Towards Achieving CMMI Level 2 for Small and Medium Sized Software Development Organizations

Abstract

CONTEXT: There is a significant need to give careful consideration to requirements management (REQM) and the process and product quality assurance (PPQA) process areas of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), especially in the context of small and medium-sized software development organizations in order to assist such organizations in getting one step closer to achieving CMMI Level 2 certification. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to implement REQM and PPQA process areas, specifically for small and medium-sized software development organizations. In this study, a workflow model for each specific practice in REQM and PPQA has been developed. In addition, guidelines, templates, forms, and checklists have also been provided. Moreover, the evaluation of the models has been discussed. METHOD: Data has been collected by exploring published research articles and high-level software process descriptions. Previous research works that dealt with the implementation of the CMMI Level 2 process areas have also been reviewed. In addition, research articles that provide guidance to software development organizations for implementing process areas of CMMI Level 2 in their environments have been considered. Furthermore, the evaluation of the proposed models was executed using an expert panel review process RESULTS: After careful analysis of the collected data, we proposed the models for each specific practice in REQM and PPQA process areas. Each model was divided into core stages, and different activities associated with each stage were clearly indicated. The evaluation results showed that our proposed models satisfy ease of learning and ease of use, provide stakeholder satisfaction, and can be applied to small- and medium-sized software development organizations. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the evaluation, we are confident that our proposed models are clear and easy to learn, follow, and use. Moreover, our models are applicable to small and medium-sized software development organizations. The proposed models can also assist small and medium-sized organizations in implementing these two process areas.