Software Engineering Institute

CMMI is used to create an organizational process infrastructure by addressing particular domains, such as software and systems engineering. Six Sigma is a top-down initiative that cuts across the entire enterprise, including areas such as engineering, sales, marketing, and research.

Six Sigma is intended to be implemented by focusing on problems and opportunities, often with narrow scopes, that will yield significant business benefits. It focuses on the performance of processes and practices as implemented rather than checking for compliance against a definition or model. While these two improvement initiatives are different by design, they are interdependent in their use.

The documents listed below provide guidance and examples for the joint use of Six Sigma and CMMI or relate to high-maturity methods and process performance models.

SEMA has developed the following courses to help you better design products and process and improve your process performance.

• Designing Products and Processes Using Six Sigma
• Improving Process Performance Using Six Sigma
• Improving Process Performance Using Six Sigma Instructor Training