It has been shown that as an organization's information system development process matures,

project timelines and cost decrease while productivity and quality increase. The Software
Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University has observed and measured this
phenomenon and developed the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) to assist all organizations to
achieve these benefits. The CMM has developed a wide following, both in industry and
government. Software evaluation based on CMM is being used to qualify information
technology contractors for most U.S. federal government projects.

The CMM framework for systems and software is intended to help organizations improve the
maturity of their systems development processes. The CMM is organized into five maturity
levels.
1. Level I-Initial: This is sometimes called anarchy or chaos. At this level, system
development projects follow no consistent process. Each development team uses its own
tools and methods. Success or failure is usually a function of the skill and experience of
the team. The process is unpredictable and not repeatable. A project typically encounters
many crises and is frequently over budget and behind schedule. Documentation is
sporadic or not consistent from one project to the next, thus creating problems for those
who must maintain a system over its lifetime. Almost all organizations start at Level 1.

2. Level 2-Repeatable: At this level, project management processes and practices are
established to track project costs, schedules, and functionality. The focus is on project
management. A system development process is always followed, but it may vary from

project to project. Success or failure is still a function of the skill and experience of the
project team; however, a concerted effort is made to repeat earlier project successes.
Effective project management practices lay the foundation for standardized processes in
the next level.

3. Level 3-Defined: In this level, a standard system development process (sometimes called
a methodology) is purchased or developed. All projects use a tailored version of this
process to develop and maintain information systems and software. As a result of using
the standardized process for all projects, each project results in consistent and highquality documentation and deliverables. The process is stable, predictable, and
repeatable.

4. Level 4-Managed: In this level, measurable goals for quality and productivity are
established. Detailed measures of the standard system development process and product
quality are routinely collected and stored in a database. There is an effort to improve
individual project management based on this collected data. Thus, management seeks to
become more proactive than reactive to systems development problems (such as cost
overruns, scope creep, schedule delays, etc.). Even when a project encounters unexpected
problems or issues, the process can be adjusted based on predictable and measurable
impacts.
5. Level 5-0ptimizing: In this level, the standardized system development process is
continuously monitored and improved based on measures and data analysis established in
Level 4. This can include changing the technology and best practices used to perform

activities required in the standard system development process, as well as adjusting the
process itself. Lessons learned are shared across the organization, with a special emphasis
on eliminating inefficiencies in the system development process while sustaining quality.
In summary, the organization has institutionalized continuous systems development
process improvement.