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Re: techwr-l digest: August 05, 2005 - ISO Certification
Subject:Re: techwr-l digest: August 05, 2005 - ISO Certification From:wsfn <WSFN -at- rocketmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 8 Aug 2005 05:49:31 -0700 (PDT)
I'm responding to all of the anti-ISO and speedy
development emails - too many to include here.
Having worked for a massive conglomeration where
we had an FS and DS which were a joke (typically
written months after the code) and no
documentation of the code - I've been really
happy working for a 50+ employee company where
I've been instrumental in the push for CMM Level
3, CMMI Level 3, and now ISO 9001. In the 4
years I've been here, we've reduced the number of
documents and yet everyone knows who is
responsible for what and what the standards are.
If you aren't familiar, CMMI is like ISO 9001
except that the expectations are higher (yes,
were doing it backward). Also, for IT, the Fed
is starting to REQUIRE CMMI certification. You
can't even get to the table without it. In any
case, a bunch of engineers came up with this
entirely radical concept - that documentation was
the key to all IT project success.
In our work we use a modified waterfall, and
whenever possible are top heavy for requirements
gathering. For the last 2 years we haven't had a
project end 5% above schedule or budget.
I have an ear with the developers and they love
it. It makes their jobs easy. They feel
creative and appreciated and they don't work 14
hour days. They work normal hours and have the
backing of techpubs and management.
Processes aren't unnecessary - that's the whinge
of someone who doesn't document what they do -
ever. That is the thinking of someone who
expects to be the hero, save the day, trash the
entire schedule when they get sick or leave. No
one is irreplaceable, nothing exists unless it is
written down, and seriously - fewer documents are
the end result.
There are a lot of examples of bad workplaces,
bad implimentation of a good thing, but blame the
people - the management, not the documentation
and the certification.
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