CMM vs CMMI: Understanding the Key Differences

This page highlights the differences between CMM and CMMI.

CMM stands for Capability Maturity Model, while CMMI stands for Capability Maturity Model Integration. Both are assessment techniques developed by the SEI (Software Engineering Institute) to determine an organization’s current state of process maturity.

Initially, CMM was developed, and later CMMI took over all the previous methods adopted in the CMM version. The SEI approach provides a measure of the global effectiveness of a company based on five process maturity levels:

• Level 1 (Initial)
• Level 2 (Repeatable)
• Level 3 (Defined)
• Level 4 (Managed)
• Level 5 (Optimizing)

SEI has associated KPAs (Key Process Areas) with each of these maturity levels.

Five Levels of CMM

Here’s a breakdown of each level:

Level 1 (Initial): The software process at this level is characterized as ad-hoc and occasionally even chaotic. Success here depends on individual effort. All organizations, by default, fall at this level of maturity initially.

Level 2 (Repeatable): Basic project management processes are established here to track cost, schedule, and functionalities. This means there’s a basic level of planning and control.

Level 3 (Defined): All the characteristics of Level 2 are available here. In addition, processes for both engineering and management activities are documented, standardized, and integrated into an organization-wide software process. Think of this as a standardized and well-defined approach to development.

Level 4 (Managed): Both processes and products are quantitatively understood and controlled using detailed measures. It also includes characteristics of Level 3. Data is collected and used to improve processes.

Level 5 (Optimizing): Continuous process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the processes and from testing. Includes characteristics of Level 4. The focus is on constant improvement and optimization based on gathered data.