Marketing rule for process #1:Hey man,products dont sell by themselves,they need to be sold !

Lessons on communication teach us that,"How you communicate is equally important as what you communicate !".Its very true in all aspects of life and its no different when it comesto communicating process initiatives across organizations.
Its unfortunate that in all such initatives so much emphasis is given on standards,templates,procedures,compliance etc..several critical finer points
are missed.

Process is a "Product" that needs to be sold.
Like in any product management scenario,it needs proper marketing and branding.
There needs to be a buzz,branding and a noise created to convey what are the processes meant for and what do they deliver.
The models and quality standards assume that once we have excellent processes
there are going to be excellent results.They are passive in addressing how do you communicate your processes to the internal crowd.Whats your marketing startegy !
Most importantly when it comes to software processes,its all about PEOPLE driving it unlike a manufacturing or service business process where processes get embedded as part of their routine business transactions.
So first firm up a process,to market your process before you roll out..else like any product lifecyle,your processes too will go through the phases of introduction,growth,saturation and then a silent death!!
If you dont agree with me , just take a peep into some lessons on Branding or think what comes to your mind when you think of TOYOTA,BENZ or check out with your chef of your restaurant on how mush importance he gives to presenting his recipe to the customers !
Image courtesy :http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativeabubot/

Business Case for Software Assurance

Had a chance to present in "Business Case for Software Assurance " conference
at Carnegie Mellon University,Pittsburg.My paper was about a ROI framework on process improvements titled "PIVR framework for measuring returns on process improvement".Was a good experience to be part of the elite community.
Some of the interesting points discussed were :
integrating security in SDLC, need for CMMI to explicitly address security issues
of application in its practices,code quality audit,tackling offshoring quality issues.Few discussion points that pondered my thoughts were :
across organizations commitment to process and frameworks,
abuse and assurance cases to ensure asssurance of applications,
importance of risk management.
You can download all the action of the proceedings in :
SEI website link.

Image Courtesy :http://www.flickr.com/photos/micke-fi/