Capability Maturity Model
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie-Mellon
University has developed a method of assessing an organization's
software engineering proficiency called the Capability Maturity
Model or CMM. This vehicle provides a scale for evaluating the
ability of an organization to manage its software development
process. Industry studies show that progression through the CMM
dramatically increases productivity and lowers defect rates.
Through the development of CMM-standard methods and
practices, WESCO consistently delivers defined projects on time
and within budget.
The model states that software processes is predictable,
controllable, and measurable. The use of a software development
process allows an organization to normalize the tools, methods,
and work patterns used to develop software. CMM provides a way
to measure an organization’s progress through industry-recognized
stages of maturity. Every organization operates at one of the
following levels of maturity:
Initial— Level One
Although Level One organizations may have a few formal
procedures for planning and tracking their work processes,
they rarely enforce them. Organizations at this stage
frequently operate without project plans and can rarely
provide accurate cost estimates. Change control is imprecise.
Software maintenance is often difficult because problems are
not recorded during development. Repeatable— Level Two
In Level Two, organizations gain control of plans and
commitments. Although reaching this level indicates that
an organization has made some progress, the journey
toward quality control has barely begun. The organization’s
control to this point stems from individual experience, and
thus is relevant only to similar work done by the same
people. Organizations at Level Two risk losing ground when
faced with new challenges, such as organizational changesor new tools and products. Defined— Level Three
An organization has successfully built the foundation from
which all major progress can be achieved when it reaches
Level Three. At this point, the organization has a consistent
process to which all people in the organization adhere, and
from this foundation the organization can examine its
process and determine how to improve it. For the first time,
the process— not the individual— defines the work. Although
the organization can provide improved quality and more
reliable cost estimates and schedules, it cannot fully
quantify the value of the process. Managed— Level Four
Advancing to Level Four provides organizations with major
improvements. Although metrics are used in lower levels,
organizations begin to use metrics consistently to examine
and improve processes in Level Four. It is important that all
groups within the organization gather identical data and use
identical definitions so results can be compared. These data
are not used to compare projects or individuals. Such an
approach undermines the validity of the data and corrupts
the team focus of the process. Optimizing— Level Five
To some degree, optimizing occurs at all levels of the
capability maturity model. However, until an organization
reaches Level Five, the emphasis is usually on optimizing the
products that are being developed. At Level Five, the focus
shifts to the process itself. Metrics are in place that help find
and fix errors much faster than at other levels. The data
gathered at this level help organizations reduce the cost of
correcting errors by identifying the weakest areas of the
process.
CMM provides a yardstick for identifying how close an organization
is to optimizing its software development process. WESCO
standard methodologies and processes are based upon our
commitment to providing top quality products and services. Our
steady implementation of methodologies that will bring us to the
Level 5— Optimizing are a major assets to furthering our ability to
provide world-class products and services. top of page |
