Establish and maintain the organization's set of standard processes.

Standard processes may be defined at multiple levels in an enterprise and they may be related in a hierarchical manner. For example, an enterprise may have a set of standard processes that is tailored by individual organizations (e.g., a division or site) in the enterprise to establish their set of standard processes. The set of standard processes may also be tailored for each of the organization’s business areas or product lines. Thus “the organization’s set of standard processes” can refer to the standard processes established at the organization level and standard processes that may be established at lower levels, although some organizations may only have a single level of standard processes. (See the definitions of “standard process” and “organization’s set of standard processes” in the glossary.)

Multiple standard processes may be needed to address the needs of different application domains, lifecycle models, methodologies, and tools. The organization’s set of standard processes contains process elements (e.g., a work product size-estimating element) that may be interconnected according to one or more process architectures that describe the relationships among these process elements.

The organization’s set of standard processes typically includes technical, management, administrative, support, and organizational processes.

The organization’s set of standard processes should collectively cover all processes needed by the organization and projects, including those processes addressed by the process areas at Maturity Level 2.

Typical Work Products

1.    Organization's set of standard processes

Subpractices

1.    Decompose each standard process into constituent process elements to the detail needed to understand and describe the process.

Each process element covers a bounded and closely related set of activities. The descriptions of the process elements may be templates to be filled in, fragments to be completed, abstractions to be refined, or complete descriptions to be tailored or used unmodified. These elements are described in sufficient detail such that the process, when fully defined, can be consistently performed by appropriately trained and skilled people.

2.    Specify the critical attributes of each process element.

3.    Specify the relationships of the process elements.

The rules for describing the relationships among process elements are referred to as “process architecture.” The process architecture covers the essential requirements and guidelines. The detailed specifications of these relationships are covered in the descriptions of the defined processes that are tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes.

4.    Ensure that the organization's set of standard processes adheres to applicable policies, standards, and models.

Adherence to applicable process standards and models is typically demonstrated by developing a mapping from the organization’s set of standard processes to the relevant process standards and models. In addition, this mapping will be a useful input to future appraisals.

5.    Ensure that the organization’s set of standard processes satisfies the process needs and objectives of the organization.

Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about establishing and maintaining the organization’s process needs and objectives.

6.    Ensure that there is appropriate integration among the processes that are included in the organization’s set of standard processes.

7.    Document the organization's set of standard processes.

8.    Conduct peer reviews on the organization's set of standard processes.

Refer to the Verification process area for more information about peer review.

9.    Revise the organization's set of standard processes as necessary.