Software Engineering Institute

Building on relevant best practices extracted from the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Framework, this report defines effective and efficient practices for government acquisition organizations. Acquisition best practices are focused inside the acquisition organization to ensure the acquisition is conducted effectively, and outside the acquisition organization as it conducts project monitoring and control of its suppliers. These best practices provide a foundation for acquisition process discipline and rigor that enables product and service development to be repeatedly executed with high levels of ultimate acquisition success. 

This report contains the acquisition practices that should be performed by government acquisition organizations acquiring systems and/or services. These practices, however, can also be used by non-government organizations to improve their acquisition practices. This report does not contain prescribed implementation approaches for achieving acquisition best practices. Instead, the proven content of the CMMI Framework is used as a base and amplifications specific to the acquisition process are added. 

Questions related to CMMI process areas are provided in the appendix to help managers and executives understand the acquisition organization's documented acquisition practices and the consistent application of those practices. Descriptions of implementation details can be found in the source documents listed in the bibliography.