Comments on `a critical look´ [software capability evaluations]

It is maintained that the article by T. Bollinger and C. McGowan, entitled `A critical look at software capability evaluation´, see ibid., p.25-41 (1991), contains a serious flaw. The article argues that the process-maturity grading system used by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is unfair and provides too narrow a basis for evaluating software organizations. The present authors point out that SEI instructs Software Capability Evaluation (SCE) auditors not to base their compact-award recommendations on maturity grades for software vendors. Other common misconceptions about the SEI assessment method communicated by the article are addressed. They fall into six categories: SCE´s purpose, especially in relation to process assessment; how the SCE method works in practice; the statistical methods used to determine levels; the ongoing process of refining the method; the maturity framework; and the coverage of technology issues