Capacity Maturity Model

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a research and development organization founded in 1984 by the US Department of Defense and funded by the US federal government. It is supported by Carnegie Mellon University. Information regarding the SEI Institute and the CMM model can be obtained from the SEI Institute website at: www. sei.cmu. edu.

The Capacity Maturity Model is the basis that can be used to measure the maturity of a software process carried out by an organization. It classifies the software development process at five levels of development: initial, repeatable, definable, manageable and optimizing.

For example, an organization operating at level 1 in the CMM model, i.e. at the initial level, develops software using uncertain and unplanned processes. It is most likely that this organization will be unable to meet the project deadlines, detect and eliminate all defects present in the software product before its release and fit within the cash budget framework. Organizations that have reached the level 2 in the CMM model have made significant investment of money in order to improve the processes they implement, and during the planning, evaluation and scheduling of the plans they are guided by clear principles of the design process management, thereby achieving the desired goals. It can be fully expected that the second-level organizations, in comparison with the first-level organizations are better able to cope with the tasks of meeting the deadline for the development, detecting and correcting defects, as well as managing the final cost of the project more precisely. Are you sure that the quality of software products you develop is appropriate?? If you want to be sure of that it is wise to resort to independent application testing services provided on a regular basis.

In comparison with the chaos present at the level 1, level 3 brings significant improvements. At the level 3, i.e. at a level to be determined, the testing organization is most likely to implement most of the following methods:

• requirements management
• reliable estimates
• scheduling
• configuration management
• inspections and revisions.

According to the CMM model, the level being determined is a high level of the organization’s efficiency, however, the management of the process is based on qualitative rather than quantitative assessments. At this level, reliable measurement systems are not used yet, suitable for assessing the quality of the software product or the efficiency of the process.