Misconceptions of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

CMM is the most widely used Software Process Improvement model. It was developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI). A maturity level is a well-defined evolutionary plateau toward achieving a mature software process. Each maturity level provides a layer in the foundation for continuous process improvement.
In CMMI models with a staged representation, there are five maturity levels designated by the numbers 1 through 5.
- Initial
- Managed/Repeatable
- Defined
- Quantitatively Managed
- Optimizing

Misconceptions About Maturity Levels
- If you are at Level 1, you are pond scum.
Being Level 1 does not mean that the members of a software organization are barely breathing. It does mean that the organization's projects are likely to have less predictability, more rework, more defects, and more schedule slippage than those in a higher maturity organization.
- Level 2 is mostly about software engineering activities, such as requirements analysis, design, coding, and testing.
- You have to perform all of the activities and practices defined at some maturity level in order to achieve that level.
- Software measurement is not required until you are approaching Level 4.
- The SEI certifies an organization at a specific maturity level.
- The CMM requires that you use specific software development practices, tools, and methodologies.
- The CMM mandates a waterfall life cycle model.
- The Software Quality Assurance KPA is mostly about testing.
- The CMM requires that you perform software inspections to achieve Level 3.
- Having a "tailorable" process really means that you can do whatever you want.
- Requirements management is the same thing as requirements engineering.
- You cannot work on improving KPAs more than one maturity level higher than your current level.
- The CMM mandates bureaucracy and wasteful paperwork.
- The CMM is a quick fix for short-term problems.
- CMMI is proprietary for the US military use.
- CMMI is the next release of CMM.
- Everyone uses the Staged Representation.
- You cannot use CMMI if you already use some other improvement model.
- CMMI is not suitable for small organizations.
- CMMI is used only to get an appraisal rating.
- CMMI is not suitable for companies using Agile methods.
- CMMI implementation takes long and is expensive and does not pay off.
- CMMI is a process model.