The Ottawa SPIN Software Process Improvement Network
When a Whole Industry (Railroad) Wakes up to the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model

DATE: Thursday, March 16, 2000
TIME: 6:00 p.m.
PLACE: : Sheraton Hotel, Rideau Room 150 Albert Street, Ottawa
COST: $40.00

How Bombardier Transport and all its Software-based Systems Subcontractors Reacted to the CMM Level 2 requirement of LIRR's (Long Island Railroad) Contract (Close to a Billion Canadian Dollars)

The presentation will describe the genesis and the consequences of this CMM requirement which strategically affected a worldwide industry leader and dramatically changed the view towards software process improvement and the CMM in Canada, at least in the railroad sector.

The Ottawa SPIN is pleased to announce this presentation by Mr. Richard Basque.

Richard Basque is the president and founder of Alcyonix Inc. http://www.alcyonix.com; he is also administrator and co-founder of Procesix Inc. Prior to this, he worked as Technology Transfer Director at the Applied Software Engineering Center (ASEC) in Montreal. He is an SEI-Authorized Lead Assessor and a CMM Instructor. He has conducted and observed many CBA-IPIs and has delivered many CMM courses around the world, in both English and French. Over the course of his career, he has acquired a solid background in software as a practitioner, a consultant, and as a manager.

In May 1999, Bombardier Transport won a major contract to provide trains to Long Island Railroad (LIRR)! In the contract, the client (LIRR) required CMM assessments for the prime contractor and all its subcontractors who deliver systems containing software. With Bombardier being the Prime Contractor and basically the system integrator, this requirement translated into two cycles of a dozen assessments: one at the beginning (now completed) to establish the software process capability baseline of each supplier; and, one planned within two years to confirm the achievement of level two.

In June 1999, Bombardier Transport mandated Alcyonix to coordinate the internal software process assessments as well as those of ALL of the software providers on this contract (more than twelve)! The LIRR required the baseline results to be provided before the end of August 1999. Bombardier then monitored the preparation of an improvement plan for each organization. This was to make sure every involved party would be working at CMM Level 2 before the required deadline (within 2 years).

Who should attend this event:
Software Project Managers
Business Managers
Software Practitioners
Software Quality Managers

By attending this presentation you will learn: