Maturity Levels: It is a layered framework providing a
progression to the discipline needed to engage in continuous improvement (It
is important to state here that an organization develops the ability to
assess the impact of a new practice, technology, or tool on their activity.
Hence it is not a matter of adopting these, rather it is a matter of
determining how innovative efforts influence existing practices. This really
empowers projects, teams, and organizations by giving them the foundation to
support reasoned choice.)
Key Process Areas: A Key Process Area (KPA) identifies a cluster
of related activities that, when performed collectively, achieve a set of
goals considered important.
Goals: The goals of a key process area summarize the states that
must exist for that key process area to have been implemented in an
effective and lasting way. The extent to which the goals have been
accomplished is an indicator of how much capability the organization has
established at that maturity level. The goals signify the scope, boundaries,
and intent of each key process area.
Common Features: Common features include practices that implement
and institutionalize a key process area. These five types of common features
include: Commitment to Perform, Ability to Perform, Activities Performed,
Measurement and Analysis, and Verifying Implementation.
Key Practices: The key practices describe the elements of
infrastructure and practice that contribute most effectively to the
implementation and institutionalization of the key process areas.
