ISO 9000 AND SEI-CMM PROCESSES AND STANDARDS FOR OUTSOURCING
Companies seeking international outsourcing are increasingly
expecting providers who can offer high quality services and work
products, as defined by formal compliance with international
standards such as ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM. Providers who offer high
quality work but do not adhere to recognized ISO or SEI-CMM
standards will surely lose out to those who do.
In fact, a growing number of companies who will use outsourcing
already use ISO standards, which define the rules for selecting
outsourcing providers. In this case, these companies MUST select
outsourcing companies that use the same or similar standards.
For example, Clause 7.4, "Purchasing," of the ISO handbook, "ISO
9001 for Small Businesses," deals in detail with the complex
area of contracting out processes, products or services which is
commonly referred to as " outsourcing " or " subcontracting ".
It covers who is responsible, the relationship between
outsourcing, the organization and customers, how to ensure that
you get what is expected, plus how to select companies with the
necessary capability to meet requirements.
About the Standards :
ISO 9000
- The International Organization for Standards (ISO 9000
series).
- International set of documents on quality assurance. Written
by members of a worldwide delegation. - 3 core quality systems
documents.
- Models of quality assurance.
SEI-CMM Model
- SEI (Software Engineering Institute) established in 1984.
- The CMM (Capability Maturity Model) of SEI is a framework that
describes the key elements of an effective software outsourcing
process.
- CMM - composed of 5 maturity levels.
- Each level facilitates a layer in the foundation for
continuous process improvement.
Achieving each level of the model institutionalizes a different
component in the software process, resulting in an overall
increase in the process capability of the organization.
For outsourcing providers, it is therefore critically necessary
that you understand ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM processes and standards
not only for your own purposes, but also so that you can better
understand the requirements of the companies who will be your
clients. Having certification in these standards will greatly
improve your business profile and increase your potential for
doing business in an increasingly quality-conscious world.