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Advanced Management Technology, Inc.
Overview
Advanced Management Technology, Inc. (AMTI), a subsidiary of Tetra Tech Corporation, is a premier provider of IT Services for the U.S. Federal Government. The company’s core capabilities fall into three areas: Program Management Support; High Performance Computing; and General IT Services including Helpdesk, Network Administration and Application Development.
IT Services is a highly competitive marketplace in which AMTI has been successful for many years. However, since graduating from the Small and Disadvantaged Business Program (8(a)) in 2003, AMTI finds itself competing against much larger companies. This has put pressure on AMTI to find ways to differentiate itself from competitors including providing enhanced service offerings.
AMTI has been developing automated processes using Metastorm BPM™ technology for over five years. In some ways AMTI pushed the envelope of Metastorm technology. This includes being an “early adopter” and building core company processes upon which it relied for improving the effectiveness and efficiencies of operations.
Initially AMTI developed processes only for internal use; but more recently the company started automating processes for its customers.
Taking advantage of its advanced capabilities in the development of automated processes using BPM technology is one way that AMTI believes it can enhance its competitiveness in the marketplace.
Challenge
When competing in the marketplace today, it is often not sufficient to describe capabilities to potential customers. It is often necessary to demonstrate the capability through outside appraisals such as the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI®). To this end, and in order to benefit both itself and its customers from the improved processes that would result, AMTI initiated a project to CMMI certify its software development capability including its process automation development.
While conceptually elegant, anyone who has implemented CMMI knows that one challenge is keeping the processes for improving processes from becoming a burden to the work the organization is trying to complete. Stated more simply, CMMI can become a paperwork bound process that reduces the ability of the organization to complete work efficiently.
Solution
AMTI decided early on that the solution to this potential problem was to automate the CMMI support process. In automating the process, AMTI integrated the steps required to complete the work, with the steps required to be CMMI compliant. By integrating these steps, AMTI limited the amount of “extra work” required to support CMMI certification. And, by making the process electronic, AMTI made it easier for users, thus promoting the likelihood that they would do what was required.
The automated process AMTI developed is called the Change Request Process (CRP). The company chose Metastorm BPM as the platform for developing this process both on the strength of Metastorm BPM at implementing human-centric processes and because of AMTI’s already developed expertise.
In its current implementation, AMTI’s CRP supports specific practices in six (6) of the seven (7) Process Areas (PAs) for CMMI Level 2. The PAs are Requirements Management, Project Planning, Project Monitoring and Control, Configuration Management, Process and Product Quality Assurance, and Measurement Analysis.
Results
AMTI has not yet completed the appraisal process. However, integrating support for CMMI into the Change Request Process has proven to be a good decision. It has already paid dividends by enabling AMTI’s IT staff to better organize, plan, and manage change.
One of the most striking examples of this occurred when AMTI’s CTO sat down with the AMTI Systems Manager to review the outstanding projects list shortly after the implementation of the original CRP was complete. They both sat down at the table to review what up to that time had been a fairly standard, manual review process. However, after briefly looking at the stack of documents in front of them, they both looked at each other with the same question. “Why are we doing this?” AMTI had a new electronic process that not only encompassed all the information it had on paper but was dynamic so it was always up-to-date. Since then, the company has never gone back to reviewing projects the “old way”.
AMTI is continuing to automate processes as the company strives to become a more efficient organization. AMTI believes that process automation is a core best practice with benefit both for the company and its customers. A CMMI compliant Change Management process is a strong addition to its process suite and will provide support for years to come.
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