Use of Questionnaire-Based Appraisal to Improve the Software Acquisition Process in Small and Medium Enterprises

This paper aims to show the application of a “Maturity Questionnaire” in a disciplined way. A Maturity Questionnaire typically is based on the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) published questionnaire; it represents a rigorous technique to collect data in a facilitated manner. The proposed questionnaire focuses in Supplier Agreement Management Process Area of the Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development v1.2. The objective is to obtain a snapshot of the Supplier Agreement Management Process (as a part of a process improvement program), to get a quick judgment of the capability level, and/or a precursor to a full assessment. It is expected that the application of the questionnaire will help to identify those practices that are performed but not documented, which practices need more attention and which are not implemented due to bad management or unawareness.