CMMI Maturity Level 3
CMMI Maturity Level 3 (Defined) appraisal
An independent appraisal of whether your organisation's standard processes are defined and followed across projects.
- Rating valid
- 3 years
- Method
- Benchmark
- Published on
- CMMI PARS
Accredited and empanelled
What is CMMI Maturity Level 3?
CMMI Maturity Level 3, Defined, is the rating for organisations whose projects work from a set of standard processes tailored to their needs, rather than each team inventing its own way of working. It sits above Level 2, Managed, where processes are planned and controlled project by project, and it is commonly asked for by enterprise and government buyers of software and IT services.
Appraisals follow the CMMI Institute's Benchmark appraisal method and are led by a CMMI Institute certified lead appraiser. CMMI V3.0 is the current model, with views such as Development, Services, Supplier Management and People Management, and the result records the model, the method, the appraisal ID and the lead appraiser.
The outcome is a maturity level rating for a defined organisational unit, published on the CMMI Institute's Published Appraisal Results System (PARS). Ratings are valid for three years from the end of the appraisal, after which a new appraisal is needed to keep the level.
Who it is for
- Software development and IT services companies
- Organisations supplying software to government or defence buyers
- Offshore delivery centres and global capability centres
- Managed service and IT operations providers using the Services view
- Product companies standardising engineering across teams
What sets audit time and cost
The Benchmark appraisal itself typically takes one to two weeks; the lead time before it depends on how established your processes are, often several months from the first readiness review.
- Size of the organisational unit and number of projects
- Model views in scope, such as Development or Services
- Number of locations and whether the appraisal is on-site or remote
- Size of the appraisal team and the sample of projects
- Number of readiness reviews before the Benchmark appraisal
- Interviews across several languages or time zones
Why it matters
What CMMI Maturity Level 3 gives you
- 01
A rating buyers can check
A published maturity level that procurement teams can look up on PARS, rather than a claim in a proposal.
- 02
Consistent delivery across projects
Standard processes reduce the variation between teams, so estimates, quality and reporting become more predictable.
- 03
Problems caught earlier
Peer review, verification and validation practices bring defects to light earlier in the life cycle.
- 04
A base for higher maturity
Level 3 practices, such as process asset development and organisational training, are the foundation for moving to Levels 4 and 5.
The audit
What our auditors examine
- 01
Organisational standard processes
How process assets are defined, tailored for each project and kept current, and how lessons from projects feed back into them.
- 02
Planning, estimating and monitoring
Whether estimates are based on recorded data, plans are maintained, and progress is tracked and acted on.
- 03
Requirements and technical solution
How requirements are elicited, agreed and traced, and how designs are chosen, built and documented.
- 04
Verification, validation and peer reviews
Evidence that work products are reviewed and tested against requirements, and that defects are tracked to closure.
- 05
Risk, decisions and configuration management
Risk registers, structured decision analysis for significant choices, and control of baselines and changes.
- 06
Training and process quality assurance
Role-based training records and objective checks that teams follow the defined processes.
How the appraisal runs
Benchmark appraisals follow the CMMI Institute’s method, led by a certified lead appraiser.
01
Planning
The lead appraiser agrees the model, maturity level, organisational unit and sampled projects with your appraisal sponsor.
02
Readiness review
A readiness review checks that evidence and participants are in place before the appraisal is scheduled.
03
Benchmark appraisal
The appraisal team examines evidence and interviews practitioners across the sampled work to rate practice areas.
04
Results
The maturity level rating is presented to the sponsor and submitted to the CMMI Institute, which publishes it on its results system.
Related standards and audits
Often certified or audited alongside this one, sometimes in a single combined audit.
CMMI appraisals
CMMI Maturity Level 5
An appraisal of whether your organisation manages processes with data and improves them against measured objectives.
ISO certification
ISO 9001
Independent assessment of your quality management system against ISO 9001:2015, by an accredited certification body.
ISO certification
ISO 27001
Independent certification of your information security management system against ISO/IEC 27001:2022.
ISO certification
ISO 20000-1
Independent certification that your services are planned, delivered and improved under a managed service management system.
Industries we audit for
SaaS and cloud
Independent evidence that answers enterprise security reviews and keeps sales moving.
Government and public sector
CERT-In empanelled audits and accredited certification for departments, public sector undertakings and their suppliers.
Banking and fintech
Audits and certifications that support the security evidence regulators, partner banks and payment networks ask for.
CMMI Maturity Level 3 questions
We audit; we do not consult.
To keep appraisals independent, we never design, build or fix the systems we audit, and decisions are made by people who did not take part in the audit. Read our impartiality policy.
Plan your CMMI Maturity Level 3 appraisal
Tell us your scope, sites and timeline. We reply with an audit plan and a fixed quote.