Application of Capability Maturity Model Integration to Innovation Management for Software and Service Companies

To look through innovation management in small project-based firms, such as software engineering companies, which are serv-ice firms that conduct projects for their clients, capability maturity model integration (CMMI) is introduced. It is a process im- provement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes. Taking ABC Software Company as an example, the performances before and after the introduction of CMMI in the firm were compared. The results indicated that after two years of application, the productivity increased 92%, and the ability of detecting errors improved 26.45% ; while the rate of faults and the cost of software development dropped 12.45% and 77.55%, respectively. To conclude, small project-based firms benefit a lot if they take CMMI into their process of innovation management, particularly for those R&D firms, since the implemen- tation of CMMI leads them to a promising future with higher efficiency and better effects.