Although this article is not primarily concerned with assessments based on the CMMI continuous representation, it may be useful to review the differences that exist between this kind of SCAMPI and the ones discussed previously.
Rating
When using the CMMI continuous representation model (rather than the CMMI staged representation model), the team is not rating the organization as a whole, only that part of the organization defined by the scope of the assessment. Assigning a capability rating then becomes an optional activity, at the discretion of the assessment sponsor.
Rating capability levels on the Capability Level Rating Table (see Capability Level Ratings) for each PA depends on the highest level and all levels below for which its specific goals and the generic goals are satisfied.
Capability Level Ratings
Capability Level (CL)
Engineering Process Areas
Other Process Areas
0
Default Rating
Default Rating
1
Generic goal for CL 1 is rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfiedincluding base practices only.
Generic goal for CL 1 is rated Satisfied. All specific goals are Satisfied.
2
Generic goals for CLs 1 and 2 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfiedincluding specific practices at CLs 1 and 2.
Generic goals for CLs 1 and 2 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfied.
3
Generic goals for CLs 1, 2, and 3 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfiedincluding specific practices at CLs 1, 2, and 3.
Generic goals for CLs 1, 2, and 3 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfied.
4
Generic goals for CLs 1, 2, 3, and 4 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfiedincluding specific practices at CLs 1, 2, and 3.
Generic goals for CLs 1, 2, 3, and 4 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfied.
5
Generic goals for CLs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfiedincluding specific practices at CLs 1, 2, and 3.
Generic goals for CLs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are rated Satisfied. All specific goals are rated Satisfied.
[CMMI Product Team 01b] and [Members of the AMIT 01]
The rating of PA capability levels is carried out from top to bottom or from bottom to top.
The bottom-up approach:
- Judges whether or not the PA is at Capability Level 1 based on the specific and generic goals being satisfied. In this case, only the base practices are considered in rating the goals.
- Judges whether or not the PA is at Capability Level 2, based on the specific and generic goals being satisfied. The advanced practice for Capability Level 2 must be considered in rating the goals for the engineering PAs.
- Proceeds incrementally until the team cannot rate the goals as being satisfied.
The top-down approach:
- Begins at the highest desired capability level (which was determined during assessment planning) and judges whether or not the organization is operating at that PA capability level.
- If the PA is not at the highest desired capability level, considers whether or not it can be judged to be operating at the next lower level.
- Proceeds incrementally until the team reaches a point at which all of the relevant goals are rated as satisfied, or until ratings lead to Capability Level 0 [Members of the AMIT 01].
The rating of goal satisfaction works the same as it does in the staged model. It is a judgment based on the implementation of practices that map to the goal. In rating specific goals for the engineering PAs, the set of specific practices that relate to the goals differs for Capability Levels 0, 1, 2, and 3 through 5. Depending on the capability level at which the rating is performed, there are up to four unique sets of specific practices associated with the specific goals that are considered.
The Lead Assessor is responsible for choosing one of the two optional rating approaches.
Determining if the PA is satisfied is performed the same way as it is in the staged model. (See Section 11.3.2.4, "Rating of Process Areas/Key Process Areas")
Determining the Capability Profile
When using the CMMI continuous model, the team determines a Capability Profile that graphically depicts the capability level rating assigned to each PA with the scope of the assessment. The Capability Profile is optional and is at the discretion of the assessment sponsor.
A simple bar chart is used to display the capability level for each PA. The horizontal axis represents the PA, and the vertical axis represents the Capability Level dimensions 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 [Members of the AMIT 01].
Process area profile (continuous is an example of a process area profile (continuous).