The business drivers to effectively deliver software systems have never been stronger and the challenges have never been greater. Most organisations now rely on software to gain strategic competitive advantage and reduce their operating cost base. The problems of achieving these goals are compounded by rapidly changing technology and a complex legacy estate, add to this mix off-shoring, an aging skills base and regulatory compliance and we have a serious management challenge.

CMMI made Practical is aimed at IT directors, senior managers, process improvement specialists and project managers. It consists of two main tracks and an exhibition that runs over 2 days. One of the streams is entirely devoted to people just getting started with CMMI, with the primary goals of education and providing an open forum for discussion on how to really apply CMMI. Listen and learn from leading speakers from the world of defence, government, finance, IT and make a difference to your company.

What is the CMMI?

CMMI is the Capability Maturity Model Integration. The CMMI is a comprehensive model that describes in detail what it means for an organisation to be capable at the business of building solutions.

The CMMI originated back in the 80’s when the US DOD decided to look for a method of assessing the capability of prospective suppliers to deliver complex systems. Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) solved the problem with the CMMI (see SEI CMMI site). Since then the CMMI has been adopted internationally and across all sectors from its original heartland in Mil-Aero through to Finance, Retail, Manufacturing and more.

Organisations use the CMMI to understand their current capabilities by running an appraisal (see Appraisal Program Directory for the individuals/organisations licensed to conduct appraisals) and plan an improvement route forward to achieving their business goals and to assess prospective suppliers. There is also a list of Published Appraisal Results conducted by SEI authorised lead appraisers. Organisations do not have to publish their results but can choose to do so. For information on the perfomance improvements seen by organisations CMMI visit the SEI site.