Companies developing and delivering innovative products and services use a variety of means to distinguish their capabilities in the global marketplace.  Today.s high-value corporate discriminators include attaining a formal rating of organizational maturity or process capability against a world-class, objective standard such as the Software Engineering Institute.s (SEI.s) Capability Maturity Model^® (CMM^®) or Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI^®).  Organizations attain such a rating only by undergoing a Software Capability Evaluation (SCE^SM), CMM Based Appraisal for Internal Process Improvement (CBA IPI) or Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI^SM) led by an SEI-authorized Lead Appraiser.  Most companies undergoing appraisals conduct thorough internal planning and preparation that results in efficient implementation of effective improvements.   In other cases, companies enter into appraisals without understanding .what really goes on. beforehand and end up paralyzing or even discarding their improvement initiative.  This presentation will help those of you pursuing a formal appraisal rating to gain full return on your investment.

• Introduction . The ORSE experience
• WHAT: an appraisal is. and is not.
• WHY: to appraise. or not to appraise.
• WHICH: many methods, many means
• WHERE: location, location, location
• WHEN: now, sooner, later, or never
• WHO: commitment and involvement
• HOW: planning, preparation, conducting, reporting (and recovering!)
• NEXT: it.s what happens after the appraisal that makes all the difference
• Q&A

Carnegie Mellon University.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.

Bruce serves as facilitator, mentor and coach providing business and change management consulting, training and benchmarking services.  His clients include commercial, government contractor and research organizations, many of which are in the Fortune 100.  He is a former US Navy nuclear submarine officer, a registered professional engineer, ASQ-certified as both a Software Quality Engineer and Quality Manager, and a trained Six Sigma Green Belt with more than 20 years experience in operations, engineering and project management.  He is a Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Lead Appraiser and has led or participated in more than fifty (50) appraisals of engineering, management, outsourcing, quality, process improvement and training programs across organizations at all maturity levels.   Most recently, Bruce is working with organizations applying objective standards, including Carnegie Mellon University.s eSourcing Capability Model for Service Providers (eSCM-SP) to help them better select and manage qualified suppliers, including offshore service vendors, in a cost-effective and secure manner.  Actively using industry standards, state-of-the-art models, and diagnosis methods since 1994, he works with managers and practitioners to inform, educate and enable them to effectively apply engineering and management principles to achieve real financial, customer, and internal business objectives.