What is the difference between a SCAMPI assessment and an audit?
There may or may not be a difference: it depends on the vocation assessed by the SCAMPI. In many cases a SCAMPI appraisal is carried out by the entity itself, conducted with an internal team supported by external expertise, and the objective is to review its own software process in order to improve it. An audit, on the other hand, is conducted by an independent expert who appraises the status of a project (or several projects) and provides a report to the company or agency that has hired his/her consulting services; a service supplier can carry out the audit. The same reference (e.g. the CMM) can be used by an audit or by an assessment (like a CBA IPI) and the method can be similar. In the case of an internal evaluation, marked differences between a SCAMPI and an audit would be seen. Nevertheless, A SCAMPI can be requested as an audit (external team). In this case, no notable difference would be seen in the approach applied by other types of audits.
