The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), at Wits University, is taking Cell C, GMSI, a subsidiary of the GijimaAst group, African Defence Systems, BSG Africa and Department of Trade and Industry officials to India to learn more about software Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).
JCSE director professor Barry Dwolatzky says, in addition to studying CMMI, they will also explore ways for the South African ICT sector to do more business with India. The group will from today visit three Indian cities to meet executives from a number of CMMI level five rated companies.
"...we'll be visiting Tata Consultancy Services, Satyam, IBM and Nihilient to learn all we can from these companies which have matured their software development processes," he says. "Then we'll also be visiting the South African Consul General where we'll be discussing how South African companies can look for business opportunities in India."
CMMI is a process improvement model that defines the maturity of companies' processes, rating them on a level between one and five. CMMI increases the predictive power of an organisation, optimising quality, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Dwolatzky says a level four or five CMMI company is more likely to come in on time, on budget and to specification on large-scale projects.
"The South African companies joining us on the trip all form part of the JCSE's CMMI pilot programme, which is assisting a number of local companies to improve their project management and software development processes.
"The four Indian companies we're meeting are all CMMI maturity level five companies. We've already sent through questions from the four South African companies which will form the basis for discussion in India about CMMI and how the South African companies, who are just beginning their process improvement journey, can mature their processes," he says.
DTI support
Minister of trade and industry Mandisi Mpahlwa last September told the JCSE's CMMI Symposium that the process has become accepted in many parts of the world. He said the DTI's electro-technical unit has identified it as a critical intervention for the local ICT sector.
"SA's software development sector is lagging behind other countries which are using CMMI to position themselves internationally," he said.
"We should see this [the JCSE's CMMI programme] as an opportunity to grow our own software development sector which currently has an estimated value of R13 billion. CMMI will be a critical success factor to increase exports and thereby assist in growing the industry. To do this, we will have to create an environment that produces CMMI rated companies," noted Mpahlwa.
Dwolatzky says by accompanying the JCSE to India, the DTI has reaffirmed its commitment to CMMI and the ICT sector in doing whatever it can to help grow the local ICT sector.
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