Software process definition, documentation, and improvement should be an integral part of every software engineering organization. This ReadyNote addresses the specific documentation requirements in support of the CMMI-SW Project Planning process area, providing

• detailed organizational policy examples,
• deployable Project Planning templates, and
• examples of common Project Planning work products required to support CMMI Level 2 assessment activities.

It describes the documentation required for the CMMI Project Planning activities associated with Level 2 software development projects. The goal is to provide practical support for individuals responsible for the development and documentation of software processes and procedures. These individuals are responsible for

• software project management,
• software process improvement or gap analysis (for example, software process owners, team members tasked with process definition and improvement, and engineers), and
• CMM/CMMI-SW implementation (for example, software engineering process group members, and software quality assessors).

The CMMI is descriptive: It does not tell users how to satisfy the criteria for their key process areas, nor does it show how to accomplish their goals. Instead, it describes the criteria that the implementation should support. IEEE standards are prescriptive: They describe how to fulfill the requirements associated with effective software project management.

This ReadyNote should be used as a best-practices supplement to the SEI CMMI and the IEEE Software Engineering Standards set. It provides the link between the “what” and the “how to” of software process improvement leading to certification. For organizations that do not wish to pursue CMMI Level 2 accreditation, this document will show how the application of IEEE Standards, and their use as reference material, can facilitate the development of sound software engineering practices.

• Susan K. Land is a Principle Software and Systems Engineer for MITRE, a not-for-profit organization chartered to work in the public interest. MITRE manages three Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). She supports the Department of Defense FFRDC and has more than 20 years of industry experience in the practical application of software engineering methodologies, the management of information systems, and the leadership of software development teams. She has participated in many software process improvement efforts, CMM CAF-based appraisals, and CBA IPI self-assessments. She chairs the IEEE Standards Advisory Board and is a member of the IEEE Computer Society’s Board of Governors, the IEEE Software and Systems Engineering Standards Committee, the IEEE Computer Society’s SE Online editorial board, the IEEE CS Professional Practices Committee, and the development team of the Strawman and Trial versions of the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge. She is an IEEE Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP). She is also the author of Jumpstart CMM/CMMI Software Process Improvement: Using IEEE Software Engineering Standards and coauthor of Practical Support for CMMI-SW Software Project Documentation Using IEEE Software Engineering Standards.