Certification

Applying for S^3M Certification

There are two S^3M certification types and two certification levels:

Type 1 – S^3M Internal Assessor: Certification for internal assessor (self-assessment); conducting self-assessments in your organization:

Basic Internal Assessor (basic level)
Advanced Assessors (advanced level)

Type 2 – S^3M External Assessor: By definition are advanced assessors. Certification for third-party assessors (accredited organizations): This certification is for consultants that provide S^3M assessments to the S^3M gold members and their clients;

If you are completely new to this certification, start with Checking Prerequisites.
If you are ready to submit your first application, see Filing the Initial Application.
If you're ready to schedule your examination, move on to Taking the Examination.

Checking Prerequisites

Basic Internal Assessors (Level 1):

Basic Internal Assessors must register to a bronze or silver membership to S^3M. They are certified to conduct basic assessments for the maturity levels 0,1 and 2 of the S^3M model.

Basic Internal assessors for maturity level 0,1 and 2: should be knowledgeable either in quality assurance, software engineering or software process improvement. They should have a worked in the field of software maintenance within the previous 12 months.

Advanced Assessors (Level 2):

Advanced Internal assessors must register for a gold membership to have access to advances practices (level 3,4 and 5) of the S^3M model.

Advanced External Assessors must register for a gold membership to have access to advanced practices and enter into a partnership agreement to obtain the rights to use the S^3M model for consulting purposes.

S^3M Advanced Assessors should be knowledgeable in infrastructure and operations, software maintenance, process mapping, quality principles, ISO standards, ITIL principles and have conducted client assessments using reference models within the previous 12 months.

Filing the Initial Application

Prepare yourself for the examination, proceed to pay the examination fees* (using Paypal) on the S^3M portal and, with the confirmation of payment there will be a link to the examination.

The S^3M certification examination fees are:

US$100.00 for Basic internal Assessors (Level 1)(You may have any membership level)
US$250.00 for Advanced Assessors (Level 2)(You must be a Gold+ member or higher)
US$50.00 for students (You may have any membership level)

*(see S^3M Payment Policy) Fees in this program are nonrefundable and non-transferable.

3 Steps to Certification:

Register for S^3M Membership. Check minimum membership levels required (see above). Membership is not automatically granted and may take several days to process. When completed, you will be notified via email;
Sign in Member Login section using your Username (e-mail address) and Password;
Request Certification

Taking the examination

Preparing for your basic S^3M examination:

Review the S^3M Book: Software Maintenance Management
Read the chapter of software maintenance of SWEBOK
Understand the CMMi for development generic goals and generic practices
Understand the S^3M practices from maturity level 0 to 2
Understand the S^3M short assessment process
Read the S^3M Bronze articles, reports and guides

Preparation for your advanced S^3M examination, additional to the basic knowledge:

Be familiar with the most recent Malcolm-Baldrige Award criteria
Review the most recent version of CoBIT (software maintenance topics)
Review the Service Design ITIL book (implementation, control & measures)
Review the Service Transition ITIL book (measures and methods)
Review the Service Operation ITIL book (process, application management)
Have used the S^3M assessment approach and presented results to management
Read the S^3M Gold articles, reports and guides (especially the practices)
Read the SEI maturity level 4 and 5 interpretation and implementations

When you are ready, file an application through the S^3M web site, pay the exam fees, and you will receive a link to the on-line exam.

F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)

Question: How many questions in the certification exam (for versions 2,X):
o Answer: There are approximately 80 questions, all based on the contents of a specific version of the Measurement Manual – for the current version, see below;

Question: What is the format of the questions?
o Answer: 80% of the questions are True-False, and about 20% are multiple choices.

Question: Do I have to take the exam at a particular place?
o Answer: No, we will send you a link and you will have to answer the questions directly online and finish it within the time allowed.

Question: How much time do I have to take the exam?
o Answer: The time allocated to take the exam is 1 hour.

Question: If I am non-English speaking, can I get extra time to take the exam?
o Answer: There is a French version of the S^3M model and its documentsation. If neither English or French is not your native language, you will get an extra half-hour to take the exam (maximum total time allocated = 1.5 hours)

Question: What if it takes me more time than allowed?
o Answer: There is a time stamp in the exam. One mark/point is deducted for each minute taken (over and above 1 hour) to complete the exam.

Question: Will I be allowed to refer to the references?
o Yes, it is an ‘open-book’ examination. However, you will need to have understood and learned the material thoroughly before taking the exam, as there will not be enough time to look up all the answers in the S^3M references during the exam.

Question: Are any of the questions specific to a particular software domain, e.g. business
applications or real-time, defense versus financial institutions?
o No, you should not need knowledge of any specific domain to answer the questions.

Question: What is the pass-level for the exam in 2008?
o Answer: 72 percent of the questions must be answered correctly

Question: What is the expiry date of the S^3M assessor certificate?
o Answer: There is no expiry date for the certificate. The certificate is valid for the S^3M version for which you took the exam, and only for this version.