Home
About Us
PI-21 Services
Models
Testimonials
PI-21 Worldwide
Contact Information
Telephone
(1) 703 866-5556
FAX
(1) 703 866-5554
Postal address
8601 Beech Hollow Lane
Springfield, VA 22153-3440
Send Electronic mail to
PI-21 Information
PI-21 Webmaster
Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI®)
The Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) is a process improvement framework that enables organizations to improve productivity and overall product quality. It provides a set of best practices to improve the organizations’ ability to manage the development, acquisition and maintenance of products and services to gain the maximum efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction. The CMMI Framework supports the CMMI Product Suite by allowing multiple models, training courses, and appraisal methods to be generated that support specific areas of interest.
The earlier versions of the CMMI allowed an organization to select one or more of the disciplines available in the CMMI, including the CMMI for System Engineering, Software Engineering, Integrated Product and Process Development; and Supplier Sourcing (CMMI-SE/SW/IPPD/SS). By way of comparison, the current CMMI model deals with some of these different areas of interest in the form of what are now called constellations. CMMI currently addresses three constellations, which are discussed separately:
- Product and service development — CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV)
- Service establishment, management, and delivery — CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC)
- Product and service acquisition — CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ)
The CMMI structure provides two representations to allow for flexibility in the organization's process improvement program. The staged representation provides as step-by-step approach to improve from ad hoc implementations to more predictable, effective, and controlled processes. While the continuous representation allows the organization to focus on capabilities within the particular process areas that will maximize improvement benefits for the organization.
CMMI is designed to be more fully compliant with relevant ISO standards and provides more robust high-maturity practices. The process maturity and/or capability of an organization can be assessed via a Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPISM). There are 3 versions or levels of SCAMPI appraisal: SCAMPI A, SCAMPI B and SCAMPI C. Contrary to common belief, SCAMPI A appraisals (the highest and most complete form of SCAMPI appraisal and the one that can be used outside of the organization when trying to attract business) will NOT result in CMMI Certification. Instead SCAMPI A appraisals result in either a CMMI Maturity Level rating or a series of Capability Level ratings, depending on the representation used during the appraisal as described above. SCAMPI B and C appraisals are smaller, less time comsuming, generally less expensive and less thorough than SCAMPI A appraisals. They are commonly used to help an organization determine where they stand in terms of compliance with the CMMI model. SCAMPI B and C appraisals are often used in preparation for a SCAMPI A as kind of a mini appraisal to help ensure a successful outcome for the SCAMPI A.
Various CMMI constellations offer each organization the opportunity to tailor the framework to it's business environment. This allows an organization to maximize return on it's enterprise-wide process improvement investment, including the significant improvement on predictability of the critical measures of cost, schedule, performance and stakeholder satisfaction.Each CMMI Model has both maturity levels (staged representation) and capability levels (continuous representation). The definitions of the levels are similar for both staged and continuous, the difference is the scope that the level applies to. In the staged representation the maturity level refers to a prescribed set of process areas being satisfied across the organization. While, in the continuous representation the capability level refers to the ability of the organization to exhibit capability in each selected process area individually.
The definition of the levels is:
Capability Level 0 Incomplete (doesn't exist in the staged representation): A process that is either not implemented at all, or is partially implemented, but the implementation does not satisfy all the specific goals.
Capability Level 1 Performed / Maturity Level 1 Initial: A process that satisfies the specific goals, but doesn't not have the institutionalization of a managed process.
Level 2 Managed: A performed process that has the basic infrastructure to support the process and allow for basic institutionalization. A managed process is often still somewhat reactive in nature.
Level 3 Defined: A managed process that is tailored from the organizational process and allows for a more proactive implementation. A defined process allows for trend analysis and forecasting by having a set of processes that are measured and defined at the organizational level for use on projects, however these processes are not yet stable across the organization.
Level 4 Quantitatively Managed: A defined process that is managed using statistical and other quantitative techniques. A quantitatively managed process is more predictive due to the fact that the process performance is stabilized.
Level 5 Optimizing: A quantitatively managed process that is improved based on a quantitative understanding of the common causes of variation within the process.
CMMI Tour of the Americas Page
News Highlights
|
Quicklinks