organizational Process Focus (OPF) Process Area in CMMi

The purpose of Organizational Process Focus (OPF) is to plan, implement, and deploy organizational process improvements based on a thorough understanding of current strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s processes and process assets.

The organization’s processes include all processes used by the organization and its projects. Candidate improvements to the organization’s processes and process assets are obtained from various sources, including the measurement of processes, lessons learned in implementing processes, results of process appraisals, results of product evaluation activities, results of benchmarking against other organizations’ processes, and recommendations from other improvement initiatives in the organization.
Process improvement occurs in the context of the organization’s needs and is used to address the organization’s objectives.

Specific Practices by Goal

SG 1: Determine Process Improvement Opportunities
Strengths, weaknesses, and improvement opportunities for the organization's processes are identified periodically and as needed.
- SP 1.1 Establish Organizational Process Needs
Establish and maintain the description of the process needs and objectives for the organization.
- SP 1.2 Appraise the Organization's Processes
Appraise the organization's processes periodically and as needed to maintain an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Process appraisals may be performed for the following reasons :
To identify processes that should be improved

To confirm progress and make the benefits of process improvement visible.

To satisfy the needs of a customer-supplier relationship.
To motivate and facilitate buy-in.
- SP 1.3 Identify the Organization's Process Improvements
Identify improvements to the organization's processes and process assets. Typical Work Products :
Analysis of candidate process improvements.
Identification of improvements for the organization's processes.

SG 2 Plan and Implement Process Improvement Activities
- SP 2.1 Establish Process Action Plans
Establishing and maintaining process action plans typically involves the following roles:
Management steering committees to set strategies and oversee process improvement activities.

Process group staff to facilitate and manage process improvement activities.
Process action teams to define and implement process actions.
Process owners to manage deployment.
Practitioners to perform the process.
- SP 2.2 Implement Process Action Plans

SG 3 Deploy Organizational Process Assets and Incorporate Lessons Learned
- SP 3.1 Deploy Organizational Process Assets.
Deploying organizational process assets or changes to organizational process assets should be performed in an orderly manner. Some organizational process assets or changes to organizational process assets may not be appropriate for use in some parts of the organization.
- SP 3.2 Deploy Standard Processes.
Deploy the organization’s set of standard processes to projects at their startup and deploy changes to them as appropriate throughout the life of each project. It is important that new projects use proven and effective processes to perform critical early activities.
- SP 3.3 Monitor Implementation.
By monitoring implementation, the organization ensures that the organization’s set of standard processes and other process assets are appropriately deployed to all projects. Monitoring implementation also helps the organization develop an understanding of the organizational process assets being used and where they are used within the organization.
- SP 3.4 Incorporate Process-Related Experiences into the Organizational Process Assets.