Characterizing the software process: a maturity framework

A description is given of a software-process maturity framework that has been developed to provide the US Department of Defense with a means to characterize the capabilities of software-development organizations. This software-development process-maturity model reasonably represents the actual ways in which software-development organizations improve. It provides a framework for assessing these organizations and identifying the priority areas for immediate improvement. It also helps identify those places where advanced technology can be most valuable in improving the software-development process. The framework can be used by any software organization to assess its own capabilities and identify the most important areas for improvement.<>