CMMI是把组织软件开发与管理过程的能力水平与评估改进模型结合、用分级方式衡量并提升过程成熟度的框架，核心是过程能力分级与持续改进，能力包括过程管理、项目管理、工程管理与组织级优化。它解决的是软件过程依赖个人水平、质量无法预测的问题，并不解决需求本身不清晰与项目范围失控的问题。
CMMI的核心是分级与过程改进，它可以帮助企业实现以下目标：
让过程能力可被客观评估。组织的过程在多个维度上被分级评估，能力水平不再靠自我感觉判断。评估采用多维度抽样方式，同一等级需要在多个过程域同时达标，不能靠单一强项拉高整体评级。
让项目过程可被复制。定义好的组织级过程被项目直接继承，人员流动不会带走关键经验。组织级过程强调过程定义与裁剪机制，定义说明适用条件与裁剪规则，使项目能够按规模调整实践而不偏离基线。
让工程活动可被追溯。需求、设计、编码与验证之间建立双向追溯关系，改动的影响范围可以被准确圈定。优化域关注过程的量化分析与改进机制，改进建议需要基于数据支撑而非主观判断，否则改进难以持续。
让改进有明确落点。评估结果指出过程能力最弱的一环，改进资源集中投向收益最高处。
总之，CMMI可以帮助企业实现软件过程从依赖个人经验到组织级资产化的转变，提高项目交付的可预测性与软件质量，降低返工与进度失控带来的成本，增强组织在客户评估与招投标中的可信度。
翻译
CMMI is the combination of an organization’s capability in software development and management processes with assessment and improvement models, using a graded approach to measure and raise process maturity. Its core is graded process capability and continuous improvement, with capabilities covering process management, project management, engineering management and organizational optimization. It solves the problems of software processes depending on individual skill levels and of unpredictable quality, but it does not solve the problems of unclear requirements and uncontrolled project scope.
At the heart of CMMI is grading and process improvement, which can help companies achieve the following:
Make process capability objectively assessable. Organizational processes are graded across multiple dimensions, so capability level is no longer judged by intuition.
Make project processes reproducible. Defined organizational processes are inherited directly by projects, so key experience does not leave with personnel turnover.
Make engineering activities traceable. Bidirectional traceability links requirements, design, coding and verification, so the impact scope of a change can be delineated accurately.
Give improvement a definite landing point. Assessment results identify the weakest link in process capability, directing improvement resources to where returns are highest.
In short, CMMI can help enterprises shift software processes from relying on personal experience to organizational assets, improve project delivery predictability and software quality, reduce costs from rework and schedule loss of control, and strengthen credibility in customer assessment and bidding.
