CMMI Software Capability Maturity Model

CMMI stands for Capability Maturity Model Integration, or the Integration of Capability Maturity Models. It is a new version of the CMM model. The early version of CMMI (CMMI-SE/SW/IPPD) was introduced and tested in some countries and regions by SEI. As the application expanded and the model evolved, it has become a widely used comprehensive model.

CMMI stands for Capability Maturity Model Integration. There are 5 levels of CMMI certification: CMMI Level 1, Performed; CMMI Level 2, Managed; CMMI Level 3, Defined; CMMI Level 4, Quantitatively Managed; and CMMI Level 5, Optimizing.

CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration for Software) is an evolution of the CMM (Capability Maturity Model for Software). Developed over four years by a global panel of experts in software process improvement and development management, organized by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S., CMMI is a worldwide standard for assessing software maturity. It primarily guides the enhancement of software development processes and evaluates software development capabilities.

Since the CMM model was introduced at the end of the 1980s and widely adopted in software process improvement in the 1990s, it has greatly enhanced software productivity and quality, making a significant contribution to the development and expansion of the software industry.

However, the CMM model is primarily used for improving software processes and promoting the maturity of software enterprises' software capabilities. Nevertheless, it has deficiencies in process improvement for systems engineering, integrated product and process development, supplier management, and other areas. Therefore, people have had to develop similar models from other disciplines outside of software.

Since the introduction of model-based process improvement, the engineering field has seen changes in at least three key areas.

Firstly, the environment for executing engineering has become more complex. There's a larger volume of work, requiring more personnel, spanning across company boundaries, with a broader and wider scope, and there's a need to continue accelerating the pace of implementation to meet customer demands. This has led to a significant increase in various coordination tasks.

Next, the methods for executing engineering tasks have evolved. Interdisciplinary teams, concurrent engineering, highly automated processes, and multi-national standards all influence engineering practice. As a result, an engineering project may involve several international standards.

Third, the success of the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (CMM) has led to various derivatives, each exploring process improvement issues within specific domains. Institutions have also adopted multiple improvement models to address their respective critical process issues. The proliferation of models within engineering organizations has caused conflicts between process improvement goals and technologies, and has led to confusion among practitioners when applying different models to meet specific requirements, necessitating an increase in training efforts.

All these changes indicate the need to integrate various process improvement efforts. The diverse disciplines and processes involved in contemporary engineering are closely interwoven. When applying different models, inefficiencies and confusion often arise, often at a high cost. Therefore, a single process improvement framework that can span multiple disciplines is required. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is designed to address these three types of issues.