VietNamNet Bridge – It’s obvious that CMMi (capability maturity model integration) helps software firms increase their competitive edges. However, the requirement for CMMi certificate has put big difficulties for software firms.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), CMMi would help software and digital content firms standardize the production process, the quality management and help improve the competitiveness. With more enterprises having CMMi, Vietnam would become more competitive in the world market.

Since 2010, the ministry has run the VND60 billion state funded project on supporting enterprises build up and apply the production process in accordance with CMMi standards.

Every firm joining the project can send its staff to the CMMi training courses and receive the prop-ups of $25,000 to be spent on the building and implementing the production process in accordance with CMMi standards.

Fourteen enterprises obtained CMMi certificates level 3 in 2010-2012 and one obtained CMMi level 5 (TMA Solution).

However, only some very big firms have benefited from the project initiated by MIC. $25,000 is just enough to satisfy 50 percent of the total expenses businesses have to pay to obtain a CMMi. Meanwhile, most small and medium enterprises cannot afford the other $25,000, and most of Vietnamese software firms are small and medium scaled.

The CMMi story has once again put into discussion as MIC has made public the draft regulation on the procurements for state budget funded projects. The draft regulation says that the projects would prioritize to use the software products made by the enterprises which have one of the certificates as follows ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and CMMi level 3 or higher.

Nguyen Van Hien, Director of iNet Solution, has noted that the regulation would “kill” small information technology firms, give big firms the opportunities to dominate the market and install the barriers which may impede the development of the Vietnam’s information technology.

Experts have also warned that if Vietnam attaches too much importance to the requirements in certificates, this would happen that the enterprises with many certificates would win most of the bids, leaving no opportunities for the enterprises with fewer certificates.

Once big firms win the bids and get contracts, they would outsource to smaller firms which act as the sub-contractors. As such, small firms would be “small” forever because their financial capability does not allow them to obtain many certificates.

As for CMMi, according to Hien, only new software outsourcing firms need CMMi as a document to prove their professionalism to the clients who place orders. It is because the firms which do the outsourcing do not master source codes; therefore, the customers need to consider the professionalism of the partners before making decision for easier management and development in the future.

Meanwhile, the companies which make software and do trade with their software products would need to find out optimum quality process for themselves, while no need to have CMMi. Most of the big software groups in the world do not much take care about CMMi.

Pham Hong Quang, Director of CadPro, while agreeing that CMMi is very useful, still said that there are many other things Vietnamese firms need to have and need to receive the support to obtain than CMMi. Enterprises don’t need the support to obtain certificate, but to make better products.

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