There are many ways to get help with CMMI models. You can work with a consultant  from an SEI Partner organization. That consultant can guide you in creating a process improvement program, selecting a model, determining when to have an appraisal and more. The SEI and its Partners offer CMMI-related training and appraisal services. You can find an SEI Partner organization that offers CMMI services near you.

An extensive CMMI user community is active on the web. Join in on the community discussion and get help from other users.

Many SEI partner organizations have tools that they use. The SEI doesn’t promote or endorse any of these tools. Our advice is simply to evaluate the tools in terms of how they fit with your organization’s needs and infrastructure.

There are two primary venues in which you can meet and communicate with other CMMI users: conferences and the web.

CMMI issues have been a focus at as the SEPG conference series and the CMMI Technology Conference and User Group.

Discussion of CMMI issues on the web for each of the CMMI or P-CMM models are found on the Community Discussion page.

Finally, you can ask the SEI questions about CMMI by sending email to SEI Customer Relations.

Find SEI Partners  that are geographically close to you and offer the products you are looking for. Interview each to evaluate how well their experience is compatible with your organization’s needs.

Look through these web pages, in particular, look through the Getting Started page and its links.

Regardless of which process improvement approach you have been using (e.g., Six Sigma, Agile, ISO 9000, ITIL), CMMI is likely compatible with it. Therefore, your investment is not lost, but will continue to in some way to support your adoption of CMMI. If nothing else, the fact that your organization is accustomed to improving its processes and has a culture that supports needed change is an advantage.

There is more information available about CMMI compatibility, which includes details of how organizations have used multiple approaches with success.

Over 5000 businesses that use CMMI models from over 70 countries, including the U.S., China, Germany, Italy, Chile, India, Australia, Egypt, Turkey, and Russia. However, it is difficult to quantify exactly how many organizations have adopted CMMI because any organization can use CMMI for process improvement without having to register with the SEI or otherwise identify themselves to the public.

You can view summarized adoption information in the maturity profile . Also, there have been over 130,000 people  who have attended Introduction to CMMI training, and CMMI has been adopted both by government organizations and in many industries (e.g., software, finance, manufacturing, services).

Unless you are trying to get a level to qualify for a contract that specifies what they require, the choice is entirely up to you. There are a few issues that may influence your decision.

First, when you “get a level” you are in reality conducting a CMMI appraisal (called a SCAMPI A appraisal). Such an appraisal requires selecting a CMMI model and the scope of the organization to be appraised. In addition, you must determine what results you want from the appraisal.

Capability levels apply to your organization’s process improvement achievement in individual process areas. The four capability levels are numbered 0 through 3. For example, your appraisal results may show that the part of the organization you appraised is capability level 3 for Configuration Management, but capability level 2 for Decision Analysis and Resolution.

Maturity levels apply to your organization’s process improvement achievement in multiple process areas. These levels are a means of improving the processes corresponding to a given set of process areas (i.e., maturity level). The five maturity levels are numbered 1 through 5. The maturity level applies to the scope of the organization that was appraised (e.g., three projects, a department, a division)

SEI Partners are qualified organizations that are licensed by the SEI to help other organizations and individuals adopt new and improved SEI technologies. For CMMI, SEI Partners offer consulting, lead appraiser, and training services.