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actor
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Someone or something outside the system that interacts with the system. [Leffingwell 2003]
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alternative practice
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A practice that is a substitute for one or more generic or specific practices contained in CMMI models that achieves an equivalent effect toward satisfying the generic or specific goal associated with model practices. Alternative practices are not necessarily one-for-one replacements for the generic or specific practices. [CMMI]
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audit
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An independent examination of a work product or set of work products to determine whether requirements are being met. [CMMI]
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appraisal
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An examination of one or more processes by a trained team of professionals using an appraisal reference model as the basis for determining strengths and weaknesses. [CMMI]
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assessment
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An appraisal that an organization does to and for itself for the purposes of process improvement.[CMMI]
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baseline
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A specification or product that has been formally reviewed and agreed upon, that thereafter serves as the basis for further development, and can be changed only trough formal change control procedures. [IEEE-STD-610]
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benchmark
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A standard against which measurements or comparisons can be made. [IEEE-STD-610]
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capability level
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Achievement of process improvement within an individual process area. A capability level is defined by the appropriate specific and generic practices for a process area.
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capability level profile
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In the continuous representation, a list of process areas and their corresponding capability levels. [CMMI]
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Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
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A model that contains essential elements of effective processes for one or more disciplines. It also describes an evolutionary improvement path from ad hoc, immature processes to disciplined, mature processes with improved quality and effectiveness. [CMMI]
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Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
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A model that contains the essential elements of effective processes for Software engineering, System Engineering and Integrated Product and Process Development bodies of knowledge and provides guidance for improving organization's processes and ability to manage the development, acquisition, and maintenance of products or services. [CMMI]
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Casual Analysis and Resalution (CAR)
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A process area of the CMMI that deals with the identification of causes of defects and other problems and taking action to prevent them from occurring in the future. [CMMI]
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casual analysis
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The analysis of defects to determine their cause. [CMMI]
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Change Control Baord (CCB)
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See Configuration Control Board
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change management
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Judicious use of means to effect a change, or proposed change, on a product or service. [CMMI]
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Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS)
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Items that can be purchased from a commercial vendor. [CMMI]
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Configuration Item (CI)
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An aggregation of work products that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the configuration management process. [CMMI]
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Configuration Control Board (CCB)
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A group of people responsible for evaluating and approving or disapproving proposed changes to configuration items, and for ensuring implementation of approved changes. Configuration control boards are also known as "change control boards" or "engineering control board" [CMMI]
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Configuration Management (CM)
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A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to (1) identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a configuration item, (2) control changes to those characteristics, (3) record and report change processing and implementation status, and (4) verify compliance with specified requirements. [IEEE STD 610]
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corrective action
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Acts or deeds used to remedy a situation, remove an error, or adjust a condition. [CMMI]
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defect density
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Number of defects per unit of product size (e.g., problem reports per 1000 lines of code).
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defined process
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A managed process that is tailored from the organization's set of standard processes according to the organization's tailoring guidelines; has a maintained process description; and contributes work products, measures, and other process-improvement information to the organizational process assets. [CMMI]
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derived requirements
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Requirements that are not explicitly stated in the customer requirements, but are inferred (1) from contextual requirements (e.g., applicable standards, laws, policies, common practices, and management decisions), or (2) from requirements needed to specify a product component. Derived requirements can also arise during analysis and design of components of the product or system. [CMMI]
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Design Review (DR)
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A formal, documented, comprehensive, and systematic examination of a design to evaluate the design requirements and the capability of the design to meet these requirements, and to identify problems and propose solutions.[CMMI]
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developmental plan
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A plan for guiding, implementing, and controlling the design and development of one or more products. [CMMI]
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Engineering Change Board (ECB)
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See configuration control board
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entry criteria
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States of being that must be present before an effort can begin successfully.[CMMI]
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establish and maintain
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Formulate, document, use and update when required.[CMMI]
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exit criteria
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States of being that must be present before an effort can end successfully. [CMMI]
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feature
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A service provided by the system that fulfills one or more stakeholder needs. [Leffingwell 2003]
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Generic Goal (GG)
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A goal statement that appears in multiple process areas. In the staged representation, each process area has only one generic goal. Achievement of a generic goal in a process area signifies improved control in planning and implementing the processes associated with that process area, thus indicating whether these processes are likely to be effective, repeatable, and lasting. Generic goals are required model components and are used in appraisals to determine whether a process area is satisfied. [CMMI]
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Generic Practice (GP)
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A practice that provides institutionalization to ensure that the processes associated with the process area will be effective, repeatable, and lasting. Generic practices are categorized by generic goals and common features and are expected components in CMMI models. [CMMI]
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goal
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A "goal" is a required CMMI component that can be either a generic goal or a specific goal. [CMMI]
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institutionalization
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The ingrained way of doing business that an organization follows routinely as part of its corporate culture. [CMMI]
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Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD)
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A systematic approach to product development that achieves a timely collaboration of relevant stakeholders throughout the product life cycle to better satisfy customer needs. [CMMI]
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integrated team
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A group of people with complementary skills and expertise who are committed to delivering specified work products in timely collaboration. Integrated team members provide skills and advocacy appropriate to all phases of the work products' life and are collectively responsible for delivering the work products as specified. An integrated team should include empowered representatives from organizations, disciplines, and functions that have a stake in the success of the work products. [CMMI]
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intervention
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Specific activities resulting from the process of diagnosis and feedback, that an organizational development practitioner uses to bring about a change. [Smither 1996]
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iteration
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A sequence of activities with an established plan and evaluation criteria, resulting in an executable of some type. Each iteration builds on the functionality of the prior iteration. [Leffingwell 2003]
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lead appraiser
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As used in the CMMI Product Suite, a person who has achieved recognition from an authorizing body to perform as an appraisal team leader for a particular appraisal method. [CMMI]
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life-cycle model
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A partitioning of the life of a product into phases that guide the project from identifying customer needs through product retirement. [CMMI]
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managed process
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A performed process that is planned and executed in accordance with policy; employs skilled people having adequate resources to produce controlled outputs; involves relevant stakeholders; is monitored, controlled, and reviewed; and is evaluated for adherence to its process description. [CMMI]
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maturity level
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Degree of process improvement across a predefined set of process areas in which all goals within the set are attained.[CMMI]
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mission statement
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A statement that articulates the vision and purpose of an organization. [Smither 1996]
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norms
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Unwritten and often unspoken rules that govern behavior. [Smither 1996]
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objective evidence
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Qualitative or quantitative information, records, or statements of fact pertaining to the characteristics of an item or service or to the existence and implementation of a process element, which are based on observation, measurement, or test and which are verifiable. [CMMI]
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organization development (OD)
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The theory and practice of bringing planned change to organizations. [Smither 1996]
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organization's process asset library
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A library of information used to store and make available process assets that are potentially useful to those who are defining, implementing, and managing processes in the organization. This library contains process assets such as documents, document fragments, process implementation aids, and other artifacts. [CMMI]
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organizational culture
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The shared beliefs and values that organizations pass on to newcomers, such as accepted ways of behaving, roles and norms. [Smither 1996]
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organizational life cycle
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Growth-related change that follows a pattern of birth, growth, maturity, and revival or decline. [Smither 1996]
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organizational policy
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A guiding principle typically established by senior management that is adopted by an organization to influence and determine decisions. [CMMI]
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organizational process assets
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Artifacts that relate to describing, implementing, and improving processes (e.g., policies, measurements, process descriptions, and process implementation support tools). [CMMI]
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peer review
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The review of work products performed by peers during development of the work products to identify defects for removal. [CMM]
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process
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A systematic set of actions directed to some end [Webster 1991]
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process (business process]
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The total set of activities needed to produce a result of perceived and measurable value to an individual customer of a business [Jacobson 1999]
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process
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The activities that can be recognized as implementations of practices in a CMMI model. These activities can be mapped to one or more practices in CMMI process areas to allow a model to be useful for process improvement and process appraisal.[CMMI]
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Process Action Team (PAT)
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A team that has the responsibility to develop and implement process-improvement activities for an organization as documented in the process-improvement action plan. [CMMI]
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process asset
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Anything that the organization considers useful in attaining the goals of a process area[CMMI]
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process architectures
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A description of the ordering, interfaces, interdependencies, and other relationships among the process elements in a standard process. Process architecture also describes the interfaces, interdependencies, and other relationships between process elements and external processes (for example, contract management). [CMMI]
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Process Area (PA)
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A cluster of related practices in an area that, when performed collectively, satisfy a set of goals considered important for making significant improvement in that area. All CMMI process areas are common to both continuous and staged representations. In the staged representation, process areas are organized by maturity levels. [CMMI]
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process definition
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The act of defining and describing a process. The result of process definition is a process description.[CMMI]
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process description
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A documented expression of a set of activities performed to achieve a given purpose that provides an operational definition of the major components of a process. The documentation specifies, in a complete, precise, and verifiable manner, the requirements, design, behavior, or other characteristics of a process. It also may include procedures for determining whether these provisions have been satisfied. Process descriptions may be found at the activity, project, or organizational level.[CMMI]
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process group
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A collection of specialists that facilitate the definition, maintenance, and improvement of the process(es) used by the organization. [CMMI]
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process improvement
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A program of activities designed to improve the performance and maturity of the organization's processes, and the results of such a program.
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process tailoring
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To make, alter, or adapt a process description for a particular end. For example, a project tailors its defined process from the organization's set of standard processes to meet the objectives, constraints, and environment of the project.
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product life cycle
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The period of time, consisting of phases, that begins when a product is conceived and ends when the product is no longer available for use. Since an organization may be producing multiple products for multiple customers, one description of a product life cycle may not be adequate. Therefore, the organization may define a set of approved product life-cycle models. These models are typically found in published literature and are likely to be tailored for use in an organization.A product life cycle could consist of the following phases: (1) concept/vision, (2) feasibility, (3) design/development, (4) production, and (5) phase out. [CMMI]
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project
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A managed set of interrelated resources that delivers one or more products to a customer or end user. This set of resources has a definite beginning and end and typically operates according to a plan. Such a plan is frequently documented and specifies the product to be delivered or implemented, the resources and funds used, the work to be done, and a schedule for doing the work. A project can be composed of projects. [CMMI]
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quality
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The ability of a set of inherent characteristics of a product, product component, or process to fulfill requirements of customers. [CMMI]
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Quality Assurance (QA)
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A planned and systematic means for assuring management that defined standards, practices, procedures, and methods of the process are applied. [CMMI]
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Quality Control
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The operational techniques and activities that are used to fulfill requirements for quality. [ISO 8402-1994]
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quantitatively managed process
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A defined process that is controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques. The product quality, service quality, and process performance attributes are measurable and controlled throughout the project. [CMMI]
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relevant stakeholder
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A stakeholder that is identified for involvement in specified activities and is included in an appropriate plan. [CMMI]
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requirements elicitation
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Using systematic techniques, like prototypes and structured surveys, to proactively identify and document customer and end-user needs.
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requirements management
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1. The management of all requirements received by or generated by the project, including both technical and nontechnical requirements as well as those requirements levied on the project by the organization. [CMMI]
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requirements management
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2. A systematic approach to eliciting, organizing, and documenting the requirements of a system and a process that establishes and maintains agreement between the customer and the project team on the changing requirements of the system. [Leffingwell 2003]
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requirements traceability
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The evidence of an association between a requirement and its source requirement, its implementation, and its verification. [CMMI]
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Return On Investment (ROI)
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The ratio of revenue from output (product) to production costs, which determines whether an organization benefits from performing an action to produce something. [CMMI]
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risk analysis
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The evaluation, classification, and prioritization of risks. [CMMI]
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risk identification
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An organized, thorough approach to seek out probable or realistic risks in achieving objectives. [CMMI]
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risk management
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An organized, analytic process to identify what might cause harm or loss (identify risks), assess and quantify the identified risks, and to develop and, if needed, implement an appropriate approach to prevent or handle risk causes that could result in significant harm or loss. [CMMI]
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roles
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Expected patterns of behavior associated with an individual or a position. [Smither 1996]
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root cause
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A root cause is a source of a defect such that if it is removed, the defect is decreased or removed.
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software engineering
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(1) The application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software. (2) The study of approaches as in (1). [CMMI]
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software requirements
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1. A software capability needed by the user to solve a problem to achieve an objective.2. A software capability that must be met or possessed by a system or system component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed documentation. [Thayer 1990]
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special cause of process variation
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A cause of a defect that is specific to some transient circumstance and not an inherent part of a process. [CMMI]
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Specific Goal (SG)
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Specific goals apply to a process area and address the unique characteristics that describe what must be implemented to satisfy the process area. Specific goals are required model components and are used in appraisals to help determine whether a process area is satisfies. [[CMMI]
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Specific Practice (SP)
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A specific practice is an activity that is considered important in achieving the associated specific goal. The specific practices describe the activities expected to result in achievement of the specific goals of a process area. Specific practices are expected model components. [CMMI]
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stable process
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The state in which all special causes of process variation have been removed and prevented from recurring so that only the common causes of process variation of the process remain.[CMMI]
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stakeholder
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1. A group or an individual that is affected by or in some way accountable for the outcome of an undertaking. Stakeholders may include project members, suppliers, customers, end users, and others. [CMMI]
2. Anyone who could be materially affected by the implementation of a new system or application [Leffingwell 2003]
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stakeholder needs
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A reflection of the business, personal, or operational problem (or opportunity) that must be addressed in order to justify consideration, purchase, or use of a new system. [Leffingwell 2003]
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standard process
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A standard process describes the fundamental process elements that are expected to be incorporated into any defined process. It also describes the relationships (e.g., ordering and interfaces) between these process elements.[CMMI]
An operational definition of the basic process that guides the establishment of a common process in an organization. [ISO/IEC 15504-9]
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Statement Of Work (SOW)
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A description of contracted work required to complete a project [CMMI]
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statistically managed process
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A process that is managed by a statistically based technique in which processes are analyzed, special causes of process variation are identified, and performance is contained within well-defined limits. [CMMI]
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Systems Engineering (SE)
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The interdisciplinary approach governing the total technical and managerial effort required to transform a set of customer needs, expectations, and constraints into a product solution and support that solution throughout the product's life.This includes the definition of technical performance measures, the integration of engineering specialties towards the establishment of a product architecture, and the definition of supporting life-cycle processes that balance cost, performance, and schedule objectives. [CMMI]
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team
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A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. [Katzenbach 2003].
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test procedure
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Detailed instructions for the setup, execution, and evaluation of results for a given test. [CMMI]
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use case
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A description of a sequence of actions a system performs that yield an observable result of a value to a particular actor [Leffingwell 2003]
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validation
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Validation confirms that the product, as provided, will fulfill its intended use. In other words, validation ensures that "you built the right thing." [CMMI]
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verification
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Verification confirms that work products properly reflect the requirements specified for them. In other words, verification ensures that "you built it right. [CMMI]
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version control
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The establishment and maintenance of baselines and the identification of changes to baselines that make it possible to return to the previous baseline. [CMMI]
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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
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An arrangement of work elements and their relationship to each other and to the end product. [CMMI]
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work product
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Any artifact produced by a process. These artifacts can include files, documents, parts of the product, services, processes, specifications, and invoices. [CMMI]
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