TYBRIN is independently rated as a Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level 3 software development organization, one of very few businesses (approximately 17.7%), in the entire nation, either large or small, that presently hold this distinction. CMM is the leading industry standard for improving software processes to enhance the quality of software products and reduce time and costs to the customer for acquisition and sustainment. Our achievement of this unique milestone is symbolic of our commitment to quality performance and illustrates our capability to provide high quality products and low-risk, best-value support to our customers.

What is the Capability Maturity Model?
The Capability Maturity Model for Software (CMM or SW-CMM) is a model for judging the maturity of the software processes of an organization and for identifying the key practices that are required to increase the maturity of these processes.  The SW-CMM is developed by the entire software community with stewardship by the SEI.  Through the SW-CMM, the SEI, government, industry, and academia have put in place an effective means for modeling, defining, and measuring the maturity of the processes used by software professionals.

History of TYBRIN Implementing the CMM Model
TYBRIN began its software process improvement program in September 1993.  We were externally assessed at SEI CMM Level 2 in March 1995 and then assessed at SEI CMM Level 3 in March 1997.  TYBRIN was recently re-assessed at SEI CMM Level 3 in June 1999 and May 2001.   There are 28 software teams on 11 commercial and Government contracts using our SEI CMM Level 3 processes.  We have learned how to successfully deploy the same proven processes across the corporation at multiple locations in multiple software domains.  TYBRIN has extended our SEI CMM Level 3 processes to not only include our software development teams, but also to include our computer system/network administration teams.  These teams significantly benefit from having defined and repeatable processes.  Each TYBRIN team is internally assessed every six months to ensure they are complying with all SEI CMM Level 3 key process areas.  The results of these assessments are briefed directly to the President of TYBRIN who has taken personal responsibility for both sustaining and improving TYBRIN’s software process improvement program.

Benefits of Using a CMM Level 3 Company
Studies have shown improved project cost and schedule performance with increasing process maturity…the least mature organizations are likely to have difficulty adhering to cost and schedule baselines, and, in contrast, the more mature organizations are likely to have on-baseline cost and schedule performance.  Project results show that each level of the CMM improves software quality by a factor of about 2.  Level 3 utilizes the peer review process…peer reviews have been widely recognized in the industry for being the single most important factor in detecting and preventing defects in software products.  Other benefits of higher levels of process maturity include:

• Increases in software engineer productivity
• Decreases in software defects (bugs and rework)
• Improvements in project schedule/cycle performance
• Improvements in project cost/schedule prediction

Published results from corporate investment in software process improvement reveal an average return on investment (ROI) of approximately 5 to 1.

TYBRIN is Continuing the Processes Improvement Journey
TYBRIN is committed to continuous improvement demonstrated by our repeated independent assessment as a CMM Level 3 Company.  TYBRIN continues its pursuit of enterprise-wide business excellence as an early adopter of the CMMI^® Model.  TYBRIN is migrating from a legacy Capability Maturity Model (CMM) that supported software engineering process improvement capabilities, to a new CMM Integration (CMMI^®) Model that enables process improvement across multiple disciplines.  Even though our CMMI^® implementation practices are firmly established in our everyday activities, this migration effort is no small undertaking.  TYBRIN’s goal is to maintain and grow a culture of engineering and customer service excellence through a continuous process improvement program.  It is critical to our continued growth and long term corporate health to use a comprehensive framework—like CMMI^®—to leverage skills, process, and new technologies to improve our competitive position within today’s rapidly changing marketplace.  Whether it is within specific projects or at the corporate level, all TYBRIN employees will play a role in the success of this undertaking.

Click here to see TYBRIN on the SEI Published List of Maturity Levels.

^® Capability Maturity Model, Capability Maturity Modeling, CMM, and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.