CMMI® Distilled: A Practical Introduction to Integrated Process Improvement

DENNIS M.AHERN;AARON CLOUSE;RICHARD TURNER0321186133, 9780321186133

Capability Maturity Model Integration(SM) (CMMI) has rapidly become a preferred means of improving organizational processes in industry and government. Building on a decade of work with process improvement models, including the Capability Maturity Model(R) (CMM(R)) for Software and the Systems Engineering Capability Model, a team of over two hundred engineering and process improvement experts worked for three years to create this broader, more agile instrument for guiding, integrating, and appraising improvement activities. CMMI provides a single, integrated framework for improving processes throughout an organization, enhancing the quality and efficiency of the organization as a whole. The CMMI Product Suite is rich in detail and guidance, but correspondingly large and somewhat complex. The sheer volume of information it presents can seem overwhelming. CMMI Distilled reduced that complexity with a fresh and approachable introduction to the key elements of CMMI and integrated process improvement. This new edition of CMMI Distilled, updated for CMMI version 1.1, includes more material in layman’s language to meet a wider variety of reader’s needs, but has not lost any of the technical content that made the first edition so successful. Written for those new to model-based process improvement, it also offers insights that can help even battle-scarred process improvement veterans and experienced systems, software and quality engineers perform better. CMMI(R) Distilled, Second Edition is especially appropriate for executives and managers who need to understand why process improvement is valuable, why CMMI is a tool of choice, and how to maximize the return on their efforts and investments.The three authors have been involved with CMMI since its inception, and they bring a wealth of their own experience and knowledge to this book. They highlight the pitfalls and short cuts that are all too often learned by costly experience. Above all, they provide a context for understanding why CMMI is the fastest growing process improvement framework in the world.