Many organizations have tried to determine if it is to their advantage to use both CMMI and Six Sigma in their organizations to work cooperatively toward the same objectives, which include process improvement and greater profitability. Because they offer different approaches to process improvement, many organizations think using CMMI and Six Sigma is an either/or decision. Many wonder if there is any evidence Six Sigma works in software and systems engineering or IT. Some may think Six Sigma is only about advanced statistics, unsure how both methodologies would complement each other to make the organization better.
They don’t visualize that by using both of them they have an opportunity to improve the organization at numerous levels. Although they both share a focus on quality and customer satisfaction, these technologies are designed to accomplish different things.
Six Sigma provides tactical improvement and analysis tools, as well as high level governance approaches for making improvements in an organization. It is enterprise-wise and not discipline specific–a neutral improvement methodology. Six Sigma can be considered a non-domain specific business improvement strategy, philosophy and change agent for an organization.
CMMI takes a discipline specific approach to organizational improvement – software and systems engineering, acquisition processes and service-providing guidance.. For example, CMMI for software and systems engineering focuses on process management, project management, engineering and support specific to the discipline of software and systems engineering.
How Do CMMI and Six Sigma Actually Work?
CMMI’s discipline specific approach includes systems engineering, acquisition processes and service. All are related to the process infrastructure needed for providing the process backbone for an organization to be success. CMMI makes sure Process Management, Project Management, Engineering and Support are in place so the business organization can meet specific goals. By contrast, Six Sigma diagnoses and characterizes a problem, and then determines how to improve processes analytically and quantitatively.
“The two technologies work really well together,” says Jeannine Siviy, senior member of the technical staff at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute. “Six Sigma wants you to map out your processes (Process Mapping), but it doesn’t actually tell you what the processes should be. CMMI determines the right processes for an organization to start. However, an organization may have to tailor it or add to it to make it work for them. CMMI provides the process backbone that Six Sigma needs.”
CMMI has five maturity levels. As an organization progresses through each level, they become defined, repeatable, predictable and quantitatively managed and optimized. As CMMI matures, there is a natural fit with Six Sigma, which focuses on quantitative management. Six Sigma’s strength is its ability to define, measure, analyze, improve and control costs.
For example, if an auto maker is developing a new car, there is quite a bit of software in the car to support everything from basic driving functionality to state-of-the-art entertainment systems. To make that car, a manufacturer needs software systems engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as the manufacturing production line. Employees designing the software and systems engineering for that car might favor CMMI because it provides good guidance on the type of processes they should be executing.
Conversely, Six Sigma provides analytic tools such as control charts and evaluates the quality of measurement to determine if one process is better than another. Six Sigma provides tactical guidance to fit inside the CMMI process. Six Sigma prioritizes a project with specific improvements that need to be made in an engineering process. “Six Sigma will point out the biggest problem spots in the organization and states what will add value to the bottom line,” Siviy says.
Case Studies
In March 2008, the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute wrote a white paper entitled: Maximizing Your Process Improvement R.O.I. Through Harmonization. This white paper briefly mentions several organizations that achieved positive results by using CMMI as well as Six Sigma along with other methodologies.
Locked Martin IS&GS
With their “Program Process Standard” the company has reported productivity gains of more than 50% and cost reductions of nearly 25%. In order to achieve these goals, the company established process architecture, a required development process scheme, updated industry standards and received certifications when it was desired.
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems reports Six Sigma resulted in a culture change by leveraging multiple models and significantly reducing cycle, Six Sigma provided a way to connect process improvement and business value.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center used a collaborative model effort to prioritize and align processes to implement, leading them to become the first non-profit medical system in the United States to be certified compliant with the most stringent provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley.
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