How can SEI CMM help organizations?
Overview
The SEI CMM defines five process capability levels, each representing an evolutionary plateau towards a disciplined, measured, and continuously improving software process.
SEI CMM Levels
The five levels are as follows:
- Initial Level
- Repeatable Level
- Defined Level
- Managed Level
- Optimizing Level
Initial Level
At the Initial level (Level 1), few organized processes exist. Each developer utilizes whatever methods or techniques strike his or her fancy. The situation is sometimes described as chaotic and ad hoc. Software quality is more a matter of chance, and is highly dependent on the capabilities of specific individuals within the organization.
The Repeatable Level
To reach Level 2, a software development organization must implement basic project management practices. This includes the capability to estimate the size of the software to be produced, estimate resources to execute the project, and track progress against these estimates. Also included is the implementation of software configuration management and quality assurance practices, the capability to manage the requirements definition process effectively, and the capability to manage subcontractors (if applicable). This level is called the Repeatable level; the organization has mastered previously learned tasks. The organization is still highly dependent on individuals for the success of a project. In times of stress, the organization tends to revert back to behaving as a Level 1 organization.
Defined Level
Level 3 is characterized as the Defined level. At this level, the organization has defined and established the software development and maintenance practices specific to the types of applications they produce. They have put into place a set of standards and procedures to codify these practices, and the organization follows them consistently. Training in these practices is provided. Peer reviews are performed as in-process evaluations of product quality. Integrated project management exists. The organization is no longer highly dependent on key individuals;
the process belongs to the organization, not to individuals. At times of stress, the Level 3 practices are not abandoned.
Managed Level
At Level 3 and below, the primary focus is on product quality. At Level 4 and above, the primary focus shifts to process quality (although some amount of attention is paid to process quality below Level 4). To reach Level 4, the Managed level, the organization focuses on establishing a set of process measures and uses them to initiate corrective actions. Once these measures have been established, the organization is ready to begin to use them to implement continuous process improvement.
Optimizing Level
At Level 5, the Optimization level, these measures are used to improve existing processes and evaluate new candidate processes. They are also being used to determine the efficacy of introducing new technologies into the organization.
Advantages of CMM
There are many advantages of CMM to the organization.
CMM helps build an understanding of software processes by describing the practices that contribute to a level of process maturity.
CMM provides a consistent basis for conducting appraisals of software processes. The CMM defines a scale for measuring process maturity, thus allowing an organization to compare its process capability to that of another organization accurately. ISO is using the CMM to develop international standards for software process assessments.
CMM serves as a blueprint for software process improvement. The CMM can help an organization focus on the areas it must address to advance to the next level of maturity.