Process assessment for use in very small enterprises: the NOEMI assessment methodology

This paper relates to the development and the experimentation of an IT process assessment methodology especially designed to be used in very small enterprises (VSEs). This methodology, called NOEMI , has been developed as a critical part of a public research project of the Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor (Luxembourg). Initially the main objective of the NOEMI process assessment methodology was to contribute directly to the implementation of a collaborative IT-sourcing model, developed in the same research project. The process portfolio aims at a whole coverage of the usual IT-practices in VSEs. It is business value-driven and designed in five process areas: infrastructure, service support, management, security, and documentation. The processes themselves are based on a combined approach of ISO/IEC 15504 and the IT Infrastructure Library. The capability model defined in the NOEMI methodology explores the gap between level 0 and level 1 of ISO/IEC 15504 in order to match in a more accurate manner with the reality of VSEs. The capability profile has four levels and is performed for the process areas and not for the processes themselves, so allowing easy comparison between VSEs. We are now performing the seventh experimentation of the NOEMI assessment methodology. Each case has been a success according to the feedback of the VSEs. And we are considering the transfer of our methodology to French and Belgian partners through dissemination projects. It leads us to promote the NOEMI assessment methodology as a public package tool especially designed for use in a VSE context, which aims to enhance business value through IT. This paper introduces the methodology and considerations based on case studies.