Software process improvement in small organizations: a case study

The Capability Maturity Model for software has become a major force in software development process improvement. We looked at the role of process improvement in the context of a small organization. Although the Capability Maturity Model integration is replacing the CMM, we focused on the older CMM. We had to look at more than which CMM key process areas apply to small businesses. Our overall goal was to institute good software development practices, we used the language of the CMM to gain the management's cooperation. Applying these practices is essential to managing growth, yet undertaking this effort without prior experience could impede a small company's innovative nature. This case study's purpose was to investigate the success factors of a software process improvement effort for a small software development organization.