Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792

1 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model
CMM (Compatibility Maturity Model)
Compatibility Maturity Model or CMM is methodology used to develop and refine an
organizations software development process. CMM was developed and is promoted by the SEI
(Software Engineering Institute), a research and development centre funded U.S Department of
Defense (DoD). (Rouse, 2007)
The Model depicts a five stage evolutionary ladder which in turn helps us to identify the current
stage of the companys software development process. The five stages or levels are:-
1. Initial Level
2. Repeatable Level
3. Defined Level
4. Managed Level
5. Optimized Level
(E-Style Software, 2008)

Initial Level
It is the starting level of the model. In the initial levels the conditions of the company are not
stable for the development of quality software. Project management concepts are just being
introduced. Success of project would totally be dependent on individual efforts. The succession
of project can only be repeated at this stage if the same project managers and programmers are
assigned to the next stage, meaning if the programmers or the managers leave the company the
quality of the software produced will drastically decrease due to the lack of documentation and
minimal testing.
Repeatable Level
At this level the company is familiar with project management concepts and project planning
based on the experience. New standards will we be introduced to maintain quality of produced
software. This is done by a special quality management team and these standards are
Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792
2 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model
documented. At this stage repetition is easier to achieve but at critical times the development
process tend to go back to the initial stage.
Defined Level
In the third stage of compatibility maturity model the standards for software development and
maintenance are introduced and documented. During the introduction process the company
transforms into more effective unit. By this stage the company have created a special department
for handling and maintaining standards. A thorough plan for constantly training there staff is
essential for this level. After a company achieves this level it becomes stable. The dependency
on particular programmer or managers reduce at this level and the process does not tend to roll
back to the previous stages at critical times.
Managed Level
There are indexes or guides for both software and process management developed by the
organization at this level. Better project management is achieved by the decreased level of
deviation in different project guides. However the level of efficiency achieved maybe different
due to mastering different areas of software development process.
Optimized Level
Optimization level is carrying out improvement procedures for existing processes as well new
concepts and technologies introduced to the company to evaluate the service they provide to the
software development process. The main goal of the company at this level is permanent
improvement of the existing processes. This level also enables the possibility to anticipate error
and defects and minimize software production cost.





Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792
3 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model

Disadvantages of using CMM
1. Organization tend to look at the phases of the CMM model as just another mere target to
achieve in order to gain more projects hence more profits but they become so obsessed
with achieving the next level that they lose perspective and forget the initial goal of
improving the process.
2. CMM does not specifically provide any guidelines on how to improve the software
development process. The goals can only be achieved by taking the company processes
into account. The process used in each company are different therefore steps needed to
change are different. A company following CMM model or another organizations
footsteps does not guarantee improvement. They need to think flexibly and improvise.
3. CMM only helps software development if it is used initially, it will not help a company
if its processes are endangered over night or it cant be used as emergency method to
recover from difficult situation.
4. CMM is related to the improvement of management related activities while it is a big
issue it may not be the most vital part in context with software development.
(Atwal, 2008)

Evolution of CMM
The world is constantly so is the software requirements of clients this led to the team of
developers at SEI to the inevitable conclusion that the model was in dire need of improvisation in
order to monitor the ever evolving process software development.
This led to the development different variations of the CMM model to meet the needs of
different types of functions in projects.
Systems Engineering Compatibility Maturity Model (SE-CMM) was developed to monitor an
organizations systems engineering process. This model ensures that good systems engineering
Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792
4 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model
by monitoring the process from early stages such as customer requirement gathering and doing
so till the last stage such as planning production line.
Trusted Compatibility Maturity Model (T-CMM) is used when you develop systems that handle
sensitive information such as banking systems. This sort of software requires extra quality
assurance and software process improvement. This model achieves this task by employing longer
evaluation periods and more intensive quality tests.
Systems Security Engineering Compatibility Maturity Model (SSE-CMM).This model focus on
the security aspects of systems engineering.SE-CMM is the basis of this model. It monitors
security engineering activities of the entire system life cycle from requirement analysis to
implantation and maintenance of system. This model also looks at security in the aspect of its
development team members. The security is in the form that every member requires clearance
before there allowed to work on the project. This clearance is obtained by running extensive back
ground checks on each person. This type of model is generally used on military projects
People Compatibility Maturity Model (P-CMM).This addresses the aspects of human resource
management in a software development environment. Organizations need to constantly improve
how they attract, develop and retain employee as this will improve their capabilities in software
development due to attracting and retaining experienced employees-CMM looks to improve the
organizational structure as it has a big impact on how the organization operates and performs.
Software Acquisition Compatibility Maturity Model(SA-CMM).The main goal of this model is
to monitor and improve the software acquisition process defining rules and regulation on how to
buy software, where to install, how to maintain etc.
Integrated Product Development Capability Maturity Model (IPD-CMM). This model uses a
collaboration of the required phases from the software production life cycle to best satisfy
customer needs.

However using different models caused several problems when trying to integrate systems
because they clashed with the main processes of SW-CMM model and SE-CMM model which
Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792
5 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model
led to further development of CMM. This new and improved version of CMM is called CMMI
(Capability Maturity Model Integration)
(Atwal, 2008)

Differences between CMM and CMMI
CMM measures the maturity level of an organization by determining if an organization achieves
the activities listed in the Key Performance Areas (KPA), neglecting whether the completion of
such activity leads to the desired result. CMMI is also an activity based approach but the major
difference is that CMMI takes a more result-oriented approach when defining and measuring
Key Performance Areas.





Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792
6 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model
References
Atwal, H., 2008. Capability Maturity Model. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~cah/G53QAT/Report08/hsa06u-WebPage/hsa06u-
WebPage/index.html
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
E-Style Software, 2008. What is CMM. [Online]
Available at: http://www.estylesoft.com/?id=317&pid=1
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
Greiner, L., 2007. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Definition and Solutions.
[Online]
Available at:
http://www.cio.com/article/147100/Capability_Maturity_Model_Integration_CMMI_Definition_
and_Solutions
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
Nayab, N., 2013. CMMI vs CMM: Which is Better?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.brighthubpm.com/certification/69744-cmmi-vs-cmm-which-is-better/
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
Rouse, M., 2007. Capability Maturity Model (CMM). [Online]
Available at: http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/Capability-Maturity-Model
g
[Accessed 12 March 2014].



Thisura Indula-CB004539 Shehan Fernando-CB004425 Arjun Mohinani-CB004792
7 | P a g e
PPSP Compatibility Maturity Model

Bibliography
Atwal, H., 2008. Capability Maturity Model. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~cah/G53QAT/Report08/hsa06u-WebPage/hsa06u-
WebPage/index.html
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
E-Style Software, 2008. What is CMM. [Online]
Available at: http://www.estylesoft.com/?id=317&pid=1
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
Galin, D., 2004. In: Software quality assurance. Harlow,England: Pearson Education Limited.
Greiner, L., 2007. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Definition and Solutions.
[Online]
Available at:
http://www.cio.com/article/147100/Capability_Maturity_Model_Integration_CMMI_Definition_
and_Solutions
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
Nayab, N., 2013. CMMI vs CMM: Which is Better?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.brighthubpm.com/certification/69744-cmmi-vs-cmm-which-is-better/
[Accessed 12 March 2014].
Rouse, M., 2007. Capability Maturity Model (CMM). [Online]
Available at: http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/Capability-Maturity-Model
[Accessed 12 March 2014].