CMM vs. CMMI: From Conventional to Modern Software Management

This article summarizes some thoughts on making the transition from conventional software management techniques to modern ones. In particular, I want to endorse the improvements in the Software Engineering Institute's new CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration)1 approach and motivate development organizations to apply the approach correctly. Although I have always been a supporter of the spirit behind the original Capability Maturity Model (CMM), in practice, it has been misused and misinterpreted too much for my liking. Based on my twenty-five years of experience with many of the world's leading software development organizations engaged in process improvement, I am convinced that most organizations using the CMM are still entrenched in a default waterfall model mentality. I won't lay blame on the model itself, for I am aware of some process improvements made within a CMM context that were very much based on a modern, iterative approach to development. But this enlightened interpretation is not the norm.