A Comparison of ISO 9001 and the Capability Maturity Model for Software

The Capability Maturity Model for Software (CMM), developed by the Software Engineering Institute, and the ISO 9000 series of standards, developed by the International Standards Organization, share a common concern with quality and process management. The two are driven by similar concerns and intuitively correlated. The purpose of this report is to contrast the CMM and ISO 9001, showing both their differences and their similarities. The results of the analysis indicate that, although an ISO 9001-compliant organization would not necessarily satisfy all of the level 2 key process areas, it would satisfy most of the level 2 goals and many of the level 3 goals. Because there are practices in the CMM that are not addressed in ISO 9000, it is possible for a level 1 organization to receive ISO 9001 registration; similarly, there are areas addressed by ISO 9001 that are not addressed in the CMM. A level 3 organization would have little difficulty in obtaining ISO 9001 certification, and a level 2 organization would have significant advantages in obtaining certification.