Achieving SEI CMM Level 5 from Level 4: What Extra Practice Is Required for Defects?

An organization assessed at SEI CMM Level 4 must already have strong quantitative management and managed improvement capabilities. In many exam-style mappings, Level 5’s “additional” emphasis is systematic defect prevention driven by root-cause analysis and process improvement beyond merely managing how processes/technologies change.

Given the prompt:

• The organization already practices (i.e., as Level 4 capability) Process Change Management and Technology Change Management.
• To achieve Level 5, it also needs to practice defect prevention (more than defect detection/isolation/propagation).
  This corresponds to selecting (ii) Defect prevention.

Key idea: Level 5 focuses on preventing recurring problems by using data and causal analysis to eliminate root causes, not just improving detection or containment. This shifts the organization from “manage defects” to “prevent defects at their source.”

To reason through the options, interpret each “defect-*” capability:

• keyword: locating defects during review/test.
• keyword: containment via compartmentalization/segmentation.
• keyword: tracing upstream/downstream effects.
• keyword: improving processes so defects do not occur in the first place.

At Level 5, the organization’s improvement is expected to be proactive: it uses measured causes and patterns to prevent recurrence. That aligns with defect prevention (not only detection/isolation/propagation).

Therefore, the correct choice is: (ii) Defect prevention.