Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems (M&DS) announced that its Systems Integration organization has earned Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SE-CMM) Level 5 ratings, the highest level possible in the model. M&DS is the first company known to have achieved Level 5 ratings in any formal SE-CMM assessment.

The rating was earned on a comprehensive formal assessment conducted in late October and early November. The Software Productivity Consortium of Herndon, Va. led the team that conducted the formal assessment. M&DS achieved SE-CMM Level 5 in an unprecedented 12 process areas and a Level 4 in one additional process area. The team reviewed organization and program specific documentation, analyzed questionnaire results, conducted interviews and verified the findings with all participants to determine a rating in each of the thirteen process areas.

"This is an outstanding achievement by our Systems Integration group and we are delighted with the results of the evaluation," said Marc Hansen, president, Lockheed Martin M&DS. "This demonstrates to our customers that they are receiving world-class systems engineering capabilities."

"The Lockheed Martin M&DS Systems Integration organization is the first company we've evaluated where such strong Level 5 systems engineering practices have been fully implemented," said Sarah Sheard, senior systems engineer at the Software Productivity Consortium. "The extent to which SE-CMM Level 5 key processes have been institutionalized demonstrates a strong management commitment and engineering staff dedication to the continuous advancement of systems engineering capabilities."

  The following are some of the strengths noted in the review:

  - Good customer focus and customer relationships.
  - Good system focus: end-to-end, systems of systems, and integrated large
     systems.
  - Professional staff with a "passion for excellence" and long, diverse
     experienced base.
  - M&DS Systems Integration has world-class system engineering capability.

"Process improvement is a journey, not a destination," said Gregg Hamelin, vice president, Systems Integration, M&DS. "We must continue to enhance our metrics and use them to drive quantitative improvements in our processes."

Management & Data Systems (https://mds.external.lmco.com/) has been a leader in systems integration, systems engineering, software development and program management in support of vital national systems for more than 30 years. M&DS is a $1.5B unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation with approximately 7,500 employees at facilities in Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Colorado and the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin (www.lockheedmartin.com) is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology.

The Software Productivity Consortium (http://www.software.org/) consists of leading companies in the aerospace, defense, telecom, IT, financial and electronic industries that pool their resources to create a community of interest dedicated to advancing the state of systems and software engineering. By leveraging the use of Consortium technologies and processes in their development programs, Consortium members dramatically improve their productivity, profitability, and time-to-market competitiveness.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems