Approaches to Process Performance Modeling: A Summary from the SEI Series of Workshops on CMMI High Maturity Measurement and Analysis

More and more organizations are striving for and achieving high maturity status, yet there is still an insufficient shared understanding of how best to implement measurement and analysis practices appropriate for high maturity organizations. A series of twice-yearly workshops organized by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) allows organizations to share lessons learned to accelerate the adoption of best measurement and analysis practices in high maturity organizations. This report summarizes the results from the second and third high maturity measurement and analysis workshops. The participants' presentations described their experiences with process performance models; the goals and outcomes of the modeling; the x factors used; the data collection methods; and the statistical, simulation, or probabilistic modeling techniques used. Overall summaries of the experience and future plans for modeling also were provided by participants. This report also includes a summary of the "healthy ingredients" that are needed for process performance models and a table showing which healthy ingredients were visible in the models described in the presentations. By making the models that were shared in these workshops more widely available in this report, the community as a whole can benefit from the exciting and innovative ideas for process performance models implemented by leading organizations in the field