Overcoming the First Hurdle: Why Organizations Do Not Adopt CMMI

  • Authors:

  • Nazrina Khurshid;Paul L. Bannerman;Mark Staples

  • Affiliations:

  • NICTA, Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, Australia and School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of NSW, Australia;NICTA, Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, Australia and School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of NSW, Australia;NICTA, Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, Australia and School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of NSW, Australia

  • Venue:
  • ICSP '09 Proceedings of the International Conference on Software Process: Trustworthy Software Development Processes
  • Year:
  • 2009

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This paper further examines why some software development organizations decide not to adopt CMMI by replicating an earlier Australian study in another country. The study examines data collected from the efforts of three consulting firms to sell a CMMI Level 2 program subsidized by the Malaysian government. The most frequently cited reasons for not adopting CMMI were: the program was too costly; the companies were unsure of the benefits; the organization was too small; and/or the organization had other priorities. The Malaysian study extends and generally supports the Australian study (differences were found in the frequency ordering of reasons and two new reason categories had to be introduced). It also adds to our understanding of CMMI adoption decisions. Based on the results, we conclude that to achieve broader impact in practice, software process improvement (SPI) researchers need to develop a stronger cost-benefit analysis for SPI, recognising it as a business investment rather than just a product or process quality improvement technique, and provide flexible entry options to enable more companies of difference sizes to take the adoption leap.