Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) , Part - 5

We will give brief description of each process areas. All CMMI process areas are common to both continuous and staged representations. In the staged representation, process areas are organized by maturity levels.

CMMI Process Areas

A Process Area is a cluster of related practices in an area that, when implemented collectively, satisfy a set of goals considered important for making significant improvement in that area. All CMMI process areas are common to both continuous and staged representations.

The continuous representation enables the organization to choose the focus of its process improvement efforts by choosing those process areas, or sets of interrelated process areas, that best benefit the organization and its business objectives. Although there are some limits on what an organization can choose because of the dependencies among process areas, the organization has considerable freedom in its selection.

Once you select the process areas, you must also select how much you would like to improve the processes associated with those process areas (i.e., select the appropriate capability level). Capability levels and generic goals and practices support the improvement of processes in individual process areas.

Conversely, you will see that the staged representation encourages you to always look at process areas in the context of the maturity level to which they belong. The process areas are organized by maturity levels to reinforce this concept. When you use a process area, you use the entire process area: all goals and all practices.

The CMMI Process Areas (PAs) can be grouped into the following four categories to understand their interactions and links with one another regardless of their defined level:

• Process Management
• Project Management
• Engineering
• Support

Each process area is defined by a set of goals and practices. There are two categories of goals and practices:

• Generic goals and practices: They are part of every process area.
• Specific goals and practices: They are specific to a given process area.

A process area is satisfied when company processes cover all of the generic and specific goals and practices for that process area.

Generic goals and practices:

Generic goals and practices are a part of every process area.

NOTATIONS:GG --> Generic Goals and GP --> Generic Practice

• GG 1 Achieve Specific Goals
• GP 1.1 Perform Specific Practices
• GG 2 Institutionalise a Managed Process
• GP 2.1 Establish an Organizational Policy
• GP 2.2 Plan the Process
• GP 2.3 Provide Resources
• GP 2.4 Assign Responsibility
• GP 2.5 Train People
• GP 2.6 Manage Configurations
• GP 2.7 Identify and Involve Relevant Stakeholders
• GP 2.8 Monitor and Control the Process
• GP 2.9 Objectively Evaluate Adherence
• GP 2.10 Review Status with Higher Level Management
• GG 3 Institutionalise a Defined Process
• GP 3.1 Establish a Defined Process
• GP 3.2 Collect Improvement Information
• GG 4 Institutionalise a Quantitatively Managed Process
• GP 4.1 Establish Quantitative Objectives for the Process
• GP 4.2 Stabilise Subprocess Performance
• GG 5 Institutionalise an Optimising Process
• GP 5.1 Ensure Continuous Process Improvement
• GP 5.2 Correct Root Causes of Problems

Common Features:

The common features are attributes that indicate whether the implementation and institutionalization of a key process area is effective, repeatable, and lasting. The five common features are listed below:

• Commitment to Perform: Commitment to Perform describes the actions the organization must take to ensure that the process is established and will endure. Commitment to Perform typically involves establishing organizational policies and senior management sponsorship.
• Ability to Perform: Ability to Perform describes the preconditions that must exist in the project or organization to implement the software process competently. Ability to Perform typically involves resources, organizational structures, and training.
• Activities Performed: Activities Performed describes the roles and procedures necessary to implement a key process area. Activities Performed typically involve establishing plans and procedures, performing the work, tracking it, and taking corrective actions as necessary.
• Measurement and Analysis: Measurement and Analysis describes the need to measure the process and analyze the measurements. Measurement and Analysis typically includes examples of the measurements that could be taken to determine the status and effectiveness of the Activities Performed.
• Verifying Implementation: Verifying Implementation describes the steps to ensure that the activities are performed in compliance with the process that has been established. Verification typically encompasses reviews and audits by management and software quality assurance.

The practices in the common feature Activities Performed describe what must be implemented to establish a process capability. The other practices, taken as a whole, form the basis by which an organization can institutionalize the practices described in the Activities Performed common feature.