21 Jan 2003
BAE Systems Mission Solutions, has received certification that places the business at a world-class level of software development. The "Level 5" Capability Maturity Model rating was awarded by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) on December 19. Level 5 is the highest SEI rating, and indicates that Mission Solutions is developing outstanding software-based products for its government customers.
According to Marshall Banker, President, Mission Solutions, less than two percent of all measured companies nation-wide achieve this level of software engineering maturity. "This is also a tremendous accomplishment for our organisation," he added. "We are continuously improving as a premier developer of complex, software intensive systems. The high maturity level of our development processes will benefit our company as well as our customers."
The independent assessment spanned three weeks and rigorously reviewed Mission Solutions' documented processes. Assessors also interviewed all levels of software practitioners and company management to reach their conclusion.
Bob Stow, BAE Systems North America vice president for engineering and technology, said, "Mission Solutions' outstanding achievement is part of our enterprise-wide initiative to achieve world class software CMM levels by leveraging best practices across all of our businesses. Significant productivity improvements have also been realised throughout our software development organisations as a result of this initiative."
Mission Solutions joins BAE Systems Communication, Navigation, Identification and Reconnaissance, also operating at SEI Level 5. The CNIR business in Wayne, New Jersey, achieved their certification in March 2002.
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally-funded research and development centre, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. The SEI staff based at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, draws extensive technical and managerial experience from government, industry, and academia. The SEI's core purpose is to help others make measured improvements in their software engineering capabilities.
