Alumni Profile: Consultant

Employed with Pragma Consultores in Buenos Aires, Juan Jose Cukier (INI, '00) works with software developers who want to compete in the global market. Cukier is trained as an appraiser of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), a process-oriented approach to software development.

CMMI is acknowledged worldwide as a standard for software development to ensure quality and accountability. Without standardized procedures and quality control, software development companies cannot compete internationally. A 2000 graduate of the Master of Science in Information Networking program, Cukier has consulted with companies in Argentina, Armenia, Chile, Mexico and Spain.

Pragma Consultores sent Cukier to Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) three times over a two-year period to learn CMMI. He was the first consultant in Argentina to become an SEI-authorized appraiser. As an appraiser, he looks at a company's way of doing business and determines their maturity level. The maturity level shows the company the points of the process where they can improve.

"Without processes that ensure quality throughout each stage of development across all hands of the organization, a company's success falls into the hands of heroes, who are essentially one or two people who sacrifice their time and effort in order to deliver a product," said Cukier.

In his position, Cukier gives his clients information to help them manage their projects better by recommending changes such as redistributing responsibilities across an organization and adding quality checks. His appraisals can improve quality and help to ensure a company's predictability and profitability.

Until recently, Argentina did not have the infrastructure to appraise software development companies in the global standards. In order to export products, these companies had to hire appraisers from the United States and Spain. Today, the national government actively encourages the high tech sector to become globally competitive, namely by giving companies tax incentives to export some of their products.

Demonstrating the ripple effect between technology, policy and management, high tech companies realigned their priorities and began taking action to standardize in order to be able to export.

Cukier's career outlook is bright as he reports that his employer is considering dedicating an international branch mainly to CMMI. His greatest strength on the job is the ability to adapt quickly at the various corporations where he consults.

"When I consult with a company, it is only for two to three weeks. I must immediately become very well acquainted with their culture, their vocabulary, their people, their markets, and everything, so that by Day 2, I am speaking their language," said Cukier.

"The INI, the cradle of flexibility, has taught me to integrate knowledge from different domains that is traditionally separated."

Reflecting on his days at the INI, Cukier encouraged his fellow classmates to be in touch.

Cukier enjoyed the diversity of the student body at the INI and the strong support provided by staff members, such as Lisa Currin, who quickly learned the students' names in their original languages, even Chinese and Korean.

"The university put forth an endless infrastructure, so we could just work. I remember the all-nighters, but not with anguish or stress,” he said. “Whether it was three o'clock in the morning or eight o'clock at night, the environment at the INI was always fun."