The Journey to High Maturity
Bill Pitterman · 2000
How does a large, multifaceted company change its culture from one where quality and customer satisfaction were an afterthought to one where these elements became the driving force behind its main software development business, achieving both ISO 9001 registration and a CMM Level 5 rating in the process? Telcordia Technologies instituted these institution-wide changes over five years. I n early 1994, the software development groups across Telcordia Technologies underwent serious self-examination. The main quality indicators showed the business was in trouble. Field fault density was at 48 faults per 1,000 function points, well above the industry average. Customer satisfaction was at the 60% level. The number of severity 1 and severity 2 customer-reported problems was very high, and on-time delivery of major software releases was very low. Telcordia had also just failed an