CMMI Blog Special Series for High Maturity: 1st Part: This blog series on the cmmiconsultantblog.com is a systematic and structured coverage of CMMI Process Areas for CMMI Maturity Level 5: using CMMI –DEV, Version 1.3, as the Reference CMMI Model: As CMMI Consultant, during CMMI Consulting assignment if you are asked about the steps, inputs and outputs of Causal Analysis and Resolution (CAR) Process Area, what would be your response:

CMMI FAQ 0

14th March, 2016

For the above-mentioned question, CMMI consultants may take inputs from the following.

Purpose of CMMI Process Area Causal Analysis and Resolution (CAR) is to find out the root causes (reasons) of the selected results of activities including issues, incidents, risk, defects etc. in order to take corrective, preventive actions in order to improve process performance.

Causal Analysis and Resolution (CAR) process area helps in:

• Collecting the items requiring formal analysis for improvement
• Collecting data to be analyzed
• Initial analysis conducted on the data
• Root cause analysis results
• Action items (resolution) for the RCA conducted on results
• Improvement proposals based on the selected analysis

Following are some of the inputs for the CMMI – CAR Process Area:

• Defects found in internal or user testing
• Project management problem, issues, risks
• Customer feedbacks
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• Pareto analysis
• Histograms Box and whisker plots for attributes
• Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)

Following are some of the outputs for CMMI – CAR Process Area:

• Analysis results
• Outcomes selected for further analysis
• Root cause analysis results
• Action proposals selected for implementation
• Action plans
• Causal analysis and resolution records
• Organizational improvement proposals

The above is not an exhaustive coverage of the Causal Analysis and Resolution (CAR) CMMI Process Area but is substantive enough for CMMI Consultants to create a good foundation of Causal Analysis and Resolution in an organization.

Source: CMMI for Development Version 1.3