Capability Maturity Model

The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) [1] 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. This model became the foundation from which Carnegie Mellon created the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). 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.

Overview
1 Overview 2 History 2.1 Prior need for software processes 2.2 Precursor 2.3 Development at Software Engineering Institute 2.4 CMMI 2.5 Adapted to other processes 3 Model topics 3.1 Maturity model 3.2 Structure 3.3 Levels 3.4 Critique 3.5 Software process framework 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History
Prior need for software processes
In the 1960s, the use of computers grew more widespread, more flexible and less costly. Organizations began to adopt computerized information systems, and the demand for software development grew significantly. Many processes for software development were in their infancy, with few standard or "best practice" approaches defined. As a result, the growth was accompanied by growing pains: project failure was common, and the field of computer science was still in its early years, and the ambitions for project scale and complexity exceeded the market capability to deliver adequate products within a planned budget. Individuals such as Edward Yourdon, Larry Constantine, Gerald Weinberg, Tom DeMarco, and David Parnas began to publish articles and books with research results in an attempt to professionalize the software-development processes. [citation needed]