Essence of the capability maturity model

The CMM (Capability Maturity Model) wasn't intended to be all things to all people or cover all possible aspects of software and systems development. CMM was intended to provide one set of guidelines for managing software development projects and making improvements over time. This set of guidelines was based on best practices, software engineering discipline, real world experience and extrapolation from other industries. These guidelines were only meant to be tailored and applied within the culture and context of each unique organization.