CMMI Overview

CMMI Overview

The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Version 1.1 is the result of a project sponsored by the US Department of Defense (DoD). The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, several government and industry groups collaborated to develop and refine the model. 

Why CMM to CMMI? CMMI project was undertaken to sort out the problems of using multiple CMM source models --Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM), Software Acquisition Capability Maturity Model (SA-CMM), Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SE-CMM) and People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM). The mission was to combine three source models: (1) Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM), (2) Electronic Industries Alliance Interim Standard (EIA/IS), and (3) Integrated Product Development Capability Maturity Model (IPD-CMM). Another mission was to ensure that the developed model is consistent and compatible with the International Organization of Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 15504 Technical Report for Software Process Assessment.

The model simplifies your search for a cost effective path for process improvement. You can use this model whether you are in software development, software acquisition, systems engineering, integrated product development or people development. By using this model, you can also be sure that it is compatible with the ISO/IEC 15504 Standard. You do not have to be in the software development business to benefit from this model. However, if you are in software development, it is very similar to the SW-CMM at each maturity level and you can easily migrate to CMMI at any maturity level.

CMMI Structure: The model has several nested components as described below with the help of an example from Requirement Management process area. 

Process Area (PA) is a cluster of related practices that together satisfies a set of goals important for improvements. One example is Requirements Management. There are 25 PAs in the entire model.

1. Specific Goals describe what must be implemented in the PA. An example is "Manage Requirements". Requirements are managed and inconsistencies with project plan and work products are identified. Each PA may have multiple specific goals.

1.1 Specific Practices is an activity important in achieving the associated specific goal. An example is "Obtain an understanding of Requirements". There can be multiple practices in each Specific Goal. There are 471 total practices in the model.

1.1.1. Typical Work Products are informative model component that provide typical example outputs. There may be other equally useful typical work products but not listed in the model. An example is "an agreed-to set of requirements". There could be multiple products listed in each typical work products.

1.1.1. Sub practices are detail descriptions as guidance for interpretation. An example is "Reach an understanding of the requirements with the requirement provider so that the project participants can commit to them". There can be multiple sub practices for each associated typical work products.

GG 1. Generic Goals: All process areas also have a common set of generic goals, generic practices and sub practices. 

The diagram shows the structure of CMMI.

Selecting Staged or Continuous Representation Unlike SW-CMM, CMMI has two representations-Staged and Continuous. You need to make a decision, which representation is suitable for your business at the current stage. 

CMMI staged representation is similar to the SW-CMM. It has a number of process areas for each of the maturity levels- Managed, Defined, Quantitatively Managed and Optimizing. To attain a level of maturity, the specific and generic goals of all process areas in the maturity level have to be attained. This may be a more suitable option for businesses improving all processes and claiming a level of maturity for marketing purposes. This also provides the maximum benefit and insures that all the essential elements of development process are operating at the same level. Businesses operating in the federal market place generally prefer this representation for its simplicity in rating of maturity levels 2 to 5. 

CMMI continuous representation similar to the SE-CMM, on the other hand can be implemented for a selected set of process areas. In this model, capability is of essence for each process area, which can be improved by implementing generic goals belonging to the higher level of capability. There are six capability levels - Incomplete, Performed, Managed, Defined, Quantitatively Managed and Optimizing. Simply stated, this may be a more suitable option if you are interested in improving processes in a few selected process areas to improve quality and reduce costs. This is also a better option if you are looking to migrate from Electric Industries Alliance Interim Standard (EIA/IA) 731 to CMMI or compare improvements with the ISO/IEC 15504 process areas. 

If you need assistance in choosing the most appropriate CMMI representation for your business, please contact us.

Selecting Maturity Level? If you decided to adopt the staged representation, the immediate question is what level of maturity you need to attain. If you are going to use a model for process improvement for the first time, it is fairly simple to conclude that you first attain maturity level 2, since the model expects a sequential progression on maturity ladder. You have to meet the goals of maturity level 2 before attaining level 3 status. However, you may get more out of your initial investment in process improvement from expert advice. Contact us to learn how you can benefit more from working on maturity level 2 and building a short cut path to get to level 3.

Selecting Process Areas in Continuous Representation: Though you are free to select any process areas for process improvement, it may be beneficial to select related or dependent process areas so that your business derives complete benefit from the improvements. In the absence of a well thought-out plan, a crucial component in improving the quality may be missed. For example, using Project Planning but not including Risk Management may not insure all the benefits from improvements in the project planning area of your business. Please contact us to help you select the PAs to meet your business goals.