Project Management Case Study 5:

The Client Need: Improve their CMMI level to allow bidding on more government projects

As potential government clients become more selective about who should handle major IT projects, a contractor recognized that it was missing out on opportunities. Specifically, prospective clients were expecting contractors to attain at least a CMMI Level 2 rating before they would even consider doing business with them.

Well aware of its own lack of expertise with the CMMI process, the unrated contractor turned to an outside consulting firm to help it reach the desired level. But as they stumbled through the process, the contractor realized that the consultant lacked the experience and understanding to drive the effort to a successful completion. "It seemed like the firm was only a chapter ahead of us in the manual," the contractor's lead recalled.

Recognizing the critical importance of certifying its capabilities through the CMMI model, the contractor turned to Highpoint Global to finish the process. We began by assessing their capabilities, and quickly discovered that they lacked a formal project management process. While they understood the need for project management and had some of the pieces in place, their actual process was limited to entering plans in Microsoft Project and then watching them unravel. They lacked chartering of projects, did not define scope, and had no means for ensuring the quality of what they did for clients.

Rather than simply overlay a project management framework on their operations, we identified processes that were working well, and then helped them adapt Highpoint Global's project management methodology to operate in concert with those processes. We trained their users, developed a quality assurance process, and guided everyone through the implementation on existing projects. Then we participated in the appraisal process.

By leveraging both their existing strengths and the proven Highpoint Global project management process, we were able to reduce the amount of time involved with the appraisal. In fact, it took just eight months for the contractor to move from no rating to an initial Level 2 rating. Less then two years later, we had helped them improve their processes to the point at which they successfully obtained a Level 3 rating - and are currently discussing what it will take to attain Level 4.