IEEE Software Process Achievement Award (SPA): Granted by the IEEE and the Software Engineering Institute, the Sofware Process Achievement Award recognizes organizations that have achieved outstanding improvements in their software engineering process, that lead to demonstrable results in the quality of their software. PSL is one of nine companies in the world to have received the SPA award, joining giants like NASA Goddard Space Center, Raytheon, Hughes Electronics and Boeing Information Systems. The award committee is composed of software engineering luminaries like Victor Basili and Watts Humphrey.

CMMi level 5: PSL was the first company in Latin America to be assessed at level 5 of the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model, and the 12th worldwide to receive this accreditation.

Originally devised by the US Department of Defense as a way to objectively rank the process maturity of software developers –in business terms, as a way to greatly diminish the risk of a contractor delivering software late and over-budget—the model has now been adopted worldwide as a reputable validation of a company’s software development maturity.

At level 1 of the CMMi (termed “initial), a company’s development process is deemed “chaotic and ad-hoc”. At level 4, the process is considered “managed”, meaning that it is measured by metrics, is clearly defined and is repeatable. At its highest level of 5, a company’s development process is considered “optimized”, meaning that it is not only defined, repeatable and managed by metrics, but is subject to constant improvement and optimization.

Because CMMi is a model and not a standard, a company is not forced to adopt particular procedures to follow it. Rather, each practitioner can develop its own method as long as certain Commitments and Abilities are met. PSL has implemented the CMMi level 5 recommendations in a way that emphasizes process transparency and discipline –i.e. being able to measure productivity, to track the quality of the code, to accurately estimate the effort required to build a particular application—without falling into the trap of a rigid and inflexible process. For example, at PSL we often espouse Agile and XP programming practices for many projects, yet monitor and control such developments with metrics that inform productivity and code quality.

ESI International Software Excellence Award: The European Software Institute –ESI—recently awarded PSL with

the prestigious 2010 Software Excellence Award in the SME category. The award, in existence since 2003 and granted by one of Europe’s most renowned software institutes, recognizes companies that have shown a significant and sustained commitment to embrace best-in-class software development processes and practices.

The accolade was granted to PSL in Bilbao, Spain, by a panel of 16 experts including Clifford Shelley, from Oxford University, Pete Botella from the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, and Enrique Morey from the European Software Insitute. In selecting a candidate for the prize, a company’s track record in delivering quality software was considered, as well as a company’s effort to implement innovative methods that allow it to achieve exceptional performance in the software quality triangle: delivering software on-time, on budget and with the required specifications.

ISO27001: When developing software for a client, we fully recognize we are dealing with critical aspects of a business, be it because the application is a new and secret product, or because the transactional information needed to build and test it is strictly confidential.
Having deployed dozens of transactional solutions for financial institutions over the years, information security is no stranger to our company. Recognizing, however, that data security goes beyond encryption, and touches upon different human aspects involved in the developing process, PSL decided to undertake a more comprehensive approach to information security and embark upon a formal ISO 27000 certification.

The ISO 27000 standard guides a company on how to implement, monitor and improve information security management from a broader perspective. It encompasses data protection and recovery, data security, information confidentiality management within development groups, as well as other critical aspects of privacy. PSL has obtained this ISO27001 certificaion as of early 2010.