CMMI Services

CMMI V3.0 (Capability Maturity Model Integration, version 3.0) is a process improvement model and a collection of best practices that we use to help organizations and projects develop and improve key capabilities that are important for any successful, mature company, organization, or project. This model supports the improvement of the breadth of organizational areas, including: Ensuring Quality, Engineering and Developing Products, Delivering and Managing Services, Selecting and Managing Suppliers, Planning and Managing Work, Managing Business Resilience, Managing the Workforce, Supporting Process Implementation, Managing Safety, Managing Security, Improving Performance, and Sustaining Habit and Persistence.

CMMI, as a process improvement model, helps organizations focus on developing, improving, refining, and strengthening the capabilities and processes that are most critical to success, with the end goal of tangible business value and return on investment (ROI). Our customers have typically realized this business value and ROI in the form of:

  • Improved quality and a corresponding reduction in rework
  • Effective mitigation of risks and maximization of opportunities
  • Improvements in efficiency and performance
  • Improved customer satisfaction
  • Improved employee morale, loyalty, and retention—and thus, lower recruiting costs
  • Improved competitive posture, including the ability to bid on contracts requiring CMMI maturity level ratings

As a licensed ISACA / CMMI Institute Partner, iPower provides authentic CMMI consulting, training, and appraisal services on par with what customers would receive directly from the CMMI Institute. Our expertise includes formal CMMI V3.0 Benchmark, Sustainment, Evaluation and Action Plan Reappraisals, and we have experience in all three domains: Development, Services, Supplier Management (formerly called Acquisition). We support organizations just starting out with CMMI as well as those transitioning from prior CMMI models.


iPower also offers a unique network of personnel with expertise and direct hands-on experience in not only CMMI best practices, but also complementary disciplines and frameworks. iPower provides our customers with:

  • Certified CMMI instructors
  • Certified CMMI lead appraisers
  • Certified CMMI high maturity lead appraisers
  • Certified CMMI professionals and CMMI associates with experience as appraisal team members
  • Project Management Professional (PMP) certified project/program managers
  • Certified Lean Six Sigma professionals
  • ISO 9001/20000/27001 professionals
  • CMMC Professionals (RPs, CCPs, Provisional Assessors)
  • Professional consultants and subject matter experts (SMEs)
  • Quality engineers
  • Process improvement engineers

Consulting and Implementation Support Services

iPower’s experienced subject matter experts (SMEs) and process/quality engineers provide the full range of consulting and support services for organizations that are implementing CMMI-based processes. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Conducting formal and informal assessments and appraisals against CMMI best practices
  • Highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement
  • Developing corrective action plans
  • Providing instructor-led CMMI and process training (iPower Training Services)
  • Providing hands-on coaching and mentoring support and facilitated work sessions, in a one-on-one setting or in small working groups
  • Developing or reviewing process assets (e.g., organizational policies, processes, standard operating procedures, templates, SharePoint portals, Excel dashboards, etc.)
  • Planning, tracking, reporting, and managing the CMMI implementation effort with Project Management Institute project management best practices

Independent Assessment Services

iPower performs assessments of processes against requirements and best practices that our clients have determined to be important in meeting their business objectives and goals. For example, ISO standards, ISACA / CMMI Institute, or Lean Six Sigma standards might be the yardstick against which an organization assesses itself. Once our process improvement engineers have reviewed project and organizational documentation, procedures, and policies as necessary, they conduct follow-on, structured interviews with key personnel who may include corporate staff, senior management, project managers, and other staff as appropriate. We have designed our approach to be non-threatening and unbiased in order to facilitate open and honest risk discussion among the participants. Our finding reports include actionable information, for example: (1) best practices that should be sustained; (2) a detailed report card against the selected standard; (3) identified risk areas; and/or (4) opportunities for improvement. In consultation with our clients, we may repeat status assessments periodically to observe changes and make recommendations based on the program’s progress.

Formal CMMI Appraisal Services

As an ISACA / CMMI Institute Partner, iPower is licensed to perform external, objective appraisals and assessments for government and commercial organizations, and through the CMMI Institute provides certified, published appraisal results that can be used in decision-making and marketing Our appraisals provide insight into our clients' process capabilities and organizational maturity by identifying strengths and weaknesses of existing practices relative to selected reference models and disciplines.

CMMI V3.0 Appraisals

The CMMI V3.0 family of appraisals includes Benchmark, Sustainment, and Evaluation appraisals, as well as the Action Plan Reappraisal.

The Benchmark appraisal is the most rigorous method and is typically conducted when an organization has implemented a planned set of process improvements and needs to formally benchmark its process relative to the CMMI.

The Sustainment appraisal may be used following a Benchmark appraisal to extend the maturity level rating by 2 years.

The Evaluation appraisal provides a wide range of options, including characterization of planned approaches to process implementation according to a scale defined by the user.

The Action Plan Reappraisal may be used if an organization fails to meet their targeted maturity level rating in a Benchmark or Sustainment appraisal.