Achievement of process improvement within an individual process area. A capability level is defined by the appropriate specific and generic practices for a process area. (See “maturity level,” “process area,” generic practice,” and “generic goal.”)

1. This glossary is from Appendix C of Technical Report CMU/SEI-2002-TR-004.
2. ® CMMI is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.