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"Aggressive
Adoption In Export-oriented Software Industry"
October 21, 2003
Interview with
Navyug Mohnot, CEO, QAI India Ltd. By Prachi Verma
FE: When did the concept
of quality processes in software take off in India?
NM : As early as 1993.The triggers were
purely economic - Senior management understood early on that
it made eminent business sense to provide confidence to customers
through these assessments, to enhance the ability to deliver
and get repeat business. Another reason for the aggressive
adoption is that the industry has been largely export oriented,
servicing and addressing the requirements and the high standards
of the global giants.
FE: What are the various
certification and assessment programmes for `quality in software
processes' and what are the popular ones in India?
NM: While consulting interventions include
framework based models like CMM®, ISO 9000, CMMI®
and PCMM® and process improvement approaches like Six
Sigma, SPICE, TICK IT, PSP and Knowledge Management , not
all consulting interventions result in an assessment (as different
from a certification). PCMM is becoming increasingly popular
amongst companies who see their workforce as a key and sustainable
advantage to the organization.CMM Level 5 companies are also
now looking at CMMI which builds on and extends the best practices
of the SW-CMM® ,SECM and the IPD-CMM. Six Sigma certification
for individuals ( black belt, green belt) is getting to be
very popular.
FE: How many certifiers are there in the country?
NM: There are many ISO Certigication
bodies, about 35 CMM Lead Assessors, about 15 CMMI Lead Appraisers,
5 PCMM Lead Assessors. QAI India has by far the biggest team.
FE: What is the market
size for assessment or certification of quality processes
in among software companies and of this how much of this is
captured by QAI?
NM: Difficult to estimate, but approximately
Rs 50 crores, is a good guess, if you add various types of
certifications or assessments. QAI is the market leader and
the oldest in business. Moreover, QAI, is a full service organization
and not a pure certification or assessment body.
FE: Do you think that the market size of certification and
assessment of quality processes in software is likely to expand?
How much does it cost a company to go in for a certification
or assessment programme?
NM:The market is likely to grow as the
software industry itself is growing. Investments made for
CMM or CMMi programme range from 10 to 30 lakhs. Its becoming
a cottage industry and some low value providers are quoting
below these levels also.
FE: What is the duration
of these assessment/certification exercises?
NM: An end to end engagement which would
typically include a gap analysis, training, consulting, preassessment
and assessment can take anywhere from 9 months to more than
a year .A lot depends on the stage at which a company is at
(the maturity level of existing software practices ) as well
as the level aspired to.
FE: Is it that all companies
that approach you for assessment or certication are successful?
How many companies (in your case) have actually failed or
have been unsuccessful in acquiring the certification or assessment
in software processes?
NM: No not all are successful. And in
some cases we have walked out of assignments when we felt
that the organization was using means and language to pressurize
us into awarding a level.
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