We are ISO 9001-certified, will it help in our CMMI Implementation Program?

CMMI FAQ 0

12th June, 2014

There is absolutely no doubt in the fundamental similarity with respect to “intent” when you compare ISO 9001 and CMMI Models. The origins of similarity can be seen in Quality Assurance Maturity Grid of Philip Crosby which had similar levels as we have in the Maturity Level structure of CMMI. ISO 9001 by being a Management System at the Organizational Level also promotes the natural progression from Quality Control, Quality Assurance and Quality Management highlighting the concepts of checking and control, assurance or confidence leading to management and consistency.

Many mappings of ISO 9001 and CMMI have been carried out going back to the initial mapping done by Paulk at SEI. At a high level, following relationships between CMMI Process Areas and ISO 9001 Clauses can be made out very clearly by even a cursory evaluation (words in parenthesis or brackets contain the ISO 9001 Clauses):

Configuration Management(Control of Documents 4.2.3, Control of Quality Records 4.2.4)

Requirement Management (Customer Focus 5.2, Customer Related Processes 7.2, Determination of Requirements related to the Product 7.2.1, Review of Requirements & related to the Product 7.2.2, Customer Communication 7.2.3)

Requirement Development(Customer Focus 5.2, Customer Related Processes 7.2, Determination of Requirements related to the Product 7.2.1, Review of Requirements & related to the Product

7.2.2, Customer Communication 7.2.3)

Organizational Process Focus(Responsibility Authority & Communication 5.5, Management Review 5.6)

Organizational Training(Human Resources 6.2, Competence Awareness & Training 6.2.2)

Organizational Process Deployment(Documentation Requirement 4.2, Control of Documents 4.2.3, Control of Quality Records 4.2.4, Work Environment 6.4, Monitoring and Measurement of Processes 8.2.3)

Technical Solutions (Design and / or Development 7.3, Planning 7.3.1 Design Input 7.3.2, Design Outputs 7.3.3, Production & Service Provision 7.5, Control of, Measuring & Monitoring Devices 7.6)

Verification(Verification 7.3.5)

Validation(Validation 7.3.6)

Supplier Agreement Management (7.4 Purchase)

Causal Analysis and Resolution (Corrective Action 8.5.2, Preventive Action 8.5.3)

These mappings can be carried out in a more detailed manner. The purpose is to indicate a decently established relationship between ISO 9001 Clauses and CMMI Process Areas. Once the relationship is established, it is very clear that existence of a robust Quality Management System based on ISO 9001can definitely help and contribute significantly towards deployment of CMMI Process Model in an organization. It is also important to note that much depends on the robustness and rigor of ISO 9001 Implementation. We all understand that just having an ISO 9001 Certification without a robust implementation program in place is not going to help in CMMI Implementation. The reverse is also true.