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This book should be useful to anyone new to process improvement or those with a CMM background wanting to find out more about CMMI. The subject of CMMI is large and complex but the book conveys it in an easy and understandable format while adding more depth and detail as the chapters progress. This makes it good for the novice but also offers enough information and words of wisdom for more experienced readers. The book is split into four main sections that are sensibly organised and can be read sequentially or accessed directly.

The first section gives a short background to process improvement, and shows the roadmap of process evolution from the various standards.

The second section explains the history of the CMMI, how it was created and the two models - staged and continuous. The book gives a clear explanation of the two, highlighting pros and cons which is helpful to someone who comes with the knowledge of the older staged CMM and helps put it into context. The process areas are explained in a concise but clear fashion with good supporting flow diagrams that help the reader understand how these processes fit in the real world.

The third section is shorter than the others and explains reasons for picking the various models. This may be a short section but it conveys a lot of wisdom.

The fourth and final section is a brief look to the future.

The last third of the book contains appendices showing staged and continuous representation summaries - useful for reference only purposes.

This book certainly does distil a lot of information, and it does it well by focusing on some key essentials, providing comment and advice from the authors in a structured and readable format.