•ALSTOM
•BMO Financial Group
•Bombardier
•Canadian Treasury Board Secretariat
•Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
•CGI
•Citizenship and Immigration Canada
•Computer Research Institute of Montreal
•Deloitte Inc.
•Fidelity National Financial
•Great West Life Insurance Company
•London Life Insurance Company
•Ontario Ministry of Transportation
•Productora de Software S.A.
•Quebec Auditor General’s Office
•Quebec Treasury Board Secretariat
•RBC Financial Group
Siemens
•Sûreté du Québec
•SYNSPACE AG
•Union Bank of Switzerland

Testimonials / Témoignages

General

I was involved in selecting GRafP as a service provider for our organization. There was a bidding process followed by interviews, and GRafP came out on top. Looking back at our relationship with GRafP, I can say that GRafP is better than what we've experienced with other companies that help others prepare for certification. GRafP's methods and planning are at the top.
Andrena Baksh
Team Lead, Custom Application Systems /Application Management

CBA IPIs & SCAMPIs

A SCAMPI is not just a certificate but rather an indicator that the organization is on the right path of process improvement. The relationship established between GRafP and BMO was key. We've changed our organization as a result of this initiative. Initially there's a decrease in productivity, but you gain exponentially as you improve. Through GRafP's mentoring, we've had the comfort of knowing we're moving in the right direction. Now we're beginning to measure quantitatively, and we make a lot of decisions [at the organizational level] based on that information. The partnering with GRafP allowed us to meet our goals.
Steven O'Rourke, PMP
Corporate Technology Development, Technology & Operations,

We were very satisfied with the SCAMPI A report. At the sponsor level, the information was very good, and there were good detail for others to continue their ongoing process improvement work. GRafP's service was an important factor in helping us reach our CMMI milestone (which was good with respect to our client). We've already experienced, and continue to expect, efficiency gains and quality improvements.
Chris Rhea
Senior Account Manager

Our client was very impressed with our achieving the [Level 3] certification in the time frame that we did. It was great for us in terms of reputation and image. As a result of GRafP's involvement, we've gotten rid of several inefficiencies and have become more productive.
Mark Aitken
Programming Manager

With the support of GRafP, our organization has achieved CMMI Level 4. Mike and Louis have considerable experience with high maturity level organizations - so they knew what we should be concentrating on. Our weaknesses were highlighted in a SCAMPI B appraisal so we could focus on them prior to our SCAMPI A appraisal. GRafP's final presentations to senior management are always professional, and their reports are delivered in a timely manner. When it comes time to plan for CMMI Level 5 we will definitely invite GRafP back.
Erica Vintan
Senior Process Improvement Specialist

GRafP is always available for consultation. GRafP provided us great insight when reviewing gaps to see if it would impact the SCAMPI A appraisal, and to say what we needed to fix in order to improve our chances of success. Our SCAMPI appraisal ran very smoothly. We have attained CMMI Level 3, and there's talk about going to Level 4 in 2008/2009.
Monica Tomkins
Project Manager

The conduct of our SCAMPI A appraisal was well organized. There was good leadership on the part of GRafP. GRafP has a clear process on how it conducts appraisals with its PRC Samurai tool, and a good step-by-step transfer of skills was provided to the appraisal team members. Past health checks conducted by GRafP also helped us better understand our own processes. As a result, managers and practitioners are more comfortable at work; they know and accept the process. Fear of any audit has been removed.
Nancy Chan
QA Lead

GRafP was a key component in helping us achieve certification and keeping us on track. Our appraisal was well planned. People were brought up to speed relatively quickly. It was well laid out and well run. Everyone knew his/her responsibilities, the target dates, and what to expect. Based on our 'On-Time Customer Expectation Surveys', the customers are happier. We now deliver on-time, within budget, with fewer defects - definite benefits if we stick to the process. Our efficiency has increased. We have a more stable environment for our staff. Things are done in a repeatable way. We can give better quality service to our customers. The number of defects has gone down, the quality has gone up.
Andrena Baksh
Team Lead, Custom Application Systems /Application Management

Health checks and informal appraisals

We were working on a transformation project with a large client who, among other things, needed some process improvement. We checked the SEI website for companies in the Toronto area that could offer CMMI services, interviewed several candidates, and GRafP came out on top. We had aggressive deadlines, and Mike did his best to meet our dates. We appreciated the long hours he put in and were able to deliver on time. Our client requested further detail to Mike's initial reports, which he was able to provide. We've received positive feedback from the client. They were happy with the overall results.
Sam A.
Consultant

GRafP was referred to us by a previously satisfied customer. GRafP's expertise and our requirements were a good fit. Monthly status reporting and health checks were very useful, as they let us know what we needed to work on and helped us maintain our focus. GRafP lined up the resources well and let us know what to expect. GRafP really hit the areas that were very important in a short amount of time. Without GRafP's help it would have taken us about 12 months extra to reach our goal (X 15 people = 15 person-years).
Chris Rhea
Senior Account Manager

We have been very satisfied with the help we received from GRafP in our planning and in executing process improvement initiatives at our organization. We've been challenged with getting over 20 teams to consistently do the same thing at the same time. Having GRafP do monthly health checks with an independent progress report kept us on track. It was invaluable to have expert feedback on how we were doing and which areas to focus on. GRafP did a wonderful job of consulting and examining, as well as navigating between those two services. GRafP helped us focus on a common goal.
Mark Aitken
Programming Manager

PRC Samurai Tool

PRC Samurai is a 'must' tool; without it our SCAMPI A appraisal could not have been completed within time - no way. PRC Samurai is well structured, allowing each appraisal team member to properly focus on their assigned process areas.
Nancy Chan
QA Lead

PRC Samurai is easy to use and made the conduct of our SCAMPI A easier. It is a great time- and labor-saver, and gives you a way to focus on the practices. It was helpful to have the references directly form the SEI CMMI documentation so you could easily switch between what we were documenting and what the SEI said. The ability to pre-load information from health checks and from previous SCAMPI Bs and SCAMPI Cs make it easier for SCAMPI A verification and to use it as a starting point for SCAMPI A documentation.
Rhea Coleman
Project Manager

PRC Samurai is easy to use. It didn't take long to train our SCAMPI A appraisal team on its functionality. One needs to have a tool to conduct these types of appraisals, that's for sure. Having information pre-populated into PRC Samurai from a previous readiness review and health check also helped us greatly.
Brent Coles, CSQA
Process and Product Quality Assurance Specialist

With PRC Samurai's common data repository, appraisal team members can see in real time what other members of the team have entered - which is much better than Excel. Follow-up appraisals also benefit a great deal in being able to import information from previous health checks and appraisals.
Erica Vintan
Senior Process Improvement Specialist

PRC Samurai saves us lots of time, especially in entering data. On our first appraisal, it took a half an hour to get used to the tool, but it was easy thereafter. On my second appraisal, the assessment team experienced savings of nearly 100 hours over a two-week period. PRC's ability to pre-fill information from prior readiness checks was very useful.
Monica Tomkins
Project Manager

Training

I was very appreciative of the SCAMPI training provided by GRafP. Louis does a great job of facilitating the course. Our appraisal team was well prepared and everything was in place to run a successful SCAMPI appraisal, with a consistent process. Being part of the appraisal team is the best possible training as far as understanding how the CMMI works.
Brent Coles, CSQA
Process and Product Quality Assurance Specialist

The Risk Rating training is very thorough, starting with an explanation of the purpose through the how-to of the tool and steps required when conducting risk ratings. Screen prints, with bubbles and highlighting, show details that give you a good feel for the tool before you even start to use it. Group exercises provide an opportunity to reinforce the material as the course progresses.
Marg Rowan
Consultant

We were very satisfied and very pleased with the value of the CMMI training provided. We had 30 people attend from many teams. The training was very effective.
Chris Rhea
Senior Account Manager

The CMMI course GRafP developed for our organization is a good course. Mike has shown great flexibility when receiving suggestions on how to improve the training material to suit our particular needs. Mike has incredible knowledge of the CMMI.
Alain Arsenault
Business Analyst