Presentation delivered at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST - UNL) in Portugal on the 18th of March 2021. Explains the Why's and benefits of an international computer software organization which moved to CMMI-DEV Level 5 in 2009 and what it takes to be there! Covers Waterfall and Agile software development practises.

1. CRITICALSOFTWARE.COM
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1
Critical Software
Chronicles:
The journey towards CMMI Level 5
Délio Almeida
18th of March 2021
Information Classification: Public

2. © COPYRIGHT CRITICAL SOFTWARE 2
Independent
Private company
Agile, Hybrid &
Waterfall SW
Development
920+
employees
CRITICAL Software
was founded
Critical Software, who are we?
Portugal, UK,
Germany, USA
• OUR ANNUAL GLOBAL
TURNOVER
OUR ANNUAL GLOBAL
TURNOVER
€64M

3. We engineer change, helping to build a better and safer world
through trusted and transformative technologies.
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. Information Classification: Public 3

4. The Why?
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1
We knew it as
a Collection of
Best Practises
A Reference
& Process
Improvement
Model
Prestigious,
widelly
known in
USA, not in
Europe!
Used in
Defence,
Aerospace
domains
The quest for CMMI-DEV back in 2004
Information Classification: Public

5. © Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1
Software Security &
Product Assurance
Embedded Software
Development
Safety-Critical
Verification and
Validation
SPACE
ECSS standards
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. Information Classification: Public 5

6. © Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1
20+ satellite missions
GAIA VPU
Instrument
REE
AlphaBus
SWARM
Sentinel-1
Sentinel-2
Sentinel-3
Sentinel-6
BepiColombo
EarthCARE
Solar Orbiter
ExoMars TGO
CryoSat
Herschel/Planck
CryoSat-2
GOCE
LISA Path Finder
Galileo GCS
Galileo IOV Security Units
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. Information Classification: Public 6
“The sky is not the limit
anymore …”
Nuno Silva, PhD (2008)

7. Business-critical
Mission-critical
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. Information Classification: Public 7

8. © Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. Information Classification: Public 8

9. WHY WE MOVED TO CMMI?
Customers
demanded it,
opens new bids
Majority of organizations move to CMMI Level 3
~50-75% of Business benefits are typically attained with Level 3
© COPYRIGHT CRITICAL SOFTWARE 9
Reliable,
consistent
delivery of
projects
Improve
Quality,
reduce
Business
risk
A Guided Path
for Process
Improvement
More Efficiency!
Deliver + Value!

10. The journey towards
CMMI …
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1 Information Classification: Public

11. Our CMMI Journey …
CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1© Copyright
Critical Software. All rights reserved.
Information Classification: Public 11
2001
Oct
2003
May
2004
Dec
2006
Mar
2008
Dec
2010
Oct
2012
Feb
2014
Mar
2001
Nov
2004
Mar
2005
Sep
2006
Mar
2009
Dec
2011
Dec
2012
Dec
2016
Mar
Quality
Department
formally created
Second SPICE
assessment
ISO 16504
ITIL practices
introduced
EN 9100 &
9006
certification
Six Sigma / PMI
PMBOK practices
introduced
NP 4457
certification
Migration to AS
9100 Revision C
Mature
Agile/Scrum
aligned
CMMI Level 5
First SPICE
assessment
ISO 16504 ISO 9001
TickIT
certification
NATO ACAP
2110 & 150
certification CMMI-DEV
Level 3
accreditation
CMMI-DEV
Level 5
accreditation
NATO ADAP
2110 & 2210
certification
CMMI– DEV V1.3
Level 5 renewal
Agile +
Waterfall
rated CMMI
Level 5
2001 2019
2016
Dec
Cyber Essentials
certification (UK)
2019
June
Agile CMMI
Level 5
We were the first CMMI L3 since 2006 … and we are proud of that ☺
A new cycle begins … 2021 and 2022 with CMMI 2.0!
CMMI L3 improvement

12. What it takes to get to
CMMI Level 5…
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1 Information Classification: Public

13. What does it take to
get to CMMI Level 5?
1,5 to 2,5 years project
from Level 3 to 5
SCAMPI appraisal of 6 to
12 days on-site
Statistical techniques, Six
Sigma
Predict future using
Forecasting Models
Full practise traceability to
each sampled project
Information Classification: Public
CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved.
13

14. But above all,
© Copyright Critical Software. All rights reserved. CSW-QDEPAR-2021-PRS-01281, V1
Senior management
active commitment …
A strong quality culture
Information Classification: Public

15. ❖ Customer satisfaction score of 8,85 in 10!
❖ Customer loyalty (NPS) score is 80 (above 50 is excellent!)
❖ 83,3% of our customers score us 9 or 10 (in 10)!
❖ We reached Tier 1 for Bombardier, GE Aviation, Airbus
❖ 93% audit compliance rate
❖ Projects deliver consistently, are predictable, few complaints
❖ Improved Schedule accuracy
❖ 2010: Std. dev. 4,79%, A: 21,80% 2020: Std. dev. 2,56%, Amplitude: 9,08%
❖ Reduced cost deviations
❖ 2010: Std. dev. 60,69%, A: 416,52% 2020: Std. dev. 14,73%, Amplitude: 44,38%
© COPYRIGHT CRITICAL SOFTWARE 15
The benefits?
Information Classification: Public

16. Thank You!
Délio Almeida, Quality Director
dalmeida@criticalsoftware.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/delioalmeida/
© COPYRIGHT CRITICAL SOFTWARE 16
Information Classification: Public