CMMI®: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement (2nd Edition) [Hardcover]

Mary Beth Chrissis (Author), Mike Konrad (Author), Sandra Shrum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 23, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0321279670 | ISBN-13: 978-0321279675 | Edition: 2

CMMI® (Capability Maturity Model® Integration) describes best practices for the development and maintenance of products and services across their entire lifecycle. By integrating essential bodies of knowledge, CMMI provides a single, comprehensive framework for organizations to assess their development and maintenance processes, implement improvements, and measure progress.

This book is a definitive reference for the most current release of CMMI (version 1.2). In the new edition, the authors have added tips, hints, and cross-references in the margins (in color) throughout the process areas to help you better understand, apply, and find more information about the content of the process areas. The book also now includes brief, insightful perspectives on CMMI written by people influential in the model’s creation, development, and transition. A new case study from Raytheon illustrates a real-world application of the model to a services organization. Whether you are new to CMMI or familiar with an earlier version, if you need to know about, evaluate, or put the latest version of CMMI into practice, this book is an essential resource.

The book is divided into three parts.

Part I offers the broad view of CMMI, beginning with basic concepts of process improvement. It describes the process areas, their components, and their relationships to each other. It explains the model’s two representations as well as paths to the adoption and use of CMMI for process improvement and benchmarking.

Part II, the bulk of the book, details the generic goals and practices and the twenty-two process areas now comprising CMMI. The process areas are organized alphabetically by acronym for easy look-up. Each chapter includes goals, best practices, and examples for a particular process area. The two CMMI representations are described so that you will easily see their similarities and differences and thereby be better able to choose the right approach for your organization.

Part III contains several useful resources, including CMMI-related references, acronym definitions, a glossary of terms, and an index.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Many organizations use Capability Maturity Models® (CMMs®) to assess development and maintenance processes, implement improvements, and measure progress. Although consistent in purpose, these models differ in terminology and design--enough sometimes to cause conflict and confusion when used within the same organization. Addressing the need for a more coordinated approach, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®) provides a single framework for improvement in software engineering, systems engineering, integrated product and process development, and supplier sourcing.

This book is the definitive reference for the most current release of CMMI models. To use a CMMI model available on the SEI Web site, users must choose from among multiple models based on their organization's improvement needs. This book provides a single source for all CMMI model information. Readers can get started without having to select a model first--all of the choices are compiled in one place and explained in detail.

The book begins with background information needed to understand the content and structure of these integrated models and how to use them. A case study illustrates their implementation in a real environment. A variety of practical material, such as glossary and index, is also provided. The bulk of the book comprises the content of all CMMI models, covering the 25 process areas (PAs) that span the product life cycle, including detailed best practices.

All CMMI models have two representations. The continuous representation allows an organization to improve using selected PAs at different rates. The staged representation enables organizations to follow a predefined and proven improvement path using multiple PAs. Both representations are described so that readers will more clearly see the similarities and differences between the two representations and will be able to choose the right approach for their organization.

Whether you are new to CMMI or are already familiar with some version of it, this book is an essential resource for managers, practitioners, and process improvement team members who need to understand, evaluate, and/or implement a CMMI model. The ultimate objective of CMMI is integrating processes to improve products; this book contains everything you need to get that done.

0321154967B01232003 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Mary Beth Chrissis is a senior member of the technical staff at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Since joining the SEI in 1988, Mary Beth has been involved in all releases of CMMI models and the Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM). She is one of the primary contributors to The Capability Maturity Model: Guidelines for Improving the Software Process. Mary Beth is a member of the CMMI Architecture Team and CMMI Model Team. She is the manager of the SEI’s CMMI Training Team, which is responsible for the development and deployment of the SEI’s process improvement courses. Previously, she managed the CMMI Interpretive Guidance Project, which focused on understanding and addressing CMMI adoption issues and perceived barriers to CMMI adoption in the software community with a special focus on information technology, information systems (IS), and commercial software. Mary Beth is a member of the CMMI Configuration Control Board and is an instructor of various SW-CMM and CMMI model-related courses at the SEI. Prior to joining the SEI, Mary Beth worked at GTE Government Systems in Rockville, Maryland, developing a voice processing system. Mary Beth has a B.S. from Carnegie Mellon and is a member of the IEEE Software and Systems Engineering Standards Committee (S2ESC) Executive Committee.

Mike Konrad has been with the Software Engineering Institute since 1988. Currently, Mike is manager of the CMMI Models Team and chairs the CMMI Configuration Control Board, the approving body for changes to CMMI models and the Introduction to CMMI course. From 1988 through 1997, Mike contributed to the development of the Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM) and the ISO/IEC 15504 standard. Since the inception of the CMMI project in 1998, Mike has been leader or co-leader of every CMMI model development effort. Mike is also a member of the International Process Research Consortium (www.sei.cmu.edu/iprc). Prior to joining the SEI, Mike worked with International Software Systems, Inc. (ISSI) of Austin, Texas, where he contributed to the development of a rapid prototyping system. He has also worked with SAIC, George Mason University, University of Maryland, and Honeywell Information Systems. Mike obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, in 1978.

Sandy Shrum is a senior writer/editor at the Software Engineering Institute. She has been a member of the CMMI Development Team since the CMMI project’s inception in 1998. Her roles on the project have included Model Team member, Glossary Team leader, reviewer, editor, model development process administrator, and quality assurance coordinator. Sandy is also a member of the SEI Configuration Control Board, and is the CMMI communications coordinator. Before joining the SEI, Sandy spent eight years working for Legent Corporation, a Virginia-based software company. Her experience as a technical writer dates back to 1988, when she earned her M.A. in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Her undergraduate degree, a B.S. in business administration, was earned at Gannon University.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 2 edition (November 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321279670
• ISBN-13: 978-0321279675
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #462,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I had this book last year, May 14, 2005

By 

David Bock "javaguy" (Hamilton, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CMMI(R): Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement (Hardcover)

Last year my company was rated a CMM level 2 organization, and we decided to begin the transition to CMMi Level 3. Even though we are working with a consultant, the amount of new material was daunting... 'What is the difference between CMM and CMMi?', 'What is the staged vs. continuous representation?', 'what are all of the se SW/SE and iPPD pieces of the CMMi? Are they Optional?'. There are a TON of questions, and answers can be hard to find, especially when the 'official' docs are about as exciting to read as the little pamphlets that come with perscription medicines.

This book answers those questions and more, explaining in pretty practical language what the CMMi is, what the structure of the whole model is about, and finally tunneling down into the details of each process area. I wish I had that knowledge when we were making some of our initial decisions.

I'm not exactly a fan of the CMM/CMMi methodologies, but I have experienced first hand the result of the improvement efforts we have introduced. Ultimately though, I don't think it matters much WHAT methodology you are following; a group of people interested in improving themselves will do well with any methodology, CMMi, RUP, Agile, or otherwise. If you are committed to the CMMi approach, this book needs to be in your toolchest. If you are evaluating different process improvement efforts, this book will help you understand the CMMi approach. It doesn't provide any comparison or contrast to other methodologies; for that you would need other reference material.

57 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not many "productive" pages, April 24, 2004

By 

Gerold Keefer (Stuttgart, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CMMI(R): Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement (Hardcover)

- 447 pages are a 1:1 copy of the freely available CMMI 1.1
process area description.
- 33 pages consist of a case study of a CMMI implementation.
- 70 pages are references, glossary and index.
- the remainging 100 pages are a re-hash of general
CMMI information plus -more importantly- additional
information on the interpretation of generic goals and
on process areas relationships revealing that around
15 process areas are "fundamental" and the rest is
"progressive". my interpretation of "fundamental" is
"you need them really".

overall it would have been more precise if the title would
read "CMMI 1.1 annotated reference".

UPDATE 2004-04-24:
re-reading parts of the book i have to further downgrade it:

1. in the preface section it gives the misleading advice that
the CMMI can be used for service industries and that it covers
the whole product life cycle. this is not true: the CMMI is a
standard for development only.

2. the book further claims that the CMMI is the best model
for process improvement. there is no evidence i am aware of
that supports this claim.

3. the book recommends to use the staged representation
of the CMMI in case of uncertainty. this is a highly doubtful
advice considering the fact the the PA sequence of the stage
representation has major disadvantages.

best regards,

gerold

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Use, March 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: CMMI(R): Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement (Hardcover)

For all of you who have spiral binders or those huge 3-ring binders of the CMMI model, this is the book for you. It is condensed, addresses both staged and continuous representations and has from what I can tell all the information from the 725 page version available from the SEI website. It is organized a little differently but, it is pretty user friendly. It has tab like features that identify the process areas and the process areas are in alphabetical order - very easy to use. I know carry this around with me like I used to carry around the CMM hardcover version.