Richard Messnarz

Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement

This paper discusses (based on the EU project AQUA) how the core elements of three complementary approaches and standards can be integrated into one compact skill set with training and best practices to be applied. In this project experts from Automotive SPICE (ISO 15504), Functional Safety (ISO 26262) and Lean Six Sigma collaborate. In a first analysis the experts identified an architecture of core elements where all three approaches fit together and where a holistic view about improvement is needed. The Automotive Clusters from Austria and Slovenia are trial partners and will roll out this knowledge in pilot courses to the industry. Other Automotive Clusters showed interest and will join the trial phase.

The SPI manifesto and the ECQA SPI manager certification scheme

Software process improvement (SPI) can be seen as a profession having its own competence needs and its own community of interest. European projects EQN and EU Cert have defined skill sets and a common certification scheme for about 20 professions, mainly in the IT domain. European Certification and Qualification Association ECQA is created to manage certification and provide the necessary infrastructure. A common way to approach the IT domain from a process perspective is the ‘3S’ concept (Software, Systems, Services). Software process can be seen as the first spearhead among these. The first software process models, such as CMM and SPICE, have already existed for about 20 years. With all the experience that the models bring, it is reasonable to start the PI profession from the software process. Software Process Improvement Manager (SPI Manager) is one of the new topics in ECQA. The development of the SPI Manager training and certification scheme has been done in many small steps so far. This paper explains the current structure and the main components of SPI Manager competences, training needs and the certification scheme. Several other schemes will be developed in the future for process improvement‐related competences. The current version of the SPI Manager skill set is mainly based on software, systems and service processes and their related reference models. It could also be used in the future in domains other than IT. Copyright

The people aspects in modern process improvement management approaches

Since the beginning of the 1990s, process improvement was considered as a formal issue. Focus was on process description, and improvement was a somewhat better description. Also, process improvement was driven by the customer side. Symptoms were ISO 9001 and Capability Maturity Model (CMM) [11]. This situation remained stable even if at the mid of the fist decade of this century, ISO/IEC 15504 was published. On the contrary, approaches like People Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), EU Support and Guidance to the Procurement of Information and Telecommunication Systems and Services (SPRITE S2) Project and the European Qualification Network European Certification and Qualification Association (ECQA) were established, but their relevance was not recognised by IT people [1]. Currently, we see a move forward to focus on people because they are recognised as key success factors. The first model that really emphasised the ownership and empowerment of people was the Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) model of Michael Hammer [14]. In the IT community, Ivar Jacobson [15] developed his approach while criticising the current process description approach. At the same time, Jan Pries-Heje did research related to effective Software Process Improvement (SPI) approaches [6]. In 2007, a first attempt was made to develop a training curriculum for SPI Management. From the very beginning, it was clear that people are a key factor to be addressed. This process of reorientation of the SPI community reached a milestone, when the SPI manifesto [12] was published and the Skill Card for the SPI Manager Qualification Scheme was approved by the authorised Job Role committee. Right now, the first training is delivered and experience is excellent.

Automotive Knowledge Alliance AQUA – Integrating Automotive SPICE, Six Sigma, and Functional Safety

This paper discusses (based on the EU project AQUA) how the core elements of three complementary approaches and standards can be integrated into one compact skill set with training and best practices to be applied. In this project experts from Automotive SPICE (ISO 15504), Functional Safety (ISO 26262) and Lean Six Sigma collaborate. In a first analysis the experts identified an architecture of core elements where all three approaches fit together and where a holistic view about improvement is needed. The Automotive Clusters from Austria and Slovenia are trial partners and will roll out this knowledge in pilot courses to the industry. Other Automotive Clusters showed interest and will join the trial phase.

Social responsibility aspects supporting the success of SPI

Software Process Improvement (SPI) activities aim at driving change in information technology development towards increased quality and productivity levels. The SPI Manifesto describes the key values and principles for a successful implementation of SPI. About two‐thirds of its principles relate to human, social, and organizational aspects and one‐third to technical aspects. This raises the question if these aspects have a relationship with ‘social responsibility’ principles. The new ISO 26000:2010 standard provides guidance about social responsibility (SR), describing the core subjects and issues an organization has to consider when implementing SR. In this paper, we describe how the values and principles of the SPI Manifesto have a relationship with the SR issues described in the ISO 26000. In addition, this paper describes about the steps taken in an industry group to exchange best practices about how social strategies can be used to achieve higher acceptance and sustainability of SPI initiatives. Copyright

Agility Meets Systems Engineering: A Catalogue of Success Factors from Industry Practice

Agile software development methods are widely accepted and valued in software-dominated industries. In more complex setups like multidisciplinary system development the adoption of an agile development paradigm is much less straightforward. Bigger teams, longer development cycles, process and product standard compliance and products lacking flexibility make an agile behaviour more difficult to achieve. Focusing on the fundamental underlying problem of dealing with ever ongoing change, this paper presents an agile Systems Engineering approach as a potential solution. Therefore a generic Systems Engineering action model was upgraded respecting agile principles and adapted according to practical needs discovered in an empirical study. This study was conducted among the partners of the S2QI agile workgroup made up from experts of automotive, logistics and electronics industries. Additionally to an agile Systems Engineering action model, a list of 15 practical success factors that should be considered when using an agile Systems Engineering approach is one of the main outcomes of this survey. It was also found that an agile behaviour in Systems Engineering could be supported in many different areas within companies. These areas are listed and it is also shown how the agile action model and the agile success factors are related to them.

Experiences with Trial Assessments Combining Automotive SPICE and Functional Safety Standards

In 2009 and 2010 [6], [7] papers were published at EuroSPI explaining how a task force of leading suppliers extended Automotive SPICE with additional practices to cover aspects of IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 as well. In 2011 [8] the partnership published at EuroSPI an example of how Automotive SPICE compliant engineering processes have been extended to cover functional safety architectures as well. This integrated assessment model has been used in 2011 in trial assessments at Tier 1 (leading Automotive) suppliers and in this paper we describe the lessons learned and the next steps the working group is taking in 2012.

EU Project SafEUr - Competence Requirements for Functional Safety Managers

Functional Safety has become a vital property of many products and systems. There is a clear trend to move safety functions from pure mechanics into electronic control units. Therefore over the recent years, various standards have evolved describing the properties and certification criteria of safety-critical electronically controlled products and systems. In order for a particular product to be adapted to the requirements of different target markets, the integration of functional safety considerations according to the relevant standards into the complete product creation processes and organisations is essential. This integration requires special competencies that define the new job role of a Functional Safety Manager. This article gives an overview of these competency requirements in the context of the documentation of the first results, the targets, and the scope of the EU project SafEUr, which aims at putting in place a Europe-wide on-line training and certification program for functional safety managers according to the requirements of several industry sectors, as well as the experiences from research and practical safety engineering projects.

From process improvement to learning organisations

This article outlines a case study in which process improvement has been combined with innovation management strategies. This approach is a key success factor in the industry because process improvement without regard to product innovation would in the long term only stabilise the productions in existing cash cows, but would not unleash any new product ideas or concepts. However, new product concepts are necessary to win a competitive advantage in the market. Here, a case study based on ISO 15504 concerning process improvements is discussed. Concerning innovation skills and processes, the case studies discussed are based on the results of three former projects as follows: (a) CREDIT (MM 1032, 1998–2001), developing a multi-user Intranet/Internet-based assessment platform for skills and process assessments, (b) ORGANIC (Leonardo da Vinci, 2003–2006), developing a training program for required skills in innovation management, and (c) SOQRATES (originally Bavarian state funded in 2003 and later funded by a group of leading firms in central Europe), comprising task forces shared across companies to exchange process improvement knowledge and jointly collaborate on synergies and improvements. Copyright

Europe wide industry certification using standard procedures based on ISO 17024

ECQA (European Certification and Qualification Association) is the result of a series of EU funded projects from 2005-2012. This included European projects such as EQN (European Quality Network, 2005-2007), EU Certificates Campus (2008-2009) and DEUCERT (Dissemination of EU Certification), the ECQA nowadays acts as an organization that is independent from funding. The members of ECQA are widely spread all over Europe and vary from universities to companies as well as individuals. ECQA is aimed at a demographic problem of education and training in the European Union. For people at 40-50 it is many years ago that they attended the university and required skills nowadays are changing every 2-3 years. This means that their skills get outdated and we experience in Europe a growing unemployment from the age of 45 upwards. Universities in Europe are currently not addressing this problem. EQN developed a so called role based qualification concept where e.g. an existing software engineer (who studied informatics some 15 years ago) can identify job roles to upgrade so that he remains a value for the organization. He might receive additional industry qualification for e.g. a safety architect (additionally learning how to enrich existing software architecture with functional safety aspects). This way the person, would for instance, grow into a safety architect position and a younger person who knows more about new programming techniques gets his old position. EQN then developed certification mechanisms for this role based approach for university and industry educational partnerships. EU Cert Campus collected about 15 job roles, structured the corresponding skills sets and established online services. The online services comprise skills browsing, skills assessment, and online training. So people from industry can attend job role based qualification training from the work place. DEUCERT established ambassadors for this new job role based qualification concept Europe and worldwide. DEUCERT also helped to create a critical mass of partners. At the moment we do have 26 job professions (ready and in progress) that are certified all over Europe and already outside of the European Union. The concept is meanwhile supported by approx. 60 universities and training bodies in Europe. Human resource managers from leading multinational companies called ECQA “a success story” because so far the universities in Europe do not address the mentioned demographic problem and ECQA has already achieved more than 11000 online trainings and more than 6600 certificates in European industry and at university PhD programs. The processes of the ECQA are mapped onto the ISO 17024 international standard for the certification of persons. The PAC project will integrate further skills sets and certification options into the ECQA platform.