Training Courses

Taught by SEI-certified CMMI instructors, this course describes the fundamentals of model-based process improvement. It illustrates the benefits of process improvement introduced in CMMI model content. Students completing the course will understand the basic structure of the CMMI, best practices and pitfalls in applying the CMMI, the process areas that make up the CMMI, capability and maturity levels, and CMMI vocabulary.

Audience

• Product developers and process implementers
• Anyone interested in learning about CMMI

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Duration
Three (3) days

Pricing

• Public courses are taught at BTI's facility in Columbia, Maryland and are priced on a fixed per-student cost. Public courses are offered on a schedule determined by BTI.
• On-site courses are taught at either BTI's or the customer's facility as selected by the customer. On-site courses are taught on a schedule determined by the customer, within instructor availability. On-site courses are priced at a fixed price per course with a small additional charge per student. This additional charge is set at BTI's cost for student materials and the mandatory SEI royalty. Public courses are more flexible than public courses and are more economical for four or more students.

Course Topics

• Introduction
• Model-based process improvement
• Overview of CMMI components: Process Areas, Goals, Specific and Generic Practices, Subpractices
• Institutionalization
• * Appraisal planning and understanding appraisal results *
• * Comparisons between CMMI, ISO 9001:2000, and Six Sigma *
• Process areas of CMMI models: Management Process Areas, Engineering Process Areas, Support Process Areas, and Process Improvement Process Areas
• Structure of the continuous and staged representations
• ** Advanced topics in statistical process control **
• Next steps

* This is additional material not covered in the standard SEI Introduction to CMMI course.
** This is additional material not covered in the standard SEI Introduction to CMMI course. BTI's Applying Six Sigma to Software Engineering training course also covers this topic.

Course Work
Reading homework is required the first and second evenings of the course.

Course Material
On the first day of the course, participants will receive CMMI 2nd Edition: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement and a course notebook with copies of the course slides. Students retain all materials after class completion.

This course trains people in how to prepare for a SCAMPI A and B appraisal. The course provides practical hands-on exercises to use an organization's artifacts to present the case of process implementation. This course helps the organization to prepare for a more efficient and accurate appraisal by presenting material to the appraisal team in a manner that is complete, clear, and convincing.

Audience
Personnel from organizations undergoing an appraisal who need to put together the material to be appraised.

Prerequisites
None, although Introduction to CMMI is helpful.

Course Duration
One (1) day

Course Topics

• Introduction
• CMMI overview
• Objective verifiable evidence
• Direct, Indirect, and Affirmation Artifacts
• Coverage
• Appraisal storyboarding
• Weakness and strength construction
• Goal satisfaction
• Ratings

Course Work
None.

Course Material
On the first day of the course, participants will receive a copy of the Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI) Method and well as a copy of the course slides

This course introduces the Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development (CMMI-DEV v1.3) to executives, managers, and other personnel who may work in a CMMI-compliant environment but are not themselves responsible for process planning, design, or improvement.

Audience
Executives, managers and other personnel interested in learning about CMMI.

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Duration
Four (4) Hours

Course Topics

• Structure of the CMMI Model
• Continuous and Staged Representations
• CMMI process areas and process area categories
• Overview of specific and generic practices
• Motivation for the CMMI
• SCAMPI appraisal process

Course Work
None.

Course Materials
On the first day of the course, participants will receive a CMMI wall chart covering all CMMI process areas and a course notebook with copies of the course slides. Students retain all materials after class completion.

Seminars are taught at an advanced level equivalent to the SEI's CMMI Intermediate course. (Students enrolling in a seminar must have previously completed the Introduction to CMMI-DEV v1.3 course.)

Audience
Personnel interested in learning more extensive information about specific process areas.

Prerequisite
Participants must have completed the Introduction to CMMI-DEV v1.3 course.

Course Duration
Four (4) hours per CMMI process area

Course Topics

• Structure of the process area
• Features of the process area at different capability/maturity levels
• Process area interdependencies
• Typical work products
• Sub-practices
• Process area appraisal considerations
• Practical application of the process area

Course Work
This is an interactive course comprising of lecture and exercises.

Course Materials
On the first day of the course, participants will receive a course notebook with copies of the course materials. The notebook contains detailed notes on the process area and exercises designed to increase the students' proficiency with interpreting the CMMI. Students retain all materials after class completion.

BTI's Six Sigma Green Belt course will provide the guidance for you to understand, interpret and utilize the principle concepts and techniques of Six Sigma. This course is designed for personnel with little or no prior experience with Six Sigma methodologies.

Audience
Personnel from organizations who need to be able to know how and when to use Six Sigma tools and techniques.

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Duration
Two weeks of training that may be distributed across up to three months of calendar time, based on customer's needs.

Course Topics

• Lean and Six Sigma principles
• Discover processes for collecting and analyzing data
• Lean and Six Sigma techniques
• Use proven Six Sigma problem-solving methods and statistical tools
• Practical implementation of Lean and Six Sigma
• Learn to lead and execute process-level improvement projects
• Develop critical skills necessary to successfully lead project teams

Course Work
BTI will provide an American Society of Quality (ASQ)-certified Six Sigma Black Belt to teach a two-week course covering Six Sigma and Lean principles, techniques, and practical implementation. The two weeks of training may be distributed across up to three months of calendar time, based on the customer's needs. This is an interactive lecture and exercise course.

Course Materials
On the first day of the course, participants will receive a copy of the "Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Primer", exercises designed to increase the students' proficiency with applying Lean and Six Sigma techniques, a simulated ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt exam, for those students interested in ASQ certification, guidance through a Six Sigma project proposed by the customer or, if no project is available, an academic project supplied by BTI, 1000 sample Lean and Six Sigma exam practice questions.

The core of the Six Sigma methodology is a data-driven, systematic approach to problem solving, with a focus on customer impact. At the end of this course, students will understand the basic Six Sigma methodology and how to apply the steps.

• Six Sigma techniques have helped organizations of all types operate more efficiently, reduce waste and improve their bottom line.
• Six Sigma is an overall enterprise improvement methodology structured to reduce product or service failure rates to near perfection.
• Utilizing a disciplined, data-driven approach, Six Sigma practitioners use data to monitor, control, and improve operational performance by eliminating and preventing defects in products and associated processes, including management, service delivery, design, production and customer satisfaction.

Audience
Personnel from organizations who want to master Six Sigma tools and techniques.

Prerequisites
Although there are no prerequisites for this course, it would be of benefit to the student if they were a certified Six Sigma Green Belt or had equivalent experience.

Course Duration
Four weeks of training that may be distributed across up to six months of calendar time, based on customer's needs.

Course Topics

• Lean and Six Sigma principles and techniques (DMAIC)
• Practical implementation of Lean and Six Sigma
• Measure process inputs that affect customer satisfaction
• Lead and coach quality improvement initiatives
• Understand variation and process behavior
• Guidance through a Six Sigma Project
• Analyze process parameters using statistical and non-statistical techniques

Course Work
BTI will provide an American Society of Quality (ASQ)-certified Six Sigma Black to teach a four-week course covering Six Sigma and Lean principles, techniques, and practical implementation. The four weeks of training may be distributed across up to six months of calendar time, based on the customer's needs. This is an interactive lecture and exercise course.

Course Materials
On the first day of the course, participants will receive a copy of the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Primer, exercises designed to increase the students' proficiency with applying Lean and Six Sigma techniques, a simulated ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt exam, for those students interested in ASQ certification, guidance through a Six Sigma project proposed by the customer or, if no project is available, an academic project supplied by BTI, 1000 sample Lean and Six Sigma exam practice questions.

BTI will provide an American Society of Quality (ASQ)-certified Six Sigma Black to teach a one-week course covering Six Sigma and Lean principles, techniques, and practical implementation for software development projects. The course covers the basics of the Six Sigma and Lean during the first two days of the course. The third day covers the integration of Lean principals in current software approaches such as Agile development. The fourth and fifth days investigate the concepts and implementation details of value-added workflow, software mistake proofing (Poka-Yoke), software statistical process control, causal analysis mechanisms in diagnosing software defects (for example, adaptations of “5-whys” and “fishbone” diagrams to software development), and cycle-time reduction.

At the conclusion of the course, the student will formulate a green belt-level project in her or his software development environment to practice the skills learned in class.

The customer will supply a training facility appropriate for the number of students enrolled in the course, a white board or flipchart for use during the class, and a projector suitable for connection to a laptop computer. BTI will supply all instructional and student materials including:

• Student course materials for each student, including a copy of the “Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Primer” with addendums for software engineering and Agile development;
• Exercises designed to increase the students’ proficiency with applying Lean and Six Sigma techniques in software engineering; and,
• A course completion certificate for each student.

This course provides a comprehensive discussion of internal auditor protocol, as well as a thorough discussion of the ISO 9001 international quality management standard. Students completing the course will be qualified to conduct internal audits specific to their organization’s ISO 9001 quality management system.

Audience

• Personnel selected to be ISO 9001 internal auditors

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course. However, participants should have a basic familiarity with the organization’s quality management system.

Course Duration
8 hours

Pricing
Pricing for this course is based on venue:
Public courses are taught at BTI’s facility in Columbia, Maryland and are priced on a fixed per-student cost. Public courses are offered on a schedule determined by BTI.

On-site courses are taught at either BTI’s or the customer’s facility as selected by the customer. On-site courses are taught on a schedule determined by the customer, within instructor availability. On-site courses are priced at a fixed price per course. On-site courses provide more flexibility than public courses and are more economical for four or more students.

Course Topics

1. Internal auditing protocol

• Audit function
• Profile of an auditor
• Role of the auditee
• Quality system documentation
• Written audit procedure
• Audit scheduling
• Audit planning and preparation
• Constructing effective checklists
• Using the checklist as a starting point
• Audit execution
• Writing the audit report
• Audit follow-up

2. Audit Methodologies

• Auditing by the “Standard”
• Auditing by the “Process”

3. ISO 9001:2008: Section by Section

• Terms and Definitions
• Quality Management System
• Management Responsibility
• Resource Management
• Product Realization
• Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement

Course Work
None

Course Material
Participants will receive the following:

1. Course notebook with copies of the course slides
2. Copy of the book, “Internal Auditor Training”
3. Internal Auditor Checklist
4. Copy of the book, “How to Audit to ISO 9001: A Handbook for Auditors” by Chad Kymal.

A copy of the ISO 9001 standard can be provided for an additional cost. Students retain all materials after class completion.

This course provides a comprehensive discussion of internal auditor protocol, as well as a thorough discussion of the ISO 9001 international quality management standard. Students completing the course will be qualified to conduct internal audits specific to their organization’s ISO 9001 quality management system.

Audience

• Personnel selected to be ISO 9001 internal auditors

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course. However, participants should have a basic familiarity with the organization’s quality management system.

Course Duration
16 hours

Pricing
Pricing for this course is based on venue:

• Public courses are taught at BTI’s facility in Columbia, Maryland and are priced on a fixed per-student cost. Public courses are offered on a schedule determined by BTI.
• On-site courses are taught at either BTI’s or the customer’s facility as selected by the customer. On-site courses are taught on a schedule determined by the customer, within instructor availability. On-site courses are priced at a fixed price per course. On-site courses provide more flexibility than public courses and are more economical for four or more students.

Course Topics

Day 1

1. Internal auditing protocol

• Audit function
• Profile of an auditor
• Role of the auditee
• Quality system documentation
• Written audit procedure
• Audit scheduling
• Audit planning and preparation
• Constructing effective checklists
• Using the checklist as a starting point
• Audit execution
• Writing the audit report
• Audit follow-up

2. Audit Methodologies

• Auditing by the “Standard”
• Auditing by the “Process”

3. ISO 9001:2008: Section by Section

• Terms and Definitions
• Quality Management System
• Management Responsibility
• Resource Management
• Product Realization
• Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement

Day 2

Practice audits of selected elements of the organization’s ISO 9001 quality management system, including:

1. Audit preparation
2. Selection of checklists
3. Auditing
4. Preparation of reports
5. Critique
6. Question and answer session

NOTE: The instructor will discuss the organization elements to be audited with the Management Representative before commencement of the course.

Course Work
At the close of Day 1, participants will be required to review the audit checklists and prepare additional questions in anticipation of the practice audits on Day 2.

Course Material
Participants will receive the following:

1. Course notebook with copies of the course slides
2. Copy of the book, “Internal Auditor Training”
3. Internal Auditor Checklist
4. Copy of the book, “How to Audit to ISO 9001: A Handbook for Auditors” by Chad Kymal.

A copy of the ISO 9001 standard can be provided for an additional cost. Students retain all materials after class completion.

This course provides a basic description of the ISO 9001 international quality management standard for organization managers. Participants completing the course will understand the basic elements of an ISO 9001 quality management system, the benefits of registration, the registration process, how to develop a system within their organization, and the costs to attain and maintain registration.

Audience

• Senior managers
• Department managers
• Stakeholders

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Duration
1-2 hours

Pricing
Pricing for this course is based on venue:

• Public courses are taught at BTI’s facility in Columbia, Maryland and are priced on a fixed per-student cost. Public courses are offered on a schedule determined by BTI.
• On-site courses are taught at either BTI’s or the customer’s facility as selected by the customer. On-site courses are taught on a schedule determined by the customer, within instructor availability. On-site courses are priced at a fixed price per course. On-site courses provide more flexibility than public courses and are more economical for four or more students.

Course Topics

1. The System

• What ISO 9000 is…and...what it is not
• What is ISO registration?
• The registration process

2. The Benefits

• Why seek registration?
• What are the benefits?
• Does quality pay? For whom? How? When?

3. The Practical Aspects

• System elements
• Quality management principles
• The quality organization
• The three most important components of the quality system
• Ten things you must do to be successful

4. The Cost of Quality

• What does it cost to become registered and maintain registration
• How you can measure the benefits
• Four things that minimize cost
• Four things that maximize cost
• How you can track the costs

Course Work
None

Course Material
Participants will receive a course notebook with copies of the course slides as well as additional reference materials. Students retain all materials after class completion.

This course provides a comprehensive discussion of the ISO 9001 international quality management standard. Students completing the course will understand all elements of an ISO 9001 quality management system.

Audience

• Senior managers
• Department managers
• Senior staff
• Implementation personnel
• Stakeholders

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Duration
4 hours

Pricing
Pricing for this course is based on venue:

• Public courses are taught at BTI’s facility in Columbia, Maryland and are priced on a fixed per-student cost. Public courses are offered on a schedule determined by BTI.
• On-site courses are taught at either BTI’s or the customer’s facility as selected by the customer. On-site courses are taught on a schedule determined by the customer, within instructor availability. On-site courses are priced at a fixed price per course. On-site courses provide more flexibility than public courses and are more economical for four or more students.

Course Topics

1. Major points

• Five primary elements of the standard
• Standard’s emphasis on five key areas
• Required documents
• Permissible exclusions
• Greatest challenges

2. Quality Management Principles

Customer focus

• Leadership
• Involvement of people
• Process approach
• Systems approach to management
• Continual improvement
• Factual approach to decision making
• Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

3. ISO 9001:2008: Section by Section

• Terms and Definitions
• Quality Management System
• Management Responsibility
• Resource Management
• Product Realization
• Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement

Course Work
None

Course Material
Participants will receive a course notebook with copies of the course slides as well as additional reference materials. A copy of the ISO 9001 standard can be provided for an additional cost. Students retain all materials after class completion.