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"Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
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Jerry van Dijk <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 19 Dec 1998 21:44:42 -0500
Reply-To:
Doug Smith <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Doug Smith <[log in to unmask]>
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At 4:15 AM -0500 12/19/98, Jerry van Dijk wrote:
>> have not seen any data proving that the CMU Capability Maturity Model levels
>> have anything to do with quality or cost. Admittedly the level of an
>> organization appears to be correlated with their capacity to estimate cost
>> and delivery time. However, usability and maintainability are also very
>> important.
>
>Without a process, there is no way to influence the quality level. With a
>well defined and well embedded process you will not make the same mistake
>twice. Therefor the CMM process influences both cost and quality.
>
>Jerry.

Many statements on the surface appear to be true. A couple of hundred
years of recent science suggests we better do some experiments before
we assume something to be true. In the previous paragraph, there are
three statements; call them A, B, and C. Your logic is:

   A and B => C

If A and B are true, C might partially follow. Many people do believe
both A and B and are willing to spend a great deal of money based on
this logic. However, statement A is not experimentally provable.
Unless you define everything that influences quality a process.
Then it is not even an interesting statement.

Statement B's truth implies there exists processes which can be
measurably "defined" and "embedded" to the point of not repeating
a mistake. True only if all mechanisms in the process are 100%
reliable and there are no "bugs" in the process. Allowing for a
less rigid interpretation of the statement, the truth would then
follow if experiements showed a reduction in "repeated" errors.

And finally, statement C's implication about cost does
not even logically follow.

I did not author the first paragraph in this e-mail. However, I am
also looking for the experimental evidence which correllates CMM
level with low cost and high quality. Then there will need to be
further research to indicate cause.

Doug Smith
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