Why Should Organizations Adopt the CMMI^®?

Empirical evidence continues to be compiled regarding the positive impacts of model-based process improvement, and specifically, process improvement based upon the Capability Maturity Model^® Integration (CMMI^®). You can find much of this evidence listed on the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI's) website at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/. There is an excellent resource, which was published in October 2003 that provides a good summary of evidence. This resource can be found at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/03.reports/pdf/03sr009-revised.pdf, and is entitled "Demonstrating the Impact and Benefits of CMMI".

The CMMI^® provides a structure and path to system/software engineering process improvement that is unequalled in the world. This model is understandable and adopts a consistent set of terminology and practices that can be used across the industry. One of the greatest attributes of the CMMI^® is its ownership. It is actually produced and owned by all of us within the system/software engineering community, as we have direct input in the derivation and validation of the best practices that are listed in this model. The SEI avails the model as public domain, and it is available for download through their Web site.