CMMI  - Capability Maturity Model Integration is the successor of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM).

 

The first CMM (CMM v1.0) was developed for software and released in August 1990. Based on this success and the demand from other interests CMMs were developed for other disciplines and functions:

Ø Systems Engineering

Ø People

Ø Integrated Product Development

Ø Software Acquisition

Ø Software Quality Assurance

Ø Measurement

 

While organizations found these various CMMs to be useful they also found them to be:

Ø Overlapping

Ø Contradicting

Ø Lacking clean, understandable interfaces

Ø Lacking standardization

Ø Displaying different levels of detail

 

In addition, CMM is a five level staged framework that describes the key elements of an effective software process. The Capability Maturity Model covers practices for planning, engineering and managing software development and maintenance.

 

Whereas CMMI is a framework that describes the key elements of an effective product development and maintenance process. The Capability Maturity Model Integration covers practices for planning, engineering and managing product development and maintenance.

A CMMI Model provides a structured view of process improvement across an organization.

 

CMMI can help

·         Integrate traditionally separate organizations.   

·         Set process improvements Goals and Priorities.

·         Provide Guidance for quality processes.

·         Provide a yardstick for appraising current practices.

 

A maturity level is a defined evolutionary plateau of process improvement. Each maturity level stabilizes an important part of the organization’s processes.

The maturity level of an organization provides a way to predict the future performance of an organization within a given discipline or set of disciplines.

Experience has shown that organizations do their best when they focus their process-improvement efforts on a manageable number of process areas that require increasingly sophisticated effort as the organization improves

 

KPA - Key Processing Areas 

Each maturity level is characterized by some key process areas (KPAs), which specify the areas on which the organization should focus to elevate its processes to that maturity level.

 

There are 5 Maturity levels. Each level is a foundation for continuous improvement.

 

ü Maturity Level 1

The organization typically does not provide a stable environment. Success in these organizations depends on the competence and heroics of the people in the organization and cannot be repeated unless the same competent and experienced individuals are assigned to the next project. In spite of this ad hoc, chaotic environment, maturity level 1 organizations frequently produce products that work; however, they often greatly exceed the budget and schedule of the project.

 

ü Maturity Level 2

At maturity level 2, the requirements, standards, and objectives for the process, its work products, and its services are defined and documented. The status of the work products and delivery of the services are visible to management at defined points (for example, at major milestones and completion of major tasks). Commitments are established among relevant stakeholders. Commitments are revised as needed and satisfied. Work products are reviewed with stakeholders and are controlled. The work products and services satisfy their specified requirements, standards, and objectives.

 

·         Requirements Management

·         Project Planning

·         Project Monitoring and Control

·         Supplier Agreement Management

·         Measurement and Analysis

·         Process and Product Quality Assurance

·         Configuration Management

 

ü Maturity Level 3

The organization's set of standard processes, which are the basis for maturity level 3, are established and improved over time. These standard processes define the basic processes used for establishing consistent processes across the organization. Basic processes describe the fundamental process elements that are expected at maturity level 3. Basic processes also describe the relationships (for example, the ordering and interfaces) between these process elements. The organization level infrastructure to support the current and future use of the organization's set of standard processes is established and improved over time.

 

·         Requirements Development

·         Technical Solution

·         Product Integration

·         Verification

·         Validation

·         Organizational Process Focus

·         Organizational Process Definition

·         Organizational Training

·         Integrated Project Management

·         Risk Management

·         Decision Analysis and Resolution

 

ü Maturity Level 4

Quantitative objectives are based on the needs of the customer, end-users, organization, and process implementers. Those performing the process are directly involved in quantitatively managing the process.

Processes that significantly contribute to overall process performance are quantitatively managed. For these processes, detailed measures of process performance are collected and statistically analyzed. Special causes of process variation  are identified and, where appropriate, the sources of special causes are corrected to prevent future occurrences.

 

·         Organizational Process Performance

·         Quantitative Project Management

 

ü Maturity Level 5

Maturity level 5 focuses on continually improving process performance through both incremental and innovative technological improvements. Quantitative process improvement objectives for the organization are established, continually revised to reflect changing business objectives, and used as criteria in managing process improvement. Both the processes and the organization's set of standard processes are targets of improvement activities.

 

·         Organizational Innovation and Deployment

·         Causal Analysis and Resolution