The Department of Defense(DOD) established the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University to address issues related to the escalating cost of software and the quality of products delivered. Capability Maturity Model Integration is a process improvement model used to assess the maturity of a company's software development processes and practices.

The Level 5 ranking is a notable designation that has been achieved by fewer than fifteen percent (15%) of all companies using CMMI (Process Maturity Profile, Sept. 2007.) The rating is based on a level of maturation that goes beyond quantitative project management and defined organizational processes to causal analysis, innovative strategies and process optimization. Protech received Version 1.1 CMMI Level 5 certification in December 2004,representative of our strong emphasis on quality and exemplifies our company theme of "Building Excellence into Systems." Protech is currently preparing for reappraisal at CMMI Level 5 under Version 1.2.

Capability Maturity Models were previously used to define best practices for various disciplines. In some instances, the combination of these individual models resulted in redundancies and discrepancies. CMMI is a comprehensive and integrated framework of models applicable to specific, complex, organizational entities such as software engineering. The CMMI framework offers software companies the opportunity to benefit from improved internal business processes that enhance quality and augment productivity while stimulating growth and knowledge acquisition.

The primary benefit of the CMMI Level 5 certification is the added value it provides for our customers. An excerpt from Crosstalk, The Journal of Defense Software Engineering stated,

"Organizations that have attained high-maturity status regularly report notable improvements in measured customer satisfaction... These businesses also commonly provide evidence of increased staff productivity, ... [and] demonstrate heightened product quality with earlier defect detection profiles... (Goldenson, Jarzombek, Rout, July 2003 Issue)"

In addition to the emphasis on quality, customer satisfaction and staff productivity, CMMI process improvement practices promote more precise project cost and schedule estimates with substantially reduced software defects. Thus, the process optimization characteristic of CMMI Level 5 represents a significant Return on Investment (ROI).

Additional information about the SEI and the CMMI 5 is available at www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi