What to Do after the Assessment Report?

There are many software development process models that are used as a basis for generating assessment reports containing recommendations for software process improvement. For example, the CBA IPI assessment procedure is based on the CMM. An important question is: what to do about the recommendations in the assessment report? An obvious answer is to generate an action plan to implement the recommendations. However, generating an action plan is a considerable undertaking as important decisions need to made, questions raised, issues addressed and support gained. This paper presents a process framework for generating the necessary information and activities in the formulation of an action plan. A case study of a software development company following the framework is presented.