CMMI (R): Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement

Much easier to use than the first edition. Should be more helpful to a beginner to the CMMI process.

I would have to say that the presentation of the material within this manual is one of the best I have seen. The first 5 chapters of the book provide an excellent introduction to the model, descriptions of the process areas and their relationships to one another, guidance for institutionalization and finally instruction on how to tie all this together. Chapter 6 provides some information on other models and their similarities and differences as compared to the CMMI. The case study in chapter 7 is a very useful overview of how the CMMI can be implemented in a real world scenario. The rest of the book, some 450 pages, covers the integral details of the individual process areas, as well as the specific and generic goals and practices to fully implement the model. It can be information overload at first for the neophyte process engineer. However, once one is acclimated to the processes this manual will serve as a ready technical bible for guidance through the Process Improvement morass using CMMI. Be advised though that nowhere in the CMMI, nor in this manual, is there any specific implementation instructions on how to actually execute an activity. For that one should look to the IEEE or ITIL libraries for templates and examples. Alternatively, if you are serious about CMMI and your goal is to achieve successful SCAMPI assessments; finding/hiring an experienced process engineer or consulting company to lead you or your team through this exercise is highly recommended.

Last year my company was rated a CMM level 2 organization, and we decided to begin the transition to CMMi Level 3. Even though we are working with a consultant, the amount of new material was daunting... 'What is the difference between CMM and CMMi?', 'What is the staged vs. continuous representation?', 'what are all of the se SW/SE and iPPD pieces of the CMMi? Are they Optional?'. There are a TON of questions, and answers can be hard to find, especially when the 'official' docs are about as exciting to read as the little pamphlets that come with perscription medicines. This book answers those questions and more, explaining in pretty practical language what the CMMi is, what the structure of the whole model is about, and finally tunneling down into the details of each process area. I wish I had that knowledge when we were making some of our initial decisions. I'm not exactly a fan of the CMM/CMMi methodologies, but I have experienced first hand the result of the improvement efforts we have introduced. Ultimately though, I don't think it matters much WHAT methodology you are following; a group of people interested in improving themselves will do well with any methodology, CMMi, RUP, Agile, or otherwise. If you are committed to the CMMi approach, this book needs to be in your toolchest. If you are evaluating different process improvement efforts, this book will help you understand the CMMi approach. It doesn't provide any comparison or contrast to other methodologies; for that you would need other reference material.

This book does two things well - (1) provides an overview of the CMMI and its benefits, and (2) covers the process areas in detail, with advice on how to institutionalize them. This is not a 'how to implement' book, and is best suited for anyone who wants to learn about the CMMI or who is working in a CMMI organization and wants an authoratative reference on a specific process area. Reasons to buy this book instead of obtaining the 'official documentation' from SEI (see ASIN B0000Y4PCA)include:- Better organized. Finding specific information among the documents you can obtain from SEI can sometimes be a daunting task. Yes, it's complete, but there are multiple documents, and this book has distilled and organized all of the pertinent information between two covers.- Case studies in this book add life to the material, and the overall writing style of all of the material in this book is more readable. The SEI document set includes some well-written material to be sure, but there is also dense text that is a chore to wade through from a readability standpoint.For understanding the CMMI this book is one of the best, in my opinion. It gives the evolution of the CMMI from the earlier CMM models, discusses key benefits, and goes into details. However, if you already understand the CMMI, and are seeking information for implementation I recommend "Interpreting the CMMI: A Process Improvement Approach" (ISBN 0849316545). That book outlines how to implement the CMMI and provides a wealth of supporting material.

This new text by Mary Beth Chrissis et al at the SEI sets a new standard in the SEI Series in Software Engineering. It is superbly organized, leading the reader through questions like "why should we do this, and what model should we chose?", to a complete discussion of the CMMI suite of models, and ending in a well written case study. The text also includes the complete V1.1 of the CMMI models. We were an "early adopter" of the CMMI, and now use this text as our basic reference.Highly recommended for novices, seasoned practioners, and process professionals alike.