The CMM describes the principles and practices underlying software process maturity. It is intended to help software organizations improve the maturity of their software processes in terms of an evolutionary path from ad hoc, chaotic processes to mature, disciplined software processes. The focus is on identifying key process areas and the exemplary practices that may comprise a disciplined software process. The maturity framework provided by CMM establishes a context in which:
• Practices can be repeated, if you don’t repeat an activity there is no reason to improve it. There are policies, procedures, and practices that commit the organization to implementing and performing consistently.
• Best practices can be rapidly transferred across groups. Practices are defined sufficiently to allow for transfer across project boundaries, thus providing some standardization for the organization.
• Variations in performing best practices are reduced. Quantitative objectives are established for tasks; and measures are established, taken, and maintained to form a base-line from which an assessment is possible.
• Practices are continuously improved to enhance capability (optimizing).
Structure of CMM
Maturity Levels
A layered framework providing a progression to the discipline needed to engage in continuous improvement (It is important to state here that an organization develops the ability to assess the impact of a new practice, technology, or tool on their activity. Hence it is not a matter of adopting these, rather it is a matter of determining how innovative efforts influence existing practices. This really empowers projects, teams, and organizations by giving them the foundation to support reasoned choice.)
Key Process Areas
Key process area (KPA) identifies a cluster of related activities that, when performed collectively, achieve a set of goals considered important.
Goals
The goals of a key process area summarize the states that must exist for that key process area to have been implemented in an effective and lasting way. The extent to which the goals have been accomplished is an indicator of how much capability the organization has established at that maturity level. The goals signify the scope, boundaries, and intent of each key process area.
Common Features
Common features include practices that implement and institutionalize a key process area. These five types of common features include: Commitment to Perform, Ability to Perform, Activities Performed, Measurement and Analysis, and Verifying Implementation.
Key Practices
The key practices describe the elements of infrastructure and practice that contribute most effectively to the implementation and institutionalization of the key process areas.
People CMM
Some argue the CMM focuses too heavily on process or technology, not people. Furthermore, those organizations deemed mature indicated that their progression to this state required significant changes in managing people, and their continuing improvement in their organizational capability required them to address issues regarding their people assets and human resources management. In response to this growing concern the SEI is developing a People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM). The P-CMM, whose structure is provided in following figure, is an adaptation of CMM concepts focused on developing the organization’s human capabilities, especially the talent in software and information systems development. The motivation for the P-CMM is to radically improve the ability of software organizations to attract, develop, motivate, organize, and retain the talent needed to steadily improve software development capability.
The strategic objectives pursued in the P-CMM are to:
• improve the capability of software organizations by increasing the capability of their staff,
• ensure that software development capability is an attribute of the organization rather than of a few individuals,
• align the motivation of the staff with those of the organization, and
• retain assets (i.e., people with extensive skills and capabilities) within the organization.
The P-CMM includes practices in the areas of:
• staffing (includes recruiting, selection and planning)
• managing performance
• training
• compensation
• work environment
• career development
• organizational and individual competence
• mentoring and coaching
• team and culture development