In this chapter, we describe interactions among process areas to help you see the organization’s view of process improvement and which process areas build on the implementation of other process areas. Relationships among process areas are presented in two dimensions.

The first dimension comprises the interactions of individual process areas that show how information and artifacts flow from one process area to another. Shown by the multiple figures and descriptions in this chapter, these interactions help you see a larger view of process improvement.

The second dimension comprises the interactions of groups of process areas. Shown by the classification of some process areas as Basic and others as Advanced, these classifications illustrate that the Basic process areas should be implemented before the Advanced process areas to ensure that the prerequisites are met to successfully implement the Advanced process areas.

Successful process improvement initiatives must be driven by the business objectives of the organization. For example, a common business objective is to reduce the time it takes to get a product to market. The process improvement objective derived from that might be to improve the project management processes to ensure on-time delivery; those improvements rely on best practices in the Project Planning and Project Monitoring and Control process areas.