CMMi Level 2

 CMMi Level 2 Certification in India:

Maturity Levels: CMMI for Services: The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a development model created after study of data collected from organizations that contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense, who funded the research. The term "maturity" relates to the degree of formality and optimization of processes, from ad hoc practices, to formally defined steps, to managed result metrics, to active optimization of the processes.

The CMMI model involves mainly five aspects:

Maturity Levels: a 2-level process maturity range; where the highest (5th) level is a theoretical idyllic situation where processes would be systematically managed by a combination of process optimization and continual process improvement.

Main Process Areas: a Key Process Area identifies a cluster of related activities that, when performed together, achieve a set of goals considered important.

Objectives: the objectives of a key process area abridged the states that must exist for that important process area to have been implemented in an effective and durable way. The extent to which the goals/objectives have been accomplished is an indicator of how much capability the organization has established at that maturity level. The goals signify the scope, boundaries, and intent of each key process area.

Common Structures: common features include practices that implement and institutionalize a key process area (KPA). There are five types of common features:

1.     Commitment to perform,

2.     Ability to perform

3.     Activities performed

4.     Measurement and analysis, and

5.     Verifying implementation.

Benefit of Adopting CMMI Principals: There are numerous benefits of implementing CMMI in an IT / Software Development Organization, some of these benefits are listed below:

1.     Principles for maintaining Quality in projects starts in the mind of the subordinate programmers to the senior programmers and project managers.

2.     Centralized QMS for implementation in projects to ensure uniformity in the documentation which means less learning cycle for new resources, improved management of project status.

3.     Integration of Software Engineering Best Practices in the Organizations as described in CMMI Model.

4.     Market Demand

5.     Performance Demand

6.     Process Improvement

7.     Cost saving in terms of lesser effort due to less defects and less rework

8.     This also results in increased Productivity

9.     On-Time Deliveries

10.  Increased Customer Satisfaction

11.  Consistency

12.  Overall increased Return on Investment

13.  Decreased Costs

14.  Improved Productivity (Self Improvement)

15.  Provides detailed coverage of the product life cycles.

16.  Promotes collaboration between systems engineering and software engineering and shifts the focus to the end product and its associated processes.

17.  It is both staged and continuous approaches to process improvement.

Quality Benefit of CMMI Adoption:

1.     Used Measurement & Analysis to improve 11 percent increase in productivity.

2.     Reduced software defects per million delivered SLOC (Source Lines of Codes) by  50 percent compared to defects prior to CMMI.

3.     44 percent defect reduction following causal analysis cycle at maturity level 2.

4.     Increased the achievement of percentage of milestones from approximately 50% to approximately 95% percentage.

5.     Increased number of releases per year.

Disadvantages of CMMI:

1.     CMMI-DEV is may not be suitable for every organization.

2.     It may add overhead in terms of documentation.

3.     May require additional resources and knowledge required in smaller organizations to initiate CMMI-based process improvement.

4.     May require a considerable amount of time and effort for implementation.

5.     Require a major shift in organizational culture and attitude.

Key Practices: The key practices describe the elements of infrastructure and practice that contribute most effectively to the implementation and institutionalization of the area.

The process areas below and their maturity levels are listed for the CMMI for Services model:

Maturity Level 2 - Managed

• CM - Configuration Management
• MA - Measurement and Analysis
• PPQA - Process and Product Quality Assurance
• REQM - Requirements Management
• SAM - Supplier Agreement Management
• SD - Service Delivery
• WMC - Work Monitoring and Control
• WP - Work Planning

Maturity Level 3 - Defined

• CAM - Capacity and Availability Management
• DAR - Decision Analysis and Resolution
• IRP - Incident Resolution and Prevention
• IWM - Integrated Work Management
• OPD - Organizational Process Definition
• OPF - Organizational Process Focus
• OT - Organizational Training
• RSKM - Risk Management
• SCON - Service Continuity
• SSD - Service System Development
• SST - Service System Transition
• STSM - Strategic Service Management

Maturity Level 4 - Quantitatively Managed

• OPP - Organizational Process Performance
• QPM - Quantitative Project Management

Maturity Level 5 - Optimizing

• CAR - Causal Analysis and Resolution
• OPM - Organizational Performance Management

Levels:

There are five levels defined along the continuum of the model and, according to the SEI: "Predictability, effectiveness, and control of an organization's software processes are believed to improve as the organization moves up these five levels. While not rigorous, the empirical evidence to date supports this belief"..

Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, individual heroics) - the starting point for use of a new or undocumented repeat process.

Repeatable - the process is at least documented sufficiently such that repeating the same steps may be attempted.

Defined - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business processes.

Managed - the process is quantitatively managed in accordance with agreed-upon metrics.

Optimizing - process management includes deliberate process optimization/improvement.

Within each of these maturity levels are Key Process Areas which characterise that level, and for each such area there are five factors: goals, commitment, ability, measurement, and verification. These are not necessarily unique to CMM, representing — as they do — the stages that organizations must go through on the way to becoming mature.

The model provides a theoretical continuum along which process maturity can be developed incrementally from one level to the next. Skipping levels is not allowed/feasible.

CMMI Level 1 – Initial: It is distinctive of processes at this level that processes are typically undocumented and in a state of lively change, tending to be driven in an ad hoc basis (Need based process), uncontrolled and reactive manner by users or events / requirements. This provides a confused or wobbly environment for the processes. This state can even be identified by the organisation via internal audit itself. There is no need for third party audit for the Level 1. Even not having certification is better option than acquiring CMMI Level 1.

CMMI Level 2 – Repeatable: It is characteristic of processes at this level that some processes are repeatable, possibly with consistent results. Process discipline is unlikely to be rigorous, but where it exists it may help to ensure that existing processes are maintained during times of stress. Organisation may perform its task in efficient manner, but it reflect that organisation may not handle the different task simultaneously. Such organisation may requires time to establish the system in the organisation to handle new task.

CMMI Level 3 – Defined: It is characteristic of processes at this level that there are sets of defined and documented standard processes established and subject to some degree of improvement over time. These standard processes are in place (AS-IS processes) and used to establish steadiness of method/process performance across the organization.

CMMI Level 4 – Managed: It is characteristic of processes at this level that, using process metrics, management can effectively control the AS-IS process (e.g., for software development). In particular, management can identify ways to adjust and adapt the process to particular projects without measurable losses of quality or deviations from specifications. Process Capability is established from this level.

CMMI Level 5 – Optimizing: It is a characteristic of processes at this level that the focus is on continually improving process performance through both incremental and innovative technological changes/improvements.

At maturity level 5, processes are concerned with addressing statistical common causes of process variation and changing the process (for example, to shift the mean of the process performance) to improve process performance. This would be done at the same time as maintaining the likelihood of achieving the established quantitative process-improvement objectives.