Customer Reviews

A Guide to the Cmm: Understanding the Capability Maturity Model for Software

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you need to understand the CMM, this is the book for you. Don't look for this book to justify why your organization should use the CMM, there are other sources for that.

And despite what "James McGovern" claims, the CMM is backed up by several years of real world use. Over 1000 organizations in 19 countries have used the CMM. Many companies, large and small, use it. My company has mandated it as a corporate goal.

If you want a no frills book on the CMM get Mark Paulk's "The Capability Maturity Model", which is authoritative and written by one of the principal developers. However, if you want a more readable book that explains the CMM this is the best I've read.

This 350-page book is comprised of five chapters and two appendices. Chapter 1 covers the basic concepts and structure in clear terms. Chapters 2 through 5 are devoted to capability levels 2 through 5. Each chapter covers the key process areas of the level that it discusses and its applicable practices, and ends with a summary view of process assets and relationships between and among the key process areas at the particular level. There are also exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce the material and check your understanding. I like this approach because with 316 practices you can quickly lose track of what's where within the CMM.

So why the CMM? Some claim it's a hindrance. First, it does not tell you how to run your organization, only how mature your organization is based on key processes and practices that you employ. Your maturity level is indicative of the efficiency (read: cost effectiveness) or your organization and probable quality of the software you produce. Those who claim it's a hindrance, I suspect, really lack the discipline and/or leadership to achieve a level of maturity beyond repeatable - if that. But the underlying reason to pay close attention to the CMM, or at least understand it, is because there is a lucrative business called litigation. If you find yourself involved in product liability litigation you're going to hear terms like "prevailing standard of care" and "what a reasonable member of your profession would have done". Considering the fact that well over a thousand companies world-wide have achieved level 3 or above, and the body of knowledge about the CMM is readily available, you might have some explaining to do if you claim ignorance. This book will go a long way towards preventing that by at least arming you with the basics - and doing so in a clear manner.

My focus on this book was Level 2 with a focus on Software Subcontractor Management. It clarified some of the Activities, and tied them into their related goals, but there was no information on Measurement and Analysis, or Verification. The book is liberally sprinkled with graphics which are poorly drawn and, at least to me, not at all helpful. I finally just ignored them, and used only the written part. Overall, it was helpful, but I hope to find something with more specific information on how to actually implement the steps needed for CMM Level 2.

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This is the book CMU SEI should have written. The graphics show clearly what SEIs verbiage obfuscates.

For ordinary folks it gives an overview and introduction to CMM that is understandable. Even if you are a process geek it would make a good starting point to understanding CMM (as much as any illogical and mammoth bureaucratic creation can be understood).

Moreover, it shows how the pieces relate to each other. That is something none of the CMM tomes do.

The organization is much better than Paulks book (which unfortunately you will need to *do* CMM.

This book will help management understand what the effort is and why it is done. The pix will be good for techies to give briefings from.

If you are going to do CMM then start with this book. Use PAulks book as a reference handbook with sufficient detail, and the Olson framework (download from SEI) as the detailed checklist.

Other books like Caputo are OBE and add nothing to this triad.

Hopefully someone will come out with one like this for CMMI. But then there is (not yet) a condensed handbook for CMMI and no framework like Olson did for CMM.

Starting with Dymond etc. above is the best way to prepare for CMMI especially considering its lack of supplementary documentation at this point in time.

If you are involved with CMM at all then get Dymonds book!

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I recommend this little book highly to my engineers who want to have a quick understanding on CMM but don't have time (or not yet willing) to invest reading a more detailed manuscript. This book serves the purpose in providing a quick scan on CMM to the users (especially for non-technical folks). Also, CMM can work together with RUP, I don't see these two are orthogonal methodologies.

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This book is the only one that gives a pictorial representation of the SW-CMM. If it had more info I would give it 5 stars. For what it does (easy to grok overview) it is worth 5 stars. But since it is a basic introduction I downrated it one star. This book appears to be self published by the author (printed by a press in Baltimore) which may have impacted the size.

Having faulted what is missing, what is included is excellent and the pictures are worth the price of admission.

It is a needed companion to the SEI book (Paulk). Dymond will help one understand what the SEI was trying to say in their poorly done rehash of TR24 and TR25 (which ARE the SW-CMM) with little value added.

Practioners need Dymond and the SEI book as well as the FRAMEWORK by Olson et al (download the framework from the SEI web site).

If your eyes don't glaze over with the plethora of words from SEI then skip this book. If you are not an authorised geek then start with Dymond and keep it for use with management briefings after you do move into the Paul book and the Framework.

This book is highly recommended if you have to do CMM.

I like the way Kenneth makes it easy to understand the CMM. You'd be surprised at the misconceptions that abound about what the CMM is and how it's supposed to be used. This book should clear up the misconceptions while explaining what it takes to attain increasing levels of capability maturity. For those who do not know that the CMM is (hence the widespread misconceptions), it's a measurement of how mature a software development organization is that is based on processes and practices. It is NOT a methodology and does not compete with them. I have found that those who have never taken the time to read the literature are those who scream about how bad the CMM is. This book will clarify that.

If you just get started for CMM Level 2, this is a good book for you to understand the Model. It explains all the KPAs with lots of graphics. I found it help in defining Level 2 processes, as it shows how all the KPAs in each CMM Level link together.

For any organization that is looking to adopt a methodology or improve it software development process, I would recommend against looking at CMM and this book.

An organization would be better served by looking at methodologies such as Rational's Objectory (now called Rational Unified Approach) and the corresponding books as it has been real world proven vs academia proven...