CMMI Basics

Requirements Management
The purpose of Requirements Management is to establish a common understanding between the customer and the software project of the customer's requirements that will be addressed by the software project.

Software Project Planning
The purpose of Software Project Planning is to establish reasonable plans for performing the software engineering and for managing the software project.
Software Project Planning involves developing estimates for the work to be performed, establishing the necessary commitments, and defining the plan to perform the work.

Software Project Tracking and Oversight
The purpose of Software Project Tracking and Oversight is to provide adequate visibility into actual progress so that management can take effective actions when the software project's performance deviates significantly from the software plans.
Software Project Tracking and Oversight involves tracking and reviewing the software accomplishments and results against documented estimates, commitments, and plans, and adjusting these plans based on the actual accomplishments and results.

Software Subcontract Management
The purpose of Software Subcontract Management is to select qualified software subcontractors and manage them effectively.

Software Quality Assurance
The purpose of Software Quality Assurance is to provide management with appropriate visibility into the process being used by the software project and of the products being built.
Software Quality Assurance involves reviewing and auditing the software products and activities to verify that they comply with the applicable procedures and standards and providing the software project and other appropriate managers with the results of these reviews and audits.

Software Configuration Management
The purpose of Software Configuration Management is to establish and maintain the integrity of the products of the software project throughout the project's software life cycle.
Software Configuration Management involves identifying the configuration of the software (i.e., selected software work products and their descriptions) at given points in time, systematically controlling changes to the configuration, and maintaining the integrity and traceability of the configuration throughout the software life cycle.