What is the relationship between CMMI and ISO 9000?
CMMI is a model specifically designed for development, with some focus on software development. It gives very concrete guidance on what to do (not how to do). ISO 9000 is a generic model, and although there are related software specific interpretation guidelines, and although the last revision ISO 9000-2000 is more process oriented than previous versions, we find CMMI a much more helpful model, if your core competence is software development. Looking at the scope each model covers, CMMI is more extensive (again specifically for software development), but doesn’t cover some of the more formal requirements of ISO 9000. If you want to (or have to) use both CMMI and ISO 9000, we suggest concentrating on CMMI, and you will find that most of the ISO 9000 requirements are covered, and the remaining ones can easily be added.
