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SEI CMMI 5 Levels
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Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh, PA received a $411.1 million cost reimbursement contract to provide for software research and development pertinent to national defense. Beginning in the summer of 2004, the U.S. government conducted an extensive review of the SEI, culminating in the recommendation by government reviewers to renew the SEI contract until 2010.

This marks the fourth time that the government has renewed the SEI contract; previous contract renewals were in 1990, 1995, and 2000. The SEI contract states that “the SEI shall provide services needed to accomplish R&D work in support of high-payoff software engineering areas that best address DoD mission needs and contribute most to supporting the acquisition and sustainment of DoD systems. These areas include technology transition, software engineering support, and research and education.”

The SEI was established in 1984 at Carnegie Mellon University as a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) dedicated to advancing the practice of software engineering and improving the quality of systems that depend on software. It is perhaps most famous in the software development community for its Capability Maturity Model (since upgraded to CMMI and broadened in its focus), which defines 5 levels of proficiency in a TQM approach; most commercial organizations are at Level 1 or Level 2. Through its sponsor, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, the SEI carries out its mission by focusing on software engineering management and technical practices.

Solicitation for this contract began March 2005, and negotiations were completed in June 2005. The Headquarters Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass issued the contract (FA8721-05-C-0003).