There are many excellent resources that provide information on SW-CMM and how to implement it, but this book by Pankaj Jalote stands out distinctly as it offers a comprehensive account of software process practices at Infosys Technologies - arguably India's most admired software company, rated at SEI-CMM Level 5. Jalote has nicely packaged all the established software engineering practices used at Infosys and real examples that show its readers "How to actually do it and be successful?" This book provides helpful insights and experience-based guidance to those who want to successfully implement CMM.
Take a look at the Table of Contents and you will easily notice the richness of coverage. The book is organized in three parts: Part I captures all the practices related to Project Initiation, Part II focuses on practices for Project Planning, and the Part III is about approaches and processes for Project Execution and Termination. Among the topics covered in the book are requirements specification and management, process definition and tailoring, process asset database and process capability determination, metrics and statistical process control, estimations, risk management, project monitoring and tracking, and defect prevention.
Also, There are two useful Appendices in the book: one on transitioning from an ISO 9001-based practice to CMM-oriented practice and the other provides experience-based guidelines on managing a software process improvement project. A running real-life project case used throughout the book is a useful feature.
However, the book's title could be misleading! The title gives an impression that book covers the implementation of the CMM in its entirety, whereas the book's scope is actually restricted up to Level 4. Also, I would have expected to see an explicit coverage of 'software product engineering' and 'intergroup coordination' KPAs in the book. Some coverage of how the process automation was dealt with as well as the benefits derived from it could have made the book even more attractive. As Infosys Technologies is engaged in servicing a large number of diverse set of clients around the globe, some discussion on dealing with and avoiding conflicts relating to different customer quality systems would have made the book more valuable.
Overall, this is a good book and I would certainly recommend this book to any one who cares about better software engineering practices to improve performance - whether or not interested in implementing CMM per se. It must be kept in mind, though, that the practices and approaches described in the book are based on a particular company's business context and, therefore, how and to what extent they would directly apply to other organizations has to be judged by its readers.
