The challenge of Implementing Capability Maturity Model (CMM) in Pakistan Software Industry

Essay by cyberdudyUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, April 2004

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According to Watts Humphrey "The Actual Process is what you do, with all its omission, mistakes, and oversights. The Official Process is what books say you are supposed to do". So there are two challenges that a software development firm faces. First, to come up with reliable, efficient and pragmatic Official processes. Second, to make these processes a part of the company's culture i.e. to make the Official process the same as the Actual Process.

Many software companies fall face down while trying to force the Official Process - so much so that the Official Process lies buried in company archives and the Actual Process is in no comparison with the Official Process.

In a country like Pakistan the situation is further aggravated. Pakistanis are basically a conservative society where elders, parents and teachers are considered reverent. Being brought up under such a society an individual looks up to the boss with the same revere.

While such attitude brings a certain discipline to a company; it is the major hindrance in popularizing the official process. Employees look at the official process as a set of rules that he/she is supposed to follow and never questions the process. "The process is something that is done because the boss wants us to do" is the notion that most Pakistanis employees believe in.

Although with the software industry the concept of management ,as being reverent, is changing. There are several reasons for this. Most of the software companies are being managed by foreign qualified individuals. These new generation of foreign qualified managers work under a different set of values. These IT companies are characterized by frequent company wide meetings, open criticism and lack of red tape.

Another factor is the vast job-market for the IT professionals (although the market has shrunk a lot...