The IEEE defines a process as a sequence of steps performed for
a given purpose. The CMMI definition is much more convoluted and discussed
elsewhere in this book. What??™s the difference?
Standards are generally thought of as pertaining to products, specifically formats
for deliverables. This is what the product should look like. Examples are a
template for a System Requirements Specification, a Test Results Report format, a
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Documentation Guidelines n 179
System Implementation Plan boilerplate, Coding Standards (program layout and
data naming conventions).
Processes consist of actual steps of what to do to build the product. Procedures
consist of step-by-step instructions of how to perform the process. The examples
relate to a Risk Management Process. In a Risk Management Process, we might
simply list the steps as:
1. Identify the risk
2. Prioritize the risk
3. Mitigate the risk
Well, that??™s all right as far as it goes, but if you proudly handed these three
steps to your project managers of several different projects, do you really think they
would all follow this process the same way? Do you think they would all identify
risks in the same manner? Would they prioritize them at the same level of criticality?
Would they choose the correct approaches for controlling the risks? No.
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