CMMI®
The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®) is an integrated set of industry best practices that addresses development and maintenance of products and services. These best practices cover the entire product or service lifecycle from conception through delivery and maintenance, as well as the following bodies of knowledge: Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Project Management, Integrated Product Development and Acquisition. As an integrated framework, CMMI delivers robust solution for organizations that seek to deliver quality products and services and meet schedule and cost requirements.
CMMI best practices are organized into 25 process areas that can be viewed from two architectural perspectives:
- Staged Representation - In this architectural perspective, process areas are organized into maturity levels that provide a pre-defined improvement path. The process areas in each maturity level provide a foundation for implementation of the process areas in the next level. Organizations use the Staged Representation to provide a focus for process improvement as they build process capability in stages.
- Continuous Representation - The Continuous Representation organizes the CMMI process areas into categories. Using this perspective, organizations can focus improvements on specific process areas or categories that are most critical to meeting business and program objectives, and target areas. Using the Continuous Representation requires an understanding of the dependencies of related process areas.
The Staged Representation and Continuous Representation allow organizations flexibility in planning process improvement strategies to meet business objectives. As a model of industry best practices, organizations use CMMI as:
- Build a framework for coordinating, prioritizing and implementing process improvements in an organization
- Develop a reference guide to help the organization ensure stable, capable and mature processes used to support product and service development
- A benchmark against industry standards
Plexent helps organizations select the appropriate representation and approach to meet organizational business needs and to interpret the practices in the organization's business and cultural contexts. As an SEI-Partner for CMMI related services, Plexent supports organizational needs for CMMI training and appraisals.
What CMMI® Addresses
CMMI® provides a framework of industry best practices that cover product and service development, delivery and maintenance. Bodies of knowledge represented in the model include:
- Systems Engineering
Development of total systems that may or may not be software dependent - Software Engineering
Development of software systems - Integrated Product and Process Development
Systematic approach to cost- and time-effectively collaboration with all relevant stakeholders throughout the life of a product or service to satisfy customer needs, expectations and requirements - Supplier Sourcing
Acquisition of products and services from suppliers - Project Management
Systematic approach to planning and managing projects
CMMI version 1.2 practices are organized into 22 Process Areas that address particular aspects of product or service development, delivery or maintenance and the improvement of related processes. These practices are referred to as CMMI for Development, or CMMI-Dev, and are considered core process areas that address the following:
Process Management
Process management process areas contain practices related to defining, planning, deploying, implementing, monitoring, controlling, appraising, measuring and improving processes.
Project Management
Project Management process areas contain practices related to planning, monitoring and controlling projects and include practices to acquire products and services.
Engineering
Engineering process areas contain practices related to the development, delivery and maintenance of products and services in the context of the product or service lifecycle.
Support
Support process areas contain practices that are implemented in the context of other process areas. For instance, Measurement and Analysis supports all the process areas with practices to define, collect, analyze and report product or service performance measurements to understand the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes used.
Version 1.2
Version 1.2 of CMMI represents an evolution in the model architecture, supporting product suite, and further integration of model content to allow incorporation of related bodies of knowledge and industry standards in the future. The following two additions are included in CMMI Version 1.2:
- CMMI for Services (CMMI-Serv) - practices to address the operational aspects of services and incorporates related industry standards such as ITIL
- CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-Acq) - practices to address outsourcing
New versions of the supporting product suite also are released. The CMMI Version 1.2 product suite includes CMMI related training, appraisal methods, and certification programs.
After December 31, 2007, the SEI will no longer support version 1.1 and will not accept appraisal results based on version 1.1 of the model and appraisal methods.
Contact Plexent for understanding the impact to your organization of Version 1.2 and supporting your transition or implementation needs.
CMMI® Services
Plexent offers the following CMMI-based services:
Consulting
- Planning and implementing CMMI-based process improvement programs
- Action planning using appraisal results
- Interpreting CMMI in your business/organizational context
- Integrating CMMI with other initiatives (e.g., ITIL, CobiT, ISO)
- Customer specific implementations
Training
- SEI Introduction to CMMI
- CMMI Version 1.2 Upgrade Training (for those who completed Introduction to CMMI Version 1.1)
- Workshops - Developed and delivered based on organizational needs
- SCAMPI Appraisal Team Training
Appraisals
Plexent appraisal services include planning and leading all three classes of the SEI Standard CMMI Appraisal Methods for Process Improvement (SCAMPI):
- SCAMPI Class A - maturity level ratings, capability level ratings, process maturity/capability baselines. Appraisal results expire 3 years from the date of delivery of final findings.
- SCAMPI Class B - typically used to determine progress toward process improvement goals
- SCAMPI Class C - typically used to identify major implementation gaps relative to one or more process areas
Plexent consultants collaborate with organizations to tailor services and training to meet organizational needs.
CMMI White Paper
To receive a complete copy of the CMMI white paper, please complete and submit the request form.
