 |
The SEI technical report |
|
The SEI technical report |
In a research study, the Software Engineering Institute makes an analysis of Software Process Assessments results from 48 organizations undertaking two or more assessments. The analysis focuses on the time required to increase process maturity, as well as the most prevalent process issues faced by the 48 organizations. On average, organizations moving from level 1 to level 2 did so in approximately 30 months (between the first assessment that found them at level 1 and the subsequent assessment that found them at level 2). Organizations moving from level 2 to level 3, on the other hand, did so within an average of 25 months. It is interesting to note that it took organizations moving from level 1 to level 2 longer to do so than their "higher maturity" counterparts. Organizations planning their process improvement programmes will do well to keep this in mind when they set their goals. Furthermore from the CMM's statistical information, it may be concluded that the software industry still needs a lot of improvement, as many companies are still at level one, and almost none are at level four or five.
The table below, taken from the same technical report shows some results that were achieved by means of carrying out improvement activities after the CMM assessments.
|
Category |
Range |
Median |
|
Productivity gain per year |
9% - 67% |
35% |
|
Yearly detection gain per year (defects discovered prior to testing) |
6% - 25%
|
22%
|
|
Yearly reduction in time-to-market |
15% - 23% |
19% |
|
Yearly reduction in post-release defects |
10% - 94% |
39% |
Software Improvements results
References
Hayes, W. and D. Zubrow (1995), Moving on up: Data and experience doing CMM-based process improvement, Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Technical report CMU/SEI-95-TR-008
Trienekens, J. and E. van Veenendaal (1997), Software Quality from a Business Perspective, Kluwer Bedrijfsinformatie, The Netherlands, ISBN 90-267-2631-7
