Software Process Proverbs

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has developed several aids to help software organizations define, manage, and improve their software processes: The IDEALSM (initiate, diagnose, establish, act, and leverage) model for process improvement, appraisal methods that include assessments for internal process improvement and evaluations to select and monitor contractors, and the Capability Maturity ModelSM for Software (CMMSM or SW-CMMSM). This article focuses on the CMM and states some software process proverbs (principles, observations, axioms, assumptions) that underlie the CMM and its use that may help people better understand the appropriate application of the SEI's work.