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The Capability Maturity Model by Various Highly Recommended

ISBN: 0-201-54664-7       Publisher: Addison-Wesley       Pages: 441pp       Price: £37-95

Categories:   business     management     writing solid code

Reviewed by Francis Glassborow in C Vu 8-1 (Nov 1995)

At the Initial Level, the organization typically does not provide a stable environment for developing and maintaining software. Overcommitment is a characteristic of Level 1 organizations, and such organizations frequently have difficulty making commitments that the staff can meet with an orderly engineering process, resulting in a series of crises. During a crisis projects typically abandon planned procedures and revert to coding and testing. Success depends on having an exceptional manager and a seasoned and effective software team. Occasionally, capable and forceful software managers can withstand the pressures to take shortcuts in the software process; but when they leave the project, their stabilizing influence leaves with them. Even a strong engineering process cannot overcome the instability created by the absence of sound management practices.

In spite of this ad hoc, even chaotic, process, Level 1 organizations frequently develop products that work, even though they may exceed budget and schedule. Success in Level 1 organizations depends on the competence and heroics of the people in the organization and cannot be repeated unless the same competent individuals are assigned to the next project. Thus at Level 1, capability is a characteristic of individuals, not of the organisation.

There are similar careful descriptions of the other four levels. What sets CMM apart is that it goes on to provide guidelines for developing a route map from where your business is to where you want it to go. It warns that there are no shortcuts. You may read the description of Level 5 (optimising) and think that this is obviously what your company should be doing, but the only way there is via all the intermediate levels. This takes time, ten years or more so you need commitment.

The contents of this book need to be widely known at all levels of the software industry. Until CMM, or something like it, is widely adopted by the software industry, we will continue to drift in a search for a non-existent silver bullet. A first step would be for all of us to take the time to familiarise ourselves with CMM by reading this book.

At the very least, students should be expected to understand the model and its principle lesson: progress is made by having a destination and a realistic plan to achieve it. If you want to get to Level 3 from Level 1, first you must reach Level 2 and even with management commitment, that will take a couple of years.