Model

SOFTWARE SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION PROCESS MATURITY MODEL

The Documentation Process Maturity Model (DPMM) is a description of process maturity, capability and practices that characterize an organization that generates high quality documentation.  (Recall that documentation refers to the system documentation generated as part of the software development process.  It does not include end-user documentation.)  A four level software system documentation process maturity model and assessment procedure have been developed. The model represents an ideal process and the assessment determines where the organization stands relative to the model.  The model and assessment procedure were influenced by CMM in that key practices, indicators, and challenges are defined for each of the four levels of the model; for the assessment procedure a questionnaire, that takes only 30 minutes to complete, is administered to each member of the project team.  The tabulated questionnaire responses are used to generate an assessment report that gives the maturity level and a documentation process profile that indicates what practices the organization is doing well, what practices need improvement, and challenges to move to the next higher maturity level.

This model structure was used in the first three versions. For the fourth version the maturity levels were dropped.
See Key Practices
 

Level 1
Ad hoc		 Level 2 
Inconsistent		 Level 3 
Defined		 Level 4 
Controlled
Keywords Chaos, 
Varibility		 Standards
Check-off list
Inconsistency		 Product
assessment
Process
definition		 Process 
assessment
Measurement
Control
Feedback 
Improvement
Succinct 
Description		 Documentation not a high priority Documentation recognized as important and must be done. Documentation recognized as important and must be done well. Documentation recognized as important and must be done well consistently
Key Practices Ad-hoc process 
Documentation not important		 Inconsistent application of standards Documentation quality assessment Documentation usefulness assurance Process definition Process quality assessment and measures
Key Indicators Documentation missing or out of date Standards established and use of check-off list SQA-like practices  Data analysis and improvement mechanisms
Key Challenges Establish documentation standards Exercise quality control over content 
Assess documentation usefulness Specify process		 Establish process measurement Incorporate control over process Automate data collection and analysis Continually striving for optimization 


Last Updated: Thursday, April 13, 2000
by Curtis R. Cook & Marcello Visconti
© 2000 OSU Computer Science Department & UTFSM  Departamento de Informatica

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