CMMI for Development: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement, 3rd Edition

Which CMMI book is right for you? Sandra Shrum and Mike Phillips describe the differences among CMMI for Acquisition, CMMI for Development, and CMMI for Services. Find out more.

Product Author Bios

Mary Beth Chrissis is a senior member of the technical staff at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Since joining the SEI in 1988, Chrissis has been a coauthor of the Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development (CMMI-DEV) and Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM) models. Currently, Chrissis chairs the CMMI Configuration Control Board (CCB), is a member of the IEEE Software and Systems Engineering Standards Executive Committee, and is an instructor of various CMMI model-related courses at the SEI. Prior to joining the SEI, Chrissis worked at GTE Government Systems in Rockville, Maryland; Dravo Automation Sciences in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Sperry Corporation in Great Neck, New York. Before coming to the SEI, Chrissis was pursuing her M.S. in computer science from Johns Hopkins University, and in 1983 she received a B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mike Konrad is a senior member of the technical staff and has been at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University since 1988. Dr. Konrad is the Chief Architect of CMMI and Manager of SEI’s CMMI Modeling Team. Previously, he was Chair of the CMMI Configuration Control Board (2001-2006) and a member of the International Process Research Consortium (2004-2006). Also, he was a member of the teams that developed the original Software CMM Version 1.0 (1988-1991) and ISO 15504 (1993-1997). Prior to joining the SEI, Konrad worked with several companies in computer science-related positions, including ISSI, SAIC, and Honeywell and briefly with George Mason University and the University of Maryland. He obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1978 from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

Sandy Shrum is a senior writer/editor and communications point of contact for the Software Engineering Process Management program at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Besides this book, she has coauthored two other CMMI books: CMMI®-ACQ: Guidelines for Improving the Acquisition of Products and Services (Addison-Wesley, 2009) and CMM® for Services: Guidelines for Superior Service, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2007). She has been with the SEI since 1995 and has been a member of the CMMI Development Team since the CMMI project’s inception in 1998. Her roles on the project have included model author, small review team member, reviewer, editor, model development process coordinator, and quality assurance process owner. Before joining the SEI, Sandy worked for eight years with Legent Corporation, a Virginia-based software company. Her experience as a technical communicator dates back to 1988, when she earned her M.S. in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Her undergraduate degree, a B.S. in business administration, was earned at Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania.

CMMI® for Development (CMMI-DEV) describes best practices for the development and maintenance of products and services across their lifecycle. By integrating essential bodies of knowledge, CMMI-DEV provides a single, comprehensive framework for organizations to assess their development and maintenance processes and improve performance. Already widely adopted throughout the world for disciplined, high-quality engineering, CMMI-DEV Version 1.3 now accommodates other modern approaches as well, including the use of Agile methods, Lean Six Sigma, and architecture-centric development.

CMMI® for Development, Third Edition, is the definitive reference for CMMI-DEV Version 1.3. The authors have revised their tips, hints, and cross-references, which appear in the margins of the book, to help you better understand, apply, and find information about the content of each process area. The book includes new and updated perspectives on CMMI-DEV in which people influential in the model’s creation, development, and transition share brief but valuable insights. It also features four new case studies and five contributed essays with practical advice for adopting and using CMMI-DEV. This book is an essential resource–whether you are new to CMMI-DEV or are familiar with an earlier version–if you need to know about, evaluate, or put the latest version of the model into practice.

The book is divided into three parts.

Part One offers the broad view of CMMI-DEV, beginning with basic concepts of process improvement. It introduces the process areas, their components, and their relationships to each other. It describes effective paths to the adoption and use of CMMI-DEV for process improvement and benchmarking, all illuminated with fresh case studies and helpful essays.

Part Two, the bulk of the book, details the generic goals and practices and the twenty-two process areas now comprising CMMI-DEV. The process areas are organized alphabetically by acronym for easy reference. Each process area includes goals, best practices, and examples.

Part Three contains several useful resources, including CMMI-DEV-related references, acronym definitions, a glossary of terms, and an index.

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Introduction to CMMI for Development: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement, 3rd Edition

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Table of Contents

List of Perspectives xiii

About Process Improvement 4

About Capability Maturity Models 9

Evolution of CMMI 10

CMMI Framework 14

CMMI for Development 18

Core Process Areas and CMMI Models 19

Required, Expected, and Informative Components 19

Components Associated with Part Two 20

Supporting Informative Components 25

Numbering Scheme 26

Typographical Conventions 27

Understanding Levels 31

Structures of the Continuous and Staged Representations 32

Understanding Capability Levels 34

Understanding Maturity Levels 41

Process Areas 46

Equivalent Staging 49

Achieving High Maturity 52

Process Management 60

Project Management 64

Engineering 68

Recursion and Iteration of Engineering Processes 74

Support 77

Adopting CMMI 90

Your Process Improvement Program 94

Selections that Influence Your Program 98

CMMI Models 99

Interpreting CMMI When Using Agile Approaches 100

Using CMMI Appraisals 104

Appraisal Requirements for CMMI 105

SCAMPI Appraisal Methods 105

Appraisal Considerations 106

CMMI Related Training 107

Case Studies 113

Essays 137

Generic Goals and Generic Practices 165

Causal Analysis and Resolution 233

Configuration Management 243

Decision Analysis and Resolution 257

Integrated Project Management 267

Measurement and Analysis 287

Organizational Process Definition 303

Organizational Process Focus 317

Organizational Performance Management 331

Organizational Process Performance 351

Organizational Training 365

Product Integration 377

Project Monitoring and Control 393

Project Planning 403

Process and Product Quality Assurance 425

Quantitative Project Management 433

Requirements Development 455

Requirements Management 473

Risk Management 481

Supplier Agreement Management 497

Technical Solution 509

Validation 531

Verification 541

Appendix A: References 555

Appendix B: Acronyms 561

Appendix C: CMMI Version 1.3 Project Participants 565

Appendix D: Glossary 573