Reaching Success through Best PM Practices

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A staged maturity level cannot be attained until all of the generic and specific goals of all processes at lower levels plus the generic and specific goals for the processes in that level are satisfied. A higher capability level for an individual process cannot be attained until all of the generic and specific goals of the lower levels plus the generic and specific goals for that level have been attained for that process.

In general, staged representations provide a systematic approach to building process maturity, level by level. Continuous representations allow different organizations to choose the processes to be improved according to the priorities established by those organizations.

Note that levels 4 and 5 in both the staged and continuous representations are termed “quantitatively managed and optimizing.” Quantitatively managed process areas are those for which uniformly defined and measured data are collected from all projects across an organization and analyzed for strengths and weaknesses. At level 5 the results of level 4 data analysis are used to improve process areas and to introduce new technologies in support of the process areas. Level 5 is “optimizing” and not “optimized.” The latter term (optimized) implies that the organization’s processes are as good as possible. In contrast, the former term (optimizing) implies that the organization’s processes are being continuously improved but are not optimum; there is always room for improvement.

The purpose of each of the 22 processes in CMMI-DEV-v1.2 is briefly summarized in Table 1A.4. Relevant elements of CMMI-DEV-v1.2 are presented in appendixes to the chapters of this text.

TABLE 1A.4 Purposes of the CMMI-DEV-v1.2 processes

Process Area Purpose

Requirements management Control requirements and maintain consistency of requirements with plans and workproducts

Project planning Establish and maintain the plans that define the project work activities

Project monitoring and control Compare progress to plans and apply corrective actions as needed

Supplier agreement management Manage acquisition of product elements from vendors and subcontractors

Measurement and analysis Supply status information needed to support decisions

Process and product quality assurance Evaluate processes and work products to identify areas of noncompliance

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Process Area Purpose

Configuration management Establish and maintain control of work products

Requirements development Obtain, analyze, and develop customer, product, and product-componentrequirements

Technical solution Design, develop, and implement solutions that satisfy requirements

Product integration Integrate components, validate overall functionality, and deliver the product

Verification Ensure that selected work products meet their specified requirements

Validation Ensure that selected work products satisfy their intended use when placed in theirintended environments

Organizational process focus Plan and implement organizational process improvement

Organizational process definition + IPPD Establish and maintain a usable set of organizational process assets

Organizational training Develop skills and knowledge so that people can perform their jobs efficiently andeffectively

Integrated project management + IPPD

Develop and use an integrated and defined set of processes that are tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes

Risk management Identify potential problems; develop and implement strategies and techniques formitigating them

Decision analysis and resolution

Identify possible decisions using a formal evaluation process that evaluates alternatives against established criteria

Quantitative project management

Use quantified data to manage each project’s quality and process-performance objectives

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Process Area Purpose

Organizational process performance

Provide process performance data and quantitative models to understand the organization’ s standard processes

Organizational innovation and deployment

Select and deploy incremental and innovative improvements that measurably improve the organization’s processes and technologies

Causal analysis and resolution

Identify causes of defects and other problems and take action to prevent them from occurring in the future

1A.2 ISO/IEC AND IEEE/EIA STANDARDS 12207 ISO/IEC Standard 12207 is a framework for organizing and conducting software life cycle processes. ISO/IEC 12207 was published in 1995 and amended in 2002 and 2004. Amendments 1 and 2 revise 12207 to incorporate lessons learned in using 12207 and to more closely align it with ISO Standard 15504, which is a standard for assessing the software processes within an organization to determine areas of strength and weakness.

ISO/IEC Standard 12207 provides a comprehensive set of life cycle processes for acquisition, supply, development, operation, and maintenance of software. It includes 17 processes:

• 5 primary life cycle processes, • 8 supporting processes, and • 4 organizational processes.

The five primary processes are:

• acquisition, • supply, • development,