Capability Maturity Model

Part One - Overview

History

1986 - Effort started by SEI and MITRE Corporation

assess capability of DoD contractors

First version published in 1991

closely related to TQM

goal is customer satisfaction

not required that customer be "delighted"

Some Fundamental Ideas

Process improvement is based on small steps, rather than revolutionary innovation.

CMM is not exhaustive or dictatorial. CMM focuses on processes that are of value across the organization.

Benefits of using the model

helps forge a shared vision of purpose of process improvement within the organization
establishes common language for the software process defines a set of priorities for attacking problems supports measurement
via reliable appraisals objective supports industry-wide

comparisons

Risks of using the model

"All models are wrong; some models are useful."

Not a silver bullet. Does not address all of the issues that are important for successful projects.

For example
how to hire and retain good people expertise in the application domain

Levels
1.
2.

3.
4.

5.

Initial Repeatable Defined Managed Optimizing

Level 1 : The Initial Level

ad hoc, sometimes chaotic

overcommitment leads to a series of crises during a crisis, projects abandon plans capability is characteristic of individuals, not the organization

when a good manager leaves, the success leaves with them

Level 2 : The Repeatable Level

Planning is based on experience with similar projects

past successes can be repeated

Policies for Managing and Implementation

installed basic management controls track costs and schedules notice and deal with problems as they arise

Level 3 : The Defined Level

Standard Processes defined across the organization and used by all projects
standard set of roles, activities, quality tracking, etc each project uses a tailored version of this standard process

Training Program is in place to ensure everyone has the skills required for their assigned role

Level 4 : The Managed Level

Quantitative Quality Goals

for both Products and Processes

Organization-wide Process Database

meaningful variations in process performance can be distinguished from random noise

actions are then taken to correct the situation

Products are of predictably high quality

Level 5 : The Optimizing Level

Organization has the means to identify weaknesses and strengthen the process proactively
teams analyze defects to determine their cause, and disseminate lessons learned throughout the organization major focus on eliminating waste

e.g. reduce amount of rework

Key Process Areas by maturity level Quantitative process management

Software Quality Management
Organization process focus Organization process definition Training program Integrated software management Software product engineering Intergroup coordination Peer Reviews

Defect prevention Technology change management Process change management

Requirements management Software project planning Software project tracking and oversight Software subcontract management Software quality assurance Software Configuration management

This is a somewhat handy hierarchy of activities.

Don't skip levels

For example,

collecting detailed data (level 4) is meaningless unless the data is from projects that use a consistent process (level 3)

Reality Check...

Is CMM well-suited for everyone?

Criticisms of CMM

CMM is well suited for bureaucratic organizations such as government agencies and large corporations.

Its formality is a hindrance to projects where time-tomarket is more important than quality.

Promotes process over substance.

For example, emphasizing predictability over service provided to end users.

en.wikipedia.com

Who uses CMM

75% of organizations are probably Level One.

To get to Level Two, you must have control over the requirements documents. Hence, shrink-wrap companies like Microsoft are Level One.

75% of Level Five organizations are in India.

Level Comparison - Risk

Level 1
Just

do it

Level 2
problems

are recognized and corrected as they occur

Level 3
problems

are anticipated and prevented, or impacts minimized

Levels 4 and 5
sources

of problems are understood and eliminated

Level Comparison - People

Level 1

success depends on individual heroics fire fighting is the way of life

people are trained and supported by management success depends on individuals people are trained for their role(s) groups work together strong sense of teamwork in every project strong sense of teamwork across the organization everyone does process improvement

Level 2

Level 3

Levels 4

Level 5

Level Comparison - Measurement

Level 1

ad hoc data collection and analysis

Level 2

individual projects use planning data

Level 3

data collected for all processes data shared across projects

Levels 4

data standardized across the organization

Level 5

data used for process improvement

Quiz 1
Your Role : SQA specialist Situation :

Initial Unit Testing reports indicate a bug rate of 4.5 / KSLOC. Further checking finds
Average initial bug rate is 3.1 per KSLOC StdDev of 0.5 weighted rate is also higher than average

What CMM level enables this amount of visibility into the process?

Quiz 2

Your Role : Project Manager Phase : Unit Testing Problem : You notice that design, implementation, and testing of the database component will probably take 3 weeks instead of the planned 4 weeks. These tasks are not on the critical path.

Possible Actions?
and

what level CMM characterizes that action?

Quiz 3

Your Role : Project Manager Phase : Planning Task : Schedule the Testing of the Database
Estimated

Duration: 3 days Required Resources:

the database requirements specs the implementation (source code) real data from customer test person that has a DB Test certificate

How do the different capability levels affect your ability to schedule and monitor this task?

Quiz 4

Your Role : a development team leader Problems :

Well

into development, you get an email indicating a change in the interface requirements based on a demo of the prototype done with the customer. The change will require a good amount of code rework.

What would be the reaction of groups with

Level

One Level Three Level Five

Next . . .
Key

Process Areas Key Practices Common Features