| Disciplined development methods and the CMMI have not generally been applied to Small to Medium Enterprises (SME). Little is known about the need for, and efficacy of, applying this technology to this community. This research is an exploratory investigation designed to gather and analyze data indicating whether disciplined development methods and the CMMI for small to medium enterprises (CMMI-SME) are compatible with the business needs, culture and environment of SMEs. The research questions are divided into three categories: need, technical feasibility, and organizational compatibility.;The data for this study was provided from a multi-year effort working with small enterprises by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.;Results revealed there is a need for disciplined methods in the SME community. The data is consistent across the five data sources in this study regarding the SME's software and systems related problems. SMEs with systems and software incorporated in their products do experience product delivery, quality and cost problems. This supports a trenchant argument that the need for disciplined systems development methods and, therefore, the CMMI-SME is prevalent in the SME community.;Given the technical and business situation described by the SMEs studied, and the experiences reported by the other data sources in this study, it would appear that the CMMI in its current form is not feasible to implement in the SME environment. This study provides multiple reasons supporting this conclusion and suggested approaches to increase feasibility.;Regarding organizational compatibility, the data collected in this study indicates that small, quickly implemented improvements focused on identifiable SME problem areas is the preferred approach when working with SMEs. This small-scale approach appears to be incompatible with the CMMI as it is currently packaged and supported. The study provides recommendations in three areas: packaging, supporting infrastructure, and community transition. |
