SPM 6 - Situational Assessment with the SPM Maturity Matrix

Software Product Management Situational Assessment with the SPM Maturity Matrix

Lecture 6

Sjaak Brinkkemper

Garm Lucassen

12 september 2014

Agenda

• Introduction

• SPM maturity matrix

• Development of the maturity matrix

• Situational assessment method

• Your assessment

• Consultancy report

Introduction

• The job of the product manager is to discover a product that is valuable (users want to use it), usable (users can figure out how to use it), and feasible (development can produce it at reasonable costs)

• This results in two responsibilities:

• Assessing product opportunities

• Defining the product to be built

Software process improvement

Some of the best known SPI methods:

• CMM (Paulk, Curtis, Chrissis, & Weber, 1993)

• CMMI (CMMI Product Team, 2002)

• SPICE (ISO/IEC-15504, 1998)

Drawbacks of CMM-like models

• Found too heavy to use by organizations (Cusamo, 2004)

• Too large to implement, or even comprehend (Kuilboer & Ashrafi, 2000) (Reifer, 2000)

• Too expensive for many small and medium sized companies (Brodman & Johnson, 1994)

• CMMI benefits are seized long-term, rather than immediately

(Dion 1993)

Survey among 1,804 organizations: median time to move from one CMM level to another ranges from 13 to 24 months (SEI, 2006)

Why is a maturity matrix better?

• Maturity matrix facilitates incremental improvement

• Matrix makes it possible to identify local problem areas and start with these

Situational Assessment Method

• The Maturity Matrix is a key component in the Situational Assessment Method:

– A light-weight self-assessment method for software product management

• Characteristics:

– Produces an advice based on the organizations context

– Also suited for small and medium sized organizations

– Incremental improvements

– Fast & easy to perform the assessment

– Concrete improvement suggestions are given in an best practice order

Agenda

• Introduction




• Your assessment


The SPM Maturity Matrix

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Requirements management

Requirements gathering A B C D E F

Requirements identification A B C D

Requirements organizing A B C

Release planning

Requirements prioritization A B C D E

Release definition A B C D E

Release definition validation A B C

Scope change management A B C D

Release build validation A B C

Launch preparation A B C D E F

Product planning

Roadmap intelligence A B C D E

Core asset roadmapping A B C D

Product roadmapping A B C D E

Portfolio management

Market analysis A B C D E

Partnering & contracting A B C D E

Product lifecycle management A B C D E

Business functions

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product planning








Focus areas

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product planning








Maturity levels

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product planning








Capabilities

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product planning








0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product management








Capability example 1

Name Requirement dependency linking

Weight High

Goal The existence of requirement interdependencies means that requirements interact with

and affect each other. Requirement dependency linking prevents problems that result

from these interdependencies, and therewith enables better planning of the

development process.

Action Dependencies between market and product requirements are determined and registered.

A dependency exists when a requirement demands a specific action of another

requirement. E.g. a requirement demands that another requirement be implemented too,

or that another requirement is not implemented in case of conflicting requirements. The

linkage can be supported by using advanced techniques, such as linguistic engineering.

Prerequisite(s) RG:A

Reference(s) Dahlstedt & Persson (2003)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product management








Capability example 2

Name Requirement dependency linking

Weight High

Goal Manage customer expectations and reduce risks.

Action (Standard) service level agreements (SLA’s) are set up for customers.

Prerequisite(s) -

Reference(s) Bouman, et al. (2004)

Maturity profile

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





Release planning







Product planning








Agenda

• Introduction




• Your assessment


1. Identify focus areas

Focus area

Requirements gathering

Requirements identification

Requirements organizing

Requirements prioritization

Release definition

Release definition validation

Scope change management

Build validation

Launch preparation

Roadmap intelligence

Core asset roadmapping

Roadmap construction

Market analysis

Partnering & contracting

Product lifecycle management

2. Identify and describe capabilities

• Experience

• Literature research

• Interviews domain experts

RPA: Internal stakeholder involvement

Goal: Improved product quality & increased involvement of internal stakeholders in the product management process. Action: All relevant internal stakeholders (e.g. the product manager, support, services, development, sales & marketing, research & development) indicate the requirements that should be incorporated in future releases by assigning priorities to the requirements from their point of view.

RPB: Prioritization method

RPC: Customer involvement

RPD: Cost revenue consideration

RPE: Partner involvement

Requirements prioritization (RP) A B C D E

3. Position capabilities

• Determine dependencies

• Use preferred implementation order

RPA: Internal stakeholder involvement Prerequisite(s): RGA

RPB: Prioritization method

Prerequisite(s): -

RPC: Customer involvement Prerequisite(s): RPB

RPD: Cost revenue consideration

Prerequisite(s): RIB

RPE: Partner involvement Prerequisite(s): -

Maturity levels Focus area 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





4. Validate capability positions

• Questionnaire among product managers and product management experts

• 48 valid responses

Maturity levels Focus area 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Requirements gathering

Requirements identification

Requirements organizing

4. Validate capability positions

• Some results

– Several capabilities shifted one or more cells

– Some capabilities appeared to be too ‘broad’ and needed to be split up

smallest observation highest observationmedian

25% 25% 25%25%

5. Finetune capabilities

• Maturity matrix is not static, we continue to improve it

• Case studies statistics

– Currently appr. 60 case studies (or: assessments) have been carried out

– Company size ranges from 5 to 5,800 fte

– Mostly Dutch companies, but also some English, Swedish, and Swiss

Agenda

• Introduction




• Your assessment


Situational Assessment Method

Process

Feedback

Selection

Calculation

Questionnaire

Assemble Current

Maturity Profile

Assemble Optimal

Maturity Profile

Find Situational

Context

Find Implemented

Capabilities

Determine Areas of

Improvement

Suggest Method

Fragments

Situational Factor valuesImplementation

Current Maturity ProfileOptimal Maturity Profile

Areas of Improvement Matrix

Evaluate

Advice

Knowledge baseUser

Situational

Factor

Effects

Capabilities

Situational

Factors

Adjustment

suggestionsEvaluation

Improvement

Areas

Situational

Factor Effects

SPM Maturity

Matrix

Situational

Factors

Situational

Factor Values

Implemented

Capabilities

Method

Fragments

Method

Fragment

suggestions

Method

Fragments

Capabilities

Questionnaire

• Aims to capture:

– The situational context of the organization

– The currently implemented capabilities

• Why use questionnaires?

– Low effort for Product managers

– Can be performed by the PMs themselves

– Highly structured answers

Process

Feedback

Selection

Calculation

Questionnaire

Assemble Current

Maturity Profile

Assemble Optimal

Maturity Profile

Find Situational

Context

Find Implemented

Capabilities

Determine Areas of

Improvement

Suggest Method

Fragments




Evaluate

Advice

Situational Factors

• 31 Situational Factors

• 5 categories

– Business Unit characteristics

– Customer characteristics

– Market characteristics

– Product characteristics

– Stakeholder involvement

• Examples:

– Number of customers

– Development philosophy

Calculation

• Where are we now?

• What is the optimal situation to strive for?

• What steps need to be taken to get there?

Process

Feedback

Selection

Calculation

Questionnaire

Assemble Current

Maturity Profile

Assemble Optimal

Maturity Profile

Find Situational

Context

Find Implemented

Capabilities

Determine Areas of

Improvement

Suggest Method

Fragments




Evaluate

Advice

Situational Factor Effects

+

= Disable capability F of Requirements gathering

Situational factor Operator Value Focus area Capability Effect

Customer involvement = None Requirements gathering

F Disable

Situational factor Description Unit Answer

Customer involvement

The level of involvement the customer wants to have in the development process.

None / low / medium / high

None

Calculation

Current Capability

Profile

Optimal Capability

Profile

Areas of Improvement

Matrix No Yes Missing

Yes Yes Implemented

No No N/A

Yes No Extra

Selection

• What are suitable methods for the capability within the context of this organization?

Process

Feedback

Selection

Calculation

Questionnaire

Assemble Current

Maturity Profile

Assemble Optimal

Maturity Profile

Find Situational

Context

Find Implemented

Capabilities

Determine Areas of

Improvement

Suggest Method

Fragments




Evaluate

Advice

Feedback

• What does the organization think of the

– Capabilities in the SPM Maturity Matrix

– Suggested improvement steps

– Suggested method fragments

• Information is used to improve the SAM knowledge base

Process

Feedback

Selection

Calculation

Questionnaire

Assemble Current

Maturity Profile

Assemble Optimal

Maturity Profile

Find Situational

Context

Find Implemented

Capabilities

Determine Areas of

Improvement

Suggest Method

Fragments




Evaluate

Advice

Performing the SAM

Situational factor Description Unit Answer

New requirements rate The number of new feature requests per year from all sources (e.g. customers and sales).

Feature requests per year

60

Number of products The number of other products in the product line for this product (this can thus be zero to many).

Number of products

1

Focus area Capability Statement Answer

Requirements identification B The correctness (“Is the definition correct?“) and completeness (“Does the requirement describe all relevant aspects?”) of the requirement is validated.

No

Scope change management C An impact analysis is performed to determine the effects of the scope change.

Yes

Performing the SAM

• The currently implemented capabilities

• The current maturity level is…

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Product planning Roadmap intelligence A B C D E



Portfolio management Market analysis A B C D E



Performing the SAM

• Capabilities that are disabled (black)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10







Performing the SAM

• Steps towards a higher maturity level (black)

• Goal for the organization: Creating a better roadmap

• The target maturity level is 5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10






Product lifecycle management A B C D

Planning the improvements

• Some of the selected method fragments:

– Five Forces

– Win – loss analysis

– BCG-matrix

– Market trend analysis

– SWOT

– Vision of technology

– Vision of society

– ...

Responsibility Assignment Matrix

R = Responsible

A = Accountable

C = Consulted

I = Informed

S = Supportive

Portfolio management Product planning

Five

Fo

rces

Win

– lo

ss

anal

ysis

BC

G-m

atri

x

Mar

ket

tre

nd

anal

ysis

SWO

T

Vis

ion

of

tech

no

logy

Vis

ion

of

par

tne

rs

Vis

ion

of

com

pet

itio

n

Vis

ion

of

soci

ety

MT Cluster C - - - I - - C S

MT Unit A A A A A A A A A

MT Product C S S C S - - S -

Sales S S C S S - - S S

Marketing - C - - - - - I -

Development - - - - C S S - -

Strategic PM S - - S S S S S S

Product man. R R R R R R R R R

R&D - - - S - S S - -

Consultants C C - C C - - C -

Other BU - C - C S - - - C

Support - S - - C - - - -

Partners - - - C C C C - C

Customers - C - C - C - - C

Responsibility Assignment Matrix Portfolio management Product planning

Five

Fo

rces

Win

– lo

ss

anal

ysis

BC

G-m

atri

x

Mar

ket

tre

nd

anal

ysis

SWO

T

Vis

ion

of

tech

no

logy

Vis

ion

of

par

tne

rs

Vis

ion

of

com

pet

itio

n

Vis

ion

of

soci

ety

MT Cluster C - - - I - - C S

MT Unit A A A A A A A A A

MT Product C S S C S - - S -

Sales S S C S S - - S S

Marketing - C - - - - - I -

Development - - - - C S S - -

Strategic PM S - - S S S S S S

Product man. R R R R R R R R R

R&D - - - S - S S - -

Consultants C C - C C - - C -

Other BU - C - C S - - - C

Support - S - - C - - - -

Partners - - - C C C C - C

Customers - C - C - C - - C

Responsibilities

Tasks

Stakeholders

R = Responsible

A = Accountable

C = Consulted

I = Informed

S = Supportive

Conclusions

• There is a need for such a model

– The organizations which participated in our research all indicated that they have a great need for a model which can be applied in practice at relatively low costs to improve their SPM processes

• Solid basis for Software Process Improvement

– Aids in the structuring and improvement of SPM processes by presenting all of the most important SPM practices in SPM organizations in an orderly manner

Agenda

• Introduction




• Your assessment


Using the SAM Excel

• Info: About field with version info

• Input - Sit.Fac.: This is a questionnaire to determine the situational factor values (fill in the orange fields)

• Input – Capabilities: This is a list of questions to determine the implemented capabilities (fill in the orange fields)

• Output – Textual: This is where you can see the filled-in SPM Maturity Matrix (after the input tabs have been filled in)

• The situational factor effects have not yet been mapped

Performing the assessment

Introductions:

• Introduce yourself, tell a bit about:

– Your background (study, etc.)

– Why you are performing this research

– What’s in it for the product manager

• Let the product manager introduce himself:

– What is his background (how did he become a product manager, what did he do before, how long has he been a product manager, etc.), and write this down as well.


During the interview:

• Don’t interrupt the product manager too much.

– You might hear some interesting stories which help you with questions yet to come.

– But keep an eye on the time and gently steer the product manager back to the questions if needed.

• It’s ok to ask questions besides those in the questionnaire.

– There is probably a lot you can learn from a product manager/practice, use the opportunity.


During the interview:

• The questions do not have to be answered in the order they are presented in (though it is probably easier if you do stick to the order given).

• Don’t get carried away to much in the story of the product manager

– A PM might want to look good

• Don’t count halves as wholes

– If a capability is only implemented ‘sometimes’ than this is not a solid process


Closing:

• Indicate when the product manager will receive the results

• Thank him/her

Agenda

• Introduction




• Your assessment


Consultancy Report Assessment results & analysis

• Present the maturity profile of the company and its situational factors

• Explain the maturity matrix for the product manager

• Highlight low and high scores. Provide explanations

• See assignment page for minimum deliverables

http://mspm2014.weebly.com/assignment-b-consultancy-report.html

Consultancy Report Advice

Based on the assessment and analysis, write an advice on how to improve one or more focus areas in SPM. Make sure that you use the situational factors to ground your recommendations.

For example, if the requirements rate of a company is high (e.g. > 40 per month), an advanced requirements prioritization technique is necessary. If useful, also integrate your finding of the product portfolio analysis in this advice.

See assignment page for minimum deliverables

http://mspm2014.weebly.com/assignment-b-consultancy-report.html

Questions?

SPM 6 - Situational Assessment with the SPM Maturity Matrix

Education

Transcript of SPM 6 - Situational Assessment with the SPM Maturity Matrix