Support (CMMI-DEV)

Support process areas cover the activities that support product development and maintenance. The Support process areas address processes that are used in the context of performing other processes. In general, the Support process areas address processes that are targeted toward the project and can address processes that apply more generally to the organization.

For example, Process and Product Quality Assurance can be used with all the process areas to provide an objective evaluation of the processes and work products described in all the process areas.

The five Support process areas in CMMI-DEV are as follows:

• Causal Analysis and Resolution (CAR) (CMMI-DEV)
• Configuration Management (CM) (CMMI-DEV)
• Decision Analysis and Resolution (DAR) (CMMI-DEV)
• Measurement and Analysis (MA) (CMMI-DEV)
• Process and Product Quality Assurance (PPQA) (CMMI-DEV)

Basic Support Process Areas

The Basic Support process areas address fundamental support functions that are used by all process areas. Although all Support process areas rely on the other process areas for input, the Basic Support process areas provide support functions that also help implement several generic practices.

Figure 4.6 provides a bird’s-eye view of the interactions among the Basic Support process areas and with all other process areas.

Figure 4.6: Basic Support Process Areas

The Measurement and Analysis process area supports all process areas by providing specific practices that guide projects and organizations in aligning measurement needs and objectives with a measurement approach that is used to support management information needs. The results can be used in making informed decisions and taking appropriate corrective actions.

The Process and Product Quality Assurance process area supports all process areas by providing specific practices for objectively evaluating performed processes, work products, and services against the applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures, and ensuring that any issues arising from these reviews are addressed.

Process and Product Quality Assurance supports the delivery of high quality products and services by providing the project staff and all levels of management with appropriate visibility into, and feedback on, the processes and associated work products throughout the life of the project.

The Configuration Management process area supports all process areas by establishing and maintaining the integrity of work products using configuration identification, configuration control, configuration status accounting, and configuration audits. The work products placed under configuration management include the products that are delivered to the customer, designated internal work products, acquired products, tools, and other items that are used in creating and describing these work products.

Examples of work products that can be placed under configuration management include plans, process descriptions, requirements, design data, drawings, product specifications, code, compilers, product data files, and product technical publications.

Advanced Support Process Areas

The Advanced Support process areas provide the projects and organization with an improved support capability. Each of these process areas relies on specific inputs or practices from other process areas.

Figure 4.7 provides a bird’s-eye view of the interactions among the Advanced Support process areas and with all other process areas.

Figure 4.7: Advanced Support Process Areas

Using the Causal Analysis and Resolution process area, project members identify causes of selected outcomes and take action to prevent negative outcomes from occurring in the future or to leverage positive outcomes. While the project’s defined processes are the initial targets for root cause analysis and action plans, effective process changes can result in process improvement proposals submitted to the organization’s set of standard processes.

The Decision Analysis and Resolution process area supports all the process areas by determining which issues should be subjected to a formal evaluation process and then applying a formal evaluation process to them.