capability maturity model

  Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance. CMMI can be used to guide process improvement across a project, a division, or an entire organization

CMMI in software engineering and organizational development is a trademarked process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements for effective process improvement.
CMMI according to the Software Engineering Institute (SEI, 2008), helps "integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set process improvement goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality processes, and provide a point of reference for appraising current processes."^[2]

Overview

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.^[1]

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 (CMM, see below)...

 History

CMMI was developed by the CMMI project, which aimed to improve the usability of maturity models by integrating many different models into one framework. The project consisted of members of industry, government and the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI). The main sponsors included the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the National Defense Industrial Association.

CMMI is the successor of the capability maturity model (CMM) or software CMM. The CMM was developed from 1987 until 1997. In 2002, CMMI Version 1.1 was released. Version 1.2 followed in August 2006.

 CMMI topics

 CMMI representation

CMMI exists in two representations: continuous and staged.^[1] The continuous representation is designed to allow the user to focus on the specific processes that are considered important for the organization's immediate business objectives, or those to which the organization assigns a high degree of risk. The staged representation is designed to provide a standard sequence of improvements, and can serve as a basis for comparing the maturity of different projects and organizations. The staged representation also provides for an easy migration from the SW-CMM to CMMI.^[1]

 CMMI model framework

For more details on this topic, see Process area (CMMI).

Depending on the CMMI constellation (acquisition, services, development) used, the process areas it contains will vary. Key process areas are the areas that will be covered by the organization's processes. The table below lists the process areas that are present in all CMMI constellations. This collection of sixteen process areas is called the CMMI Model Framework, or CMF.

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Model Framework (CMF)
Abbreviation	Name	Area	Maturity Level
REQM	Requirements Management	Engineering	2
PMC	Project Monitoring and Control	Project Management	2
PP	Project Planning	Project Management	2
CM	Configuration Management	Support	2
MA	Measurement and Analysis	Support	2
PPQA	Process and Product Quality Assurance	Support	2
OPD	Organizational Process Definition	Process Management	3
CAR	Causal Analysis	Support	5

 CMMI models

CMMI best practices are published in documents called models, each of which addresses a different area of interest. The current release of CMMI, version 1.2, provides models for three areas of interest: development, acquisition, and services.

• CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV), v1.2 was released in August 2006. It addresses product and service development processes.
• CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ), v1.2 was released in November 2007. It addresses supply chain management, acquisition, and outsourcing processes in government and industry.
• CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC), v1.2 was released in February 2009. It addresses guidance for delivering services within an organization and to external customers.
• CMMI Product Suite (includes Development, Acquisition, and Services), v1.3 is expected to be released in 2010. CMMI Version 1.3—Plans for the Next Version

Regardless of which model an organization chooses, CMMI best practices should be adapted by an organization according to its business objectives.