The SPI Manifesto and the ECQA Certified SPI Manager

Based on the SPI Manifesto (see http://newsletter.eurospi.net) and the latest research in the field including the ImprovAbility model, a group of international experts has turned the skills definition into a syllabus, a set of training materials and examination questions.

All this is recognized by ECQA and is now introduced as a certified profession - SPI Manager.
See www.ecqa.org -> Certified Professions -> ECQA Certified SPI Manager

The tutorial gives an insight into this new qualification.

The ECQA SPI manager certification is adding skills to a CV that already includes project management skills and the process professional will be competent to lead his/her organizations process improvement activities with appropriate support from top management.

The SPI manager can:

• align activities to business goals
• design the organizational framework that will optimize the effect of process improvements
• manage expectations from all involved parties
• identify competence gaps that will compromise the success
• set up teams and monitor their performance
• know state of the art process models/practices/experiences and where to find practical support sources
• manage risks related to process improvement
• plan activities - from concept to implementation
• Facilitate the change process

Link to ECQA: http://www.ecqa.org/index.php?id=37

The ECQA is the result of a number of EU supported initiatives in the last ten years where in the European Union Life Long Learning Programme different educational developments decided to follow a joint process for the certification of persons in the industry.

Through the ECQA it is possible to attend courses for a specific profession in one country and perform a Europe-wide agreed test at the end of the course.
The certificate will then be recognized by European training organisations and institutions in 18 member countries.

Principal Consultant at SQS Software Quality Systems AG, Tomas Schweigert has a long experience with software quality management, software testing and process improvement, staying with SQS from 1991.
He started his PI work with the BOOTSTRAP institute, working as a BOOTSTRAP lead assessor in several as-sessment projects.
His special interest is the analysis of projects in crisis situations. Mr. Schweigert is now a SPICE principal assessor (INTACS scheme) his current research topics are the SPI Manager qualification and the test assess-ment approach Test SPICE.