ELCA re-appraised at CMMI maturity level 3

The offshore development branch of ELCA in Vietnam has just been successfully re-appraised at maturity level 3 according to the CMMI-DEV model (Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development) version 1.2.

In addition to the ISO 9001 certification that ELCA Suisse has held continuously for 17 years, the CMMI enables the Lausanne based company to manage offshore projects by offering its clients the flexibility gained throughout the project development phases and thus a better grasp of the expectations of its clients. The high and homogenous quality level, the result of the industrialisation of its development processes, is a further benefit of CMMI. In addition, the reduction in risks makes it possible to deal with more and more ambitious projects without compromising on cost and deadline commitments.

About CMMI

The staged CMMI model, developed by the SEI (Software Engineering Institute) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA), consists of five levels of maturity, the last corresponding to the highest degree of maturity. At level 3, standard processes are defined and applied consistently in each project with a range of authorised alterations.

Unlike ISO 9001 which has a more general vocation, CMMI is targeted specifically at software development. It offers a range of “best practices” gathered from hundreds of companies and proven in thousands of projects. CMMI is very widespread in the USA and Asia. Still relatively unknown in Europe, it is growing rapidly. The appraisal is valid for three years and is published on the SEI web site (http://sas.sei.cmu.edu/pars/pars.aspx).