GMV successfully appraised at CMMI level 5

GMV has renewed appraisal at level 5 of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) model. CMMI^® is the world’s most widely used performance-improvement model. It is owned by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and has by now become a model of worldwide prestige in terms of the application of improved engineering practices and the development of information systems. Renewal of appraisal at this level represents recognition of GMV’s ongoing quest of quality as the driver of excellence and sustainability.

The quality management system of GMV’s space and defense-and-security sectors has once more been successfully appraised at CMMI level 5, as in September 2010. As well as the Spanish subsidiary and the US subsidiary, already appraised at CMMI level 5 back in 2010, the appraisal this time also takes in the Portuguese subsidiary (making it only the second Portuguese firm to obtain CMMI level 5 appraisal in the aerospace market) and the Polish subsidiary (first Polish firm to obtain CMMI level 5 appraisal) in the space and defense-and-security sectors.

CMMI level 5 appraisal brings with it a series of benefits, both for GMV itself and its clients. The development processes are brought more closely into line with objectives, business strategy and client needs; project results are more predictable; and project performance improves in terms of effort, cost, scheduling and technical aspects. It also boosts error-detection efficacy during the development process and consequently cuts down the number of defects in products delivered to clients.

The CMMI^® model aims at the continuous improvement of an organization’s process capability, establishing five maturity levels: 1. Initial, 2. Managed, 3. Defined, 4. Quantitatively Managed and 5. Optimizing.

At level 5, also called the “optimizing” level, project and organizational processes are continually improved by the controlled phasing in of improvements. To this end experiments are conducted by applying these improvements on a reduced scale. If the variations in the results are then found to be positive and statistically significant, they are institutionalized throughout the whole organization and all projects. These improvements arise from the need of bringing the organization’s processes into line with the continual study and revision of the business objectives.

In an intrinsically complex and demanding sector like technology the value of CMMI level 5 appraisal really comes into its own, especially when we consider that the scope of GMV’s CMMI level 5 appraisal takes in the whole life cycle of the system, from the definition of requirements right up to its acceptance by the client.