I’m giving a presentation tomorrow on Software Process and Machine Learning. My primary goal with the process slides are to get across that most of it is really reliant on project management and personal time management techniques. I mention things related to process cycles (waterfall, prototype, spiral, etc.) and I focus on tending away from the idea that any amount of process causes copious amounts of paperwork and bureaucracy.

I started this job in August, and it’s my first one as a full-timer (I’ve had development internships before). I want to give a good impression, but I’m also careful not to promise things I can’t keep. I’d like to say that getting to CMMI Level 2 would be fairly simple, since most of our in-house applications are simple and have been easily maintained using just local Git repositories for version control. The big project performs on the factory floor and tests our products. It’s projects like these that I’d like to provide a bit more control over with documentation, cleaner process, and improved estimation for maintenance and enhancement.

All in all, our projects get deployed to the other departments and it’s up to them if they use it. For software solutions that are less than a handful of classes, I’d concede the point that process might be more detrimental than useful; however, I’d really just like to have something in place for the co-ops that we have so that they can see not just coding but some software engineering at work as well.

Case In Point

Does a consumer electronics manufacturing plant, with a separate software division for the actual electronics, need to have CMMI compliance at any level for any reason (other than it makes the in-house software developers feel proud)? If so, what level should be the goal?