Summary

Establish and maintain the description of a defined process.

Description

The purpose of this generic practice is to establish and maintain a description of the process that is tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes to address the needs of a specific instantiation. The organization should have standard processes that cover the process area, as well as have guidelines for tailoring these standard processes to meet the needs of a project or organizational function. With a defined process, variability in how the processes are performed across the organization is reduced and process assets, data, and learning can be effectively shared.

Refer to the Integrated Project Management (IPM) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about establishing the project’s defined process.


Refer to the Organizational Process Definition (OPD) (CMMI-DEV) process area for more information about establishing standard processes and establishing tailoring criteria and guidelines.


The descriptions of the defined processes provide the basis for planning, performing, and managing the activities, work products, and services associated with the process.

Subpractices



  1. Select from the organization’s set of standard processes those processes that cover the process area and best meet the needs of the project or organizational function.
  2. Establish the defined process by tailoring the selected processes according to the organization’s tailoring guidelines.
  3. Ensure that the organization’s process objectives are appropriately addressed in the defined process.
  4. Document the defined process and the records of the tailoring.
  5. Revise the description of the defined process as necessary.