1. What is a software process?
A software process is a series of steps used to solve a problem. The following figure shows a pictorial view of how an organization has defined a way to solve risk problems. In the diagram we have shown two branches: one is the process and the second branch shows a sample risk mitigation process for an organization. For instance, the risk mitigation process defines what step any department should follow to mitigate a risk.
Identify the risk of the project by discussion, proper requirement gathering, and forecasting.
Once you have identified the risk prioritize which risk has the most impact and should be tackled on a priority basis.
Analyze how the risk can be solved by proper impact analysis and planning.
Finally, using the above analysis, we mitigate the risk.
2. What are the different cost elements involved in implementing a process in an organization?
Below are some of the cost elements involved in the implementing process:
Salary: This forms the major component of implementing any process, the salary of the employees. Normally while implementing a process in a company either organization can recruit full-time people or they can share resources part-time for implementing the process.
Consultant: If the process is new it can also involve consultants which are again an added cost.
Training Costs: Employees of the company may also have to undergo training in order to implement the new process
Tools: In order to implement the process an organization will also need to buy tools which again need to be budgeted for.
3. What is a maturity level?
A maturity level specifies the level of performance expected from an organization.
4. What is a model?
A model is nothing but best practices followed in an industry to solve issues and problems. Models are not made in a day but are finalized and realized by years of experience and continuous improvements.
Many companies reinvent the wheel rather than following time tested models in the industry.
5. Can you explain process areas in CMMI?
A process area is the area of improvement defined by CMMI. Every maturity level consists of process areas. A process area is a group of practices or activities performed collectively to achieve a specific objective. For instance, you can see from the following figure we have process areas such as project planning, configuration management, and requirement gathering.
6. Can you explain tailoring?
As the name suggests, tailoring is nothing but changing an action to achieve an objective according to conditions. Whenever tailoring is done there should be adequate reasons for it. Remember when a process is defined in an organization it should be followed properly. So even if tailoring is applied the process is not bypassed or omitted.
