CMMI Certification or CMMI Assessment what’s the difference?

CMMI FAQ 2

18th June, 2013

Many of our customers asks for CMMI Certification and insists for a CMMI Certificate on completion of the SCAMPI A Assessment.

CMMI does not provide Certificate of completion of CMMI SCAMPI Assessment. What CMMI does is it assesses Organizations for their Compliance Level for the targeted Maturity Level (i.e. CMMI Maturity Level 2, CMMI Maturity Level 3 and so on). So the correct terminology in context of CMMI is Assessment and Assessed. These assessment are conducted by CMMI Authorised Assessor.

When we say an organization has successfully completed a particular CMMI Maturity Level it means that the organization has been given the level rating for the targeted CMMI Maturity Level.

From CMMI Institute website:

If you are interested in maturity level ratings or capability level ratings, you’re in the right place. However, be advised that the phrases “CMMI certified,” “maturity level 2 certified,” and other similar phrasing is incorrect. The reason is that “certification” carries with it a legal meaning that only specific conditions allow.

Despite the fact that “certification” does not apply to CMMI, these terms are used often on the web and in everyday conversation. The question “How do I get CMMI certified?” might be replaced with the question “How do I get a CMMI level rating?”

…….

To get a CMMI level rating, you must have an appraisal. In fact, it must be a particular type of appraisal. CMMI Appraisals can be conducted at different points in your improvement project. In most situations, it is best to work with consultants to help you decide when it is best to appraise your organization. Find a Partner Organization that has SCAMPI Lead Appraisers on staff.

In short we can say that in context of CMMI correct term is CMMI Assessment and not CMMI Certification.

Does my organization get a Certificate on successful completion of CMMI SCAMPI A Assessment?

From CMMI Institute website:

No. A certificate is not provided for achieving maturity levels because the CMMI Institute does not validate the appraisal results of organizations. However, CMMI Institute Partner organizations are not prevented from presenting a certificate with appraisal results after they have completed a SCAMPI A appraisal.

So CMMI Assessed organizations can ask for a Certificate of SCAMPI A Assessment on successful completion from their Assessors.

DQS India’s services for SCAMPI Assessments

DQS India is an authorised CMMI Institute (earlier SEI) Partner and provides services for CMMI Consulting, CMMI Training and CMMI Assessment. We have conducted various CMMI Assessments for different CMMI Models available around the world including countries like USA, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Vietnam etc. You can view the DQS India Profile on SEI Website (now CMMI Institute) – http://partners.clearmodel.com/partners/dqsindia/. We provide services for all types of SCAMPI Assessments including A, B and C SCAMPI Assessments.

Contact DQS India

Interested in our CMMI Services, please contact:

Rajendra Khare
MD
DQS Certification India Private Limited
Mobile: +91-9810268573
Phone: +91-11-27025910
e-mail: rkhare@dqsindia.com
Please note: Email communication would be preferred mode of communication.
Reference Material taken from www.dqsindia.com