Trend of CMMI High Maturity Appraisals

An earlier post on CMMI high maturity titled "Is Achieving CMMI High Maturity Tougher Now?" explored the trend of CMMI high maturity appraisals.

Earlier Analysis of Trend of CMMI High Maturity Appraisals

This trend analysis clearly indicated towards a decline in the number of organizations that were appraised at CMMI high maturity (maturity level 4 and 5) as a percentage of all organizations that were appraised either at maturity level upto 3 (maturity level 1 through 3) or CMMI high maturity (maturity level 4 and 5).

The above analysis was performed using data published by SEI in the CMMI Process Maturity Profile reports starting 2005-Mar through 2009-Sep. Three years have passed since then and it would be of interest to note how this trend looks like at this point in time. For understanding the trend from the very beginning, data right from 2004-Mar till 2012-Mar has been included.

CMMI Appraised Organizations - Upto ML3 & High Maturity

First the comparison of high maturity (maturity level 4 and 5) versus upto maturity level 3(level 1 through 3) was performed to determine change in the trend, if any. The percentage of high maturity organizations seems to have stabilized in single digit close to 8% to 10%. 

CMMI Appraised Organizations - ML1 through ML5

The comparison of organizations appraised at various maturity levels (level 1 through level 5) was also performed to understand the overall trend. Some key signals that emerge from this analysis are as follows:

• Percentage of maturity level 2 organizations has remained at around 25%
• Percentage of maturity level 3 organizations has increased significantly from around 30% to 65%
• Percentage of maturity level 4 organizations has declined marginally from around 5% to 2%
• Percentage of maturity level 5 organizations has declined significantly from around 30% to 5% 

Some Indicators from the Trend Analysis

The above analysis provides some indicators in respect of the CMMI appraised organizations. Some of these indicators are listed below:

• It appears logical and cost-effective to implement and get appraised at maturity level 2 and 3 in one step and then level 4 and 5 in another step
• Maturity level 3 has come to be viewed as a milestone on the way to level 5 where an organization would like to pause and consolidate the gains before moving on towards level 5
• The higher density at maturity level 3 is a reflection of the fact that even if an organizations stays at maturity level 3 and continuously strengthens practices the business gains can be huge
• Attaining level 5 has indeed become tough which points towards increased expectations from level 5 organizations and higher rigor called for in SCAMPI appraisals
• Maturity level 5 has truly become a point of differentiation now and the business gains that can accrue to an organization can be phenomenal provided the level 5 practices are internalized into the organization's culture and becomes an integral part of its DNA

Note: “Process Maturity Profile by All Reporting Organizations” which provides the “%CMMI Appraised Organizations” against the 5 maturity levels and also for cases where no maturity ratings were given have been considered.