A Technical History of the SEI

In the course of these reviews, the panel interviews customers, reviews documents and solicits inputs
from a variety of sources in and outside the government. In answering the three questions the
panel makes overall assessments and some specific recommendations for change both with the
SEI program, changes to the sponsoring agreement and changes with government oversight.
The following are excerpts from the Executive Summary of these reports over the last 30 years:
The SEI has proven to be a leader in software engineering—a discipline essentially non-existent
ten years ago. The SEI’s software process products, such as the Capability Maturity
Model and its organizational process appraisal methods, have been especially useful to the
Government and Industry. The widespread adoption of these products demonstrates the
SEI’s ability to mobilize the software engineering software improvement.
—Blue-Ribbon Panel Comprehensive Review of the Software Engineering Institute [DoD
1994]
The SEI continues to maintain a world-class reputation as a software engineering research
and development center. The SEI provides technical leadership to advance the practice of
software engineering so that DoD can acquire and sustains its software-intensive systems
with predictable and improved cost, schedule and quality
—Comprehensive Technical Review of Software Engineering Institute Programs [DoD
2004]
The SEI is an independent, unbiased, agent well-suited to assess the current state of any
given approach, technology, or process and provide general guidelines and recommendations
to its sponsors. …The SEI is uniquely capable. Staff expertise crosses the lifecycle:
from invention to sustainment. The SEI can also rely on its deep connections to industry and
academia when additional expertise is needed. …The SEI delivers value for the warfighter
through a combination of line-funded research and problem-solving engagements with the
DoD and other users. Using this leveraged approach enables the SEI, a relatively small institution,
to accomplish highly significant results in diverse areas related to software—ranging
from real-time systems design and software assurance, to Agile practices and measurement
capabilities, and to secure coding and malware analytics.
—Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute Research and Development
Laboratory Federally Funded Research and Development Center Comprehensive Review
[DoD 2014]
Another consistent finding by these Comprehensive Reviews is that, despite the SEI’s ability to
address pervasive problems for the DoD, other government agencies, and their supply chains, the
increasing demand for greater reliance on software, the increasing complexity of defense systems,
and the expanding threats require continued innovation and even greater reliance on solutions to
new problems.
CMU/SEI-2016-SR-027 | SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY 301
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