A Technical History of the SEI

key leaders within that organization wanted to ensure that both Australian suppliers and DMO acquirers
would show a commitment to using the best practices captured in CMMI models. They
piloted a near-final version and gave the development team some final recommendations that resulted
in the release version’s being based on some real-world experiences—from half a world
away.
The Consequence: Acquisition Joins Development for Process
Improvement
The acquisition community is able to approach an acquisition with the same discipline that is expected
of developers, and has the basis for consistently improving its processes. This not only enables
a more predictable acquisition, it sets a reasonable expectation that both parties are committed
to following best practices and will identify factors that will improve the target system.
The SEI Contribution
The architecture of the CMMI models was based upon foundational work by two SEI Fellows.
The notion of a process improvement journey with plateaus of measured accomplishment (staged
improvement) was conceived early in the SEI CMM activities [Humphrey 1989]. A companion
theory noted that improvement specific to each area of interest might be considered without the
breadth of coverage that the staged approach encouraged. This theory resulted in a companion approach
for systems engineering [Bate 1994]. Both of these concepts were honored in CMMI,
which allows organizational choices or even hybrids to be created if they better stimulate process
improvement. The acknowledged leadership of the SEI on these two models and approaches facilitated
the development of the teams that brought together government and industry partners and
accelerated the transition of the technology to practice.
The SEI created presentation and training materials and worked with standards bodies, including
IEEE, and the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) to further the maturation
of the models. Probably most important was the partnership with the National Defense Industrial
Association (NDIA) Systems Engineering Committee in finding suitable development team members,
along with the SEI sponsors in the DoD. The SEI provided evidence of the viability of the
acquisition “variant” through case studies with DoD acquisition organizations, such as the Air
Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles. In addition, the SEI Partner Network
helped discover potential users in both government and industry around the world. It is significant
to note the first full appraisal against the CMMI-ACQ model was performed in a government program
office—in Taiwan.
The CMMI-ACQ work is an excellent example of expanding university research by adaption of a
successful initial model to satisfy new needs with strong synergies.
References
[Bate 1994] Bate, Roger; Reichner, Albert; Garcia-Miller, Suzanne; Armitage, James; Cusick,
Kerinia; Jones, Robert; Kuhn, Dorothy; Minnich, Ilene; Pierson, Hal; & Powell, Tim. A Systems
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