Framework Quality & Manufacturing
CMMI
CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) is a process improvement model owned by ISACA. It describes practices across domains such as development, services, supplier management, safety, security, people, and (in V3.0) virtual work and data management, arranged in maturity levels 1 through 5 and capability levels 0 through 3. CMMI V3.0 was released in 2023.
Organizations do not get certified; they are appraised, and a Benchmark appraisal produces a maturity or capability level rating that ISACA publishes.
In writing, CMMI expects an organization to have documented its processes at the level it is claiming: defined process descriptions, tailoring guidelines, process asset library, plans and estimates, measurement repositories, peer review and verification records, supplier agreements, and evidence that projects actually follow the processes.
Higher levels add quantitative management and organizational performance data. An appraisal team samples projects and reviews artifacts and interviews against each practice.
Who has to comply
Voluntary. Common in US federal and defense contracting (some solicitations specify a maturity level), large IT services and outsourcing firms, and organizations using it as an internal improvement framework. Not a legal requirement anywhere.
What the assessor asks to see
Organizational scope and sampling of projects or work groups; process descriptions and tailoring records; project plans, estimates, schedules, and status reports; requirements and design artifacts; configuration management records; peer review and testing records; measurement data and analysis; risk registers; supplier agreements and monitoring; training plans and records; process improvement plans and lessons learned; for higher levels, quantitative process performance baselines and models; interviews with practitioners and managers to confirm practice use.
Where the requirement sits: CMMI v3.0 (ISACA) practice areas; appraisal evidence = artifacts + affirmations
Appraisal types
Benchmark appraisals produce the official rating and are the most rigorous. Sustainment appraisals maintain a rating between Benchmarks with a smaller sample. Evaluation appraisals are informal gap checks that produce no rating.
Action Plan Reappraisals address specific findings after a Benchmark. Only a Certified Lead Appraiser working through a licensed Partner can run a Benchmark, and results go through ISACA quality review before publication.
What AllyMatter does here
Process-documentation control layer.
AllyMatter publishes this site.
Assessors
Who assesses CMMI
ISACA Certified CMMI Lead Appraisers sponsored by a licensed CMMI Partner organization, using the CMMI Appraisal Method (Benchmark, Sustainment, Evaluation, or Action Plan Reappraisal). Accredited by ISACA (licenses Partners, certifies Lead Appraisers, and quality-reviews appraisal submissions).
Public register of assessors: https://cmmiinstitute.com/partners/directory
No firm has claimed a CMMI assessor listing yet. Claim yours →
Consultants
Who helps with CMMI
A structured ecosystem exists: ISACA licenses CMMI Partners, and only Partners can sponsor Certified Lead Appraisers and deliver official training. Consultants (often Partners) run gap analyses, help design and document processes, coach project teams, run readiness reviews, and then either conduct or arrange the appraisal.
Reaching maturity level 3 from scratch commonly takes 12 to 24 months.
Firms that name this framework in their own material. Listings we have not verified yet come from public filings and partner lists. Each firm can confirm its own.
No firm has claimed a CMMI consultant listing yet. Claim yours →
Software
Tools for CMMI
Tools that name this framework in their own material.
Related reading
- CMMI appraisals: what they offer your organizationThe model owner on appraisal types, what a benchmark appraisal rates, and how long a published result stays valid.ISACA
- Software Engineering Institute digital libraryThe institute that created the maturity model still publishes the process-improvement research behind the practice areas, free to read.Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute
Independent third-party explainers, chosen by hand. Not affiliated with this site and not paid placements. All links are nofollow.
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From the publisher
Run the Policy Side of CMMI in AllyMatter
Approve the policies CMMI asks for, keep every version, and record a named acknowledgment from each person who has to read them.