Freeborders Achieves CMMI Level 5 Certification; Leading China Outsourcing Firm Becomes One of the First In China To Receive Highest Quality Management Certification
2/8/2006 8:00:26 AM
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 08, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Freeborders, a leading provider of technology solutions and outsourcing from China, announced today that it has achieved Level 5 of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. CMMI is the industry standard for assessing software development processes. Assessments range from Maturity Levels 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest.
Freeborders becomes one of the first China outsourcing firms to receive the highest quality management certification. Freeborders is one of about 70 firms in the world to achieve CMMI Level 5 certification.
"Achieving CMMI Level 5 is a significant accomplishment for the company and a reflection of our ability to relentlessly optimize our data-driven processes," said Freeborders co-CEO John Cestar. "Our team in China has worked extremely hard for this certification and this is further evidence of our focus on quality as well as our track record of delivering results that are predictable and repeatable. It is a great honor to be one of the few companies in China at this level servicing North American and European clients."
According to a November 9, 2005 report by Gartner entitled "What Chinese IT Services Providers Must Do to Succeed In the Global Market", it states, "Chinese companies that want to sell to sophisticated global customers must achieve high levels of process maturity assessment. A high level of quality and process maturity, assessed by an independent authority, can help them overcome concern about risk."
The assessment was carried out by CyberQ, the leading Software Quality Assurance Consulting and Auditing company from India that has conducted appraisals of many leading companies in several countries of the world. Dr. Rajiv Nag, Lead Appraiser, praised Freeborders for its strong focus on customer satisfaction, commitment to quality at all levels, and the sincerity and integrity of its approach toward process improvement.
"There is a common misperception that China IT teams can only succeed in small, low-value development tasks," said Fang Liang, President Asia, Freeborders. "But at Freeborders, CMMI Level 5 certification demonstrates that our talent in China is very capable of adhering to international standards of solution design, requirements building, and deployment and implementation of large-scale projects."
This is the latest in a series of announcements signaling Freeborders' growing strength in the technology outsourcing market. Freeborders secured $20 million in expansion capital last September from FTVentures, whose Global Partner Network contains 38 of the largest financial institutions in the world, Internet Capital Group (ICGE), and TAL Investments. Freeborders also announced the acquisition of ITK Solutions, an IT management consulting firm specializing in technology project delivery for financial services companies.
About Freeborders
Freeborders is a leading provider of technology solutions and outsourcing from China. Freeborders provides industry expertise to North American and European companies in financial services, technology, retail/consumer goods, manufacturing and transportation & logistics. Headquartered in San Francisco with offices on three continents, Freeborders has developed a track record of service delivery to the Fortune 1000 by combining world-class project management in both hemispheres with one of the largest technology centers in China. Freeborders believes China's massive and growing supply of IT talent and the country's emerging importance in the global supply chain make China a strategic imperative for any company seeking cost-effective world-class technology solutions.
About CMMI
The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) of Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Melon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, is a framework that describes the key elements of an effective software and system engineering process. The staged representation of the CMMI describes an evolutionary improvement path from an ad hoc, immature process to a mature, disciplined process. The CMMI covers practices for planning, engineering, and managing software development and maintenance.
When followed, these practices improve the ability of organizations to meet goals for cost, schedule, functionality, and product quality. The CMMI establishes a yardstick against which it is possible to judge the maturity of an organization's software process and compare it to the state of the practice of the industry. The CMMI can also be used by an organization to plan improvements to its process. |
