The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) in software engineering is a model of the maturity of the capability of certain business processes. A maturity model can be described as a structured collection of elements that describe certain aspects of maturity in an organization, and aids in the definition and understanding of an organization's processes. The CMM has been superseded by the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).
Capability Maturity Model structure
The Capability Maturity Model involves the following aspects:
* Maturity Levels: A 5-Level process maturity continuum - where the uppermost (5th) level is a notional ideal state where processes would be systematically managed by a combination of process optimization and continuous process improvement.
* Key Process Areas: A Key Process Area (KPA) identifies a cluster of related activities that, when performed collectively, achieve a set of goals considered important.
* Goals: The goals of a key process area summarize the states that must exist for that key process area to have been implemented in an effective and lasting way. The extent to which the goals have been accomplished is an indicator of how much capability the organization has established at that maturity level. The goals signify the scope, boundaries, and intent of each key process area.
* Common Features: Common features include practices that implement and institutionalize a key process area. There are five types of common features: Commitment to Perform, Ability to Perform, Activities Performed, Measurement and Analysis, and Verifying Implementation.
* Key Practices: The key practices describe the elements of infrastructure and practice that contribute most effectively to the implementation and institutionalization of the KPAs.
Levels of the Capability Maturity Model:
There are five levels defined along the continuum of the CMM, and, according to the SEI: "Predictability, effectiveness, and control of an organization's software processes are believed to improve as the organization moves up these five levels. While not rigorous, the empirical evidence to date supports this belief."
Level 1 - Ad hoc (Chaotic)
It is characteristic of processes at this level that they are (typically) undocumented and in a state of dynamic change, tending to be driven in an ad hoc, uncontrolled and reactive manner by users or events. This provides a chaotic or unstable environment for the processes.
Level 2 - Repeatable
It is characteristic of processes at this level that some processes are repeatable, possibly with consistent results. Process discipline is unlikely to be rigorous, but where it exists it may help to ensure that existing processes are maintained during times of stress.
Level 3 - Defined
It is characteristic of processes at this level that there are sets of defined and documented standard processes established and subject to some degree of improvement over time. These standard processes are in place (i.e., they are the AS-IS processes) and used to establish consistency of process performance across the organization.
Level 4 - Managed
It is characteristic of processes at this level that, using process metrics, management can effectively control the AS-IS process (e.g., for software development ). In particular, management can identify ways to adjust and adapt the process to particular projects without measurable losses of quality or deviations from specifications. Process Capability is established from this level.
Level 5 - Optimizing
It is a characteristic of processes at this level that the focus is on continually improving process performance through both incremental and innovative technological changes/improvements.
At maturity level 5, processes are concerned with addressing statistical common causes of process variation and changing the process (for example, shifting the mean of the process performance) to improve process performance. This would be done at the same time as maintaining the likelihood of achieving the established quantitative process-improvement objectives.
CMMI (Capacity Maturity Model Integration):
CMMI (Capacity Maturity Model Integration) is a model for evaluating a company's level of maturity in terms of IT developments.
CMMI is a broader version of CMM, on which it is based and from which it borrows most of its concepts, and offers best practices benchmarks for software development. The goal is to encourage companies to monitor and continually improve their processes and evaluate the maturity level of these processes on a five-level maturity scale set by the CMMI.
CMMI is a collection of best practices that meet the needs of organizations in different areas of interest. A collection of best practices that cover a particular area of interest is called a CMMI model.
CMMI currently addresses three areas of interest:
(1) Product and service development — CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV),
(2) Service establishment, management, and delivery — CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC), and
(3) Product and service acquisition — CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ).
CMMI was developed by a group of experts from industry, government, and the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. CMMI models provide guidance for developing or improving processes that meet the business goals of an organization. A CMMI model may also be used as a framework for appraising the process maturity of the organization.
CMMI originated in software engineering but has been highly generalised over the years to embrace other areas of interest, such as the development of hardware products, the delivery of all kinds of services, and the acquisition of products and services. The word "software" does not appear in definitions of CMMI. This generalization of improvement concepts makes CMMI extremely abstract. It is not as specific to software engineering as its predecessor, the Software CMM.
Achieving CMMI compliance:
The traditional approach that organizations often adopt to achieve compliance with the CMMI involves the establishment of an Engineering Process Group (EPG) and Process Action Teams (PATs). This approach requires that members of the EPG and PATs be trained in the CMMI, that an informal (SCAMPI C) appraisal be performed, and that process areas be prioritized for improvement. More modern approaches that involve the deployment of commercially available, CMMI-compliant processes, can significantly reduce the time to achieve compliance. SEI has maintained statistics on the "time to move up" for organizations adopting the earlier Software CMM and primarily using the traditional approach. These statistics indicate that, since 1987, the median times to move from Level 1 to Level 2 is 23 months, and from Level 2 to Level 3 is an additional 20 months. These statistics have not been updated for the CMMI.
The Software Engineering Institute’s (SEI) Team Software Process methodology and the Capability Maturity Modeling® framework have been successfully employed to accelerate progress from Maturity Level 1 to Maturity Level 4. They’ve demonstrated progressing form Level 1 to Level 4 in 30 months, which is less than half of the average time it has taken traditionally.
CMMI Can Benefit You:
CMMI provides
- Efficient, effective assessment and improvement across multiple process disciplines in an organization
- Improvements to best practices incorporated from the Software CMM
- A common, integrated vision of improvement for all elements of an organization
- A means of representing new discipline-specific information in a standard, proven process-improvement context
For More Information About CMMI:
Go to CMMI Web site:
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi
http://seir.sei.cmu.edu
Contact SEI Customer Relations:
Customer Relations
Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
FAX: (412) 268-5800
customer-relations@sei.cmu.edu
With Love,
~SA
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