Introduction to Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a methodology used to develop and refine an organization's software development process. The model describes a five-level evolutionary path of increasingly organized and systematically more mature processes. CMM was developed and is promoted by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Levels of Capability Maturity Model

Predictability, effectiveness, and control of an organization's software processes are believed to improve as the organization moves up these five levels.
- At the initial level, processes are disorganized, even chaotic. Success is likely to depend on individual efforts, and is not considered to be repeatable, because processes would not be sufficiently defined and documented to allow them to be replicated.
- At the repeatable level, policies for managing a development project and procedures to implement those policies are established. Effective management processes for development projects are institutionalized, which allow organizations to repeat successful practices developed on earlier projects, although the specific processes implemented by the projects may differ.
- At the defined level, an organization has developed its own standard software process through greater attention to documentation, standardization, and integration. Processes are used to help the managers, team leaders, and development team members perform more effectively. An organization-wide training program is implemented to ensure that the staff and managers have the knowledge and skills required to fulfill their assigned roles.
- At the managed level, an organization monitors and controls its own processes through data collection and analysis.
- At the optimizing level, processes are constantly being improved through monitoring feedback from current processes and introducing innovative processes to better serve the organization's particular needs.