-- HM&S/ Assessment Tools --

We provide a wide range of assessment tools for various application domains supporting different assessment methodologies. The assessment tool is a software package which helps you to:

Prepare an assessment and select the relevant processes
Perform the interviews and data collection
Evaluate and analyse the data and produce charts
Create assessment reports and improvement recommendations

We provide the following Assessment Tools:

For Software Organisations	With General Business Focus	For IT-Procurement	Other Assessment Tools

SPiCE-Lite SPICE 1-2-1 for IS SPICE 1-2-1 for Automotive CMM-Quest XP-Quest SecuQuest	Assess&Act9000 MyBusinessQuest ErfolgsQuest ControllingQuest	Assist Probe Pulse	OekoQuest TourismusQuest SchulQuest

Add-On Tools:

Tools to enhance the functions of any of the assessment tools from above:

SynEval	Syneval is a tool to analyse and evaluate several assessments. You should use SynEval if you perform more than three assessments and want to aggregate the result. >> further information
SynEdit	SynEdit is a tool to enhance or modify an assessment tool. With SynEdit you can create your own assessment tool with your own assessment model and reference model. It is also suited for enhancing existing reference models, e.g. to create links to your Intranet. >> further information
SynBench	SynBench is a server application which automatically can create assessment reports based on uploaded assessment data. Use SynBench if you perform lots of assessments (more than ten per year) or if you want to allow assessment users to benchmark against some collected data. SynBench can also be leased as Application Service Providing (ASP) software. To see SynBench working, visit: pics.arcs.ac.at/synbench >> further information

Assessment Tools for Software Organisations:

SPiCE-Lite

Languages: English, German

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Software companies of any size, even very small teams. SPiCE-Lite is the easiest way to have a look at the software development activities from a process-oriented point of view.	SPiCE-Lite contains an ESA-PSS05 like life-cycle and organisational background from ISO9000. Additionally it contains a SPICE (ISO15504) mapping.	Use SPiCE-Lite if you are doing an assessment for the first time. A SPiCE-Lite assessment can be performed within 3-4 hours. Use it to learn about software engineering and to involve and motivate your colleagues.
For details see:	www.spicelite.com	Prices from €500 to €1.500

SPICE 1-2-1 for International Standard

Language: English

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Software companies which want to assess their capability level according to ISO15504 (SPiCE). SPICE121 for International Standard is also suited for IT procurers to assess the supplier's processes.	ISO/IEC IS 15504:2006 - SPiCE. SPICE 1-2-1 for International Standard is a one to one image of the ISO standard including also informative elements like work product descriptions.	SPiCE 1-2-1 helps to perform an ISO15504 compliant assessment for software organisations. Information is collected and evaluated in a systematical way to make the adoption of the standard more efficient.
For details see:	www.spice121.com	Prices from €1.200 to €12.000

SPICE 1-2-1 for Automotive

Languag: English

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Software companies in automotive industry and its suppliers which want to assess their capability level according to ISO15504 (SPiCE). SPICE121 for Automotive is also suited for IT procurers to assess the supplier's processes.	ISO/IEC IS 15504:2006 resp. Automotive SPiCE. SPICE 1-2-1for Automotive is a one to one image of the ISO standard including also informative elements like work product descriptions.	SPiCE 1-2-1 for Automotive helps to perform an AutomotoveSPiCE compliant assessment for software organisations. Information is collected and evaluated in a systematical way to make the adoption of the standard more efficient.
For details see:	www.spice12drive.com	Prices from €1.200 to €12.000

CMM-Quest

Language: English

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Software organisations who want to assess their CMM-Level. The new CMMI is the de-facto standard in the United States and is being developed by the Software Engineering Institute at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.	CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integrated) which is the successor of the CMM. This tool is one of the first CMMI assessment tools following the continuous model which is compatible to ISO15504 (SPICE)	CMM-Quest helps to navigate and explore the world of CMMI. Small and quick self-assessments can be performed within a few days. Use this tool to learn about CMMI or to prepare yourself for a full CMMI assessment.
For details see:	www.cmm-quest.com	Prices starting at €5.000

XP-Quest

Language: English

Suited for:

Based upon:

Advantages:

Software organisations which concentrate on the paradigms of eXtreme Programming (XP).

XP-Quest is currently under development and will be available soon.

...the principles of XP and a maturity model which is capable to measure the "extremeness" of XP in your organisation

If you want to force eXtreme Programming in your organisation, XP-Quest helps you to create the vision and manage the organisational change. XP-Quest helps to create understanding and mitigate barriers and resistance.

For details contact:

Christian Steinmann

Prices starting at €1.000

SecuQuest

Language: German

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
All kinds of organisation, no matter which size and sector. The different security needs for each organisation can be covered with SecuQuest. Using SecuQuest and the associated methods helps to save time and money.	The SecuQuest assessment method allows to perform Security Analysis independently from temporary and volatile technical trends but it still delivers high quality results in accordance to BS 7799 resp. ISO 17799 from a holistic point of view.	Perform security analysis to inform, sensitize and motivate all members of the organisation. SecuQuest allaws you to perform assessments with best ratio between price and service.
For details contact:	Christian Steinmann

General Business Assessment Tools:

Assess&Act ISO 9000:2000

Languages: English, German

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Any organisation which has (or wants to have) a quality management system conform ISO 9000:2000.	ISO 9000:2000 now is completely process oriented and thus all the advantages for process based assessments and audits apply. This tool has prepared the contents of the standard in such a way that it easily can be audited and assessed.	With Assess & Act 9000 it is possible to collect and evaluate audit information very efficiently and thus have a clear basis for the removal of deficiencies as well as for the identification of improvement areas.
For details see:	www.nehfort.at	Prices starting at €1.000

MyBusinessQuest

Languages: German, English soon

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Any organisation which has a higher level management. MyBusinessQuest assesses the 17 most important business processes from a management point of view - but already in accordance with the capability level dimensions of ISO 15504 (SPICE).	MyBusinessQuest is a condensed but generalised version of ISO 15504 (SPICE). Instead of the engineering process category (ENG) it contains a category for core competencies (COR). Component processes are combined to shorten the time for performing an assessment.	Within 1.5 to 2 hours, top business executives can evaluate their own activities and performance against the capability dimensions of SPICE for 17 elementary business processes. Managers get very useful hints and inspiration for being able to put focus on the right things in future.
For details see:	www.mybusinessquest.com	Prices starting at €1.000

ErfolgsQuest (SuccessQuest)

Languages: German, English soon

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Any organisation of any kind and size. ErfolgsQuest (SuccessQuest) is the detailed version of MyBusinessQuest with more than 50 processes. It is used on all management levels as well as in different departments focusing on tailored parts of the assessment model.	The tool was constructed using consulting experiences from different experts and domains. The capability dimension is based upon ISO 15504 but it was enhanced to allow the collection of additional information e.g. for topics like co-operation, efficiency and effectiveness, etc.	After a few minutes of tailoring the questionnaire (select/deselect processes), an assessment - specific to the audience - can be performed to generate process awareness or to determine process capability for essential business processes. The explanations give aid to be able to improve the processes after the assessment.
For details see:	ErfolgsQuest	Prices starting at €1.000

ControllingQuest

Languages: German

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Any organisation of any kind and size who is interested in its own financial processes.	The Controlling Institute of University Linz has modelled complete and competent know-how of financial controlling aspects into a process oriented approach.	The mechanism and completeness of a financial controlling system can be assessed within a few hours. Hazardous deficiencies in the processes (activities) can be identified and thus eliminated.
For details contact:	ControllingQuest	Prices starting at €1.000

IT-Procurement Tools:

Assist

English, German, Portuguese

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Either procurers who want to have a first look on their processes or small organisations who can not afford a big assessment. Assist also gives first improvement hints.	The Sprite-S project with collected best practices from IT procurement activities all over Europe. All activities are proven to solve problems.	Assist is the smallest and easiest of the procurement assessment tools. It can be filled in within 1.5 to 2 hours. The results directly help you to improve your situation.
For details contact:	Alec Dorling	Prices starting from €500

Probe

English

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
IT procurement departments or persons with explicit responsibility for the acquisition of information and communication technology.	Probe unites two aspects of the process reference model: on the one hand it incorporates all best practices from the practical experience gained with Assist and on the other hand it is compliant to ISO 15504 and provides an automated mapping to Pulse	Probe is perfectly suited to perform assessments in workshop style with several participants from different organisations. It is the enabler to start co-operations across different organisations in the field of IT procurement.
For details see:	Alec Dorling	Prices starting from €1.000

Pulse

English

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
All organisations which have a well defined operational IT procurement department.	ISO/IEC TR 15504 "Process Assessment". Pulse was created as an amendment to ISO 15504 and thus uses nearly identical process attributes as spice does.	Pulse assessments approximately take 2 hours per process, and there are 43 processes! So usually you perform a Pulse assessment only for mission critical or very important processes. Here you really look into the details to find all improvement possibilities.
For details see:	Alec Dorling	Prices starting from €1.500

Other Assessment Tools:

OekoQuest

Languages: German

Suited for:

Based upon:

Advantages:

Any organisation of any kind and size who is interested in its own environmental management processes.

ISO 14000 and EMAS

Use this assessment tool to motivate employees to go towards an environmental management system. The tool is much easier to use than conventional checklists.

For details see:

www.synprove.com/oeko

Prices starting at €1.000

TourismusQuest

Languages: German

Suited for:

Based upon:

Advantages:

Groups and networks of small organisations which want to gain importance as a region for tourism.

TourismusQuest was constructed taking the experience of regional tourism development for countryside areas next to cities.

This tool is superior suited for bringing different interest groups together to enable them to form a harmonic force for the development of regional tourism activities.

For details contact:

Peter Sereinigg

Prices starting at €1.000

SchulQuest

Languages: German

Suited for:	Based upon:	Advantages:
Quality assessment and quality development in schools	An elaborated model for self-, group- or guided assessments for experts and practitioners for school management, en und Praktikern für Schulmanagement, teaching staff, parents and pupils. The main categories contain: - Teaching and Learning, - Living Area Classroom, School and external relations, - School Management, - Professionality and Personnel Development	This tool is the enabler to focus on quality issues in schools. With this tool, it will be much easier to let the the issue "quality" motivate acting and affected persons...
For details contact:	Peter Sereinigg	Prices starting at €1.000