Relating the Team Software Process (TSP) to the Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM)

Organizations using the Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM) to guide their software process improvement efforts often struggle with implementation details. The Team Software Process (TSP) was designed to implement effective, high-maturity processes for project teams. The TSP contains a framework as well as a set of processes, procedures, guidelines, and tools for project teams to use in the production of high-quality software on time and on budget. Since the SW-CMM describes what an organization at a high level of process maturity should be doing, and the TSP describes how high-maturity processes are implemented for project teams, the question arises: If all projects in an organization were using the TSP, would the organization exhibit the characteristics of high process maturity, as described in the SW-CMM? To help answer this question, we performed an analysis of the degree to which the SW-CMM is addressed by the TSP. Each key practice described in the SW-CMM was classified as having an organizational or project scope, or both. Then each practice was examined to determine how it was addressed by the TSP. The results presented in this report show that the TSP implements a majority of the key practices of the SW-CMM.