Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems (M&DS) announced today that it has achieved the prestigious Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Level 5 certification, following a comprehensive assessment of its software engineering processes. This is the highest rating for a company's software development capability.

Less than three percent of the software companies in the world have defined, institutionalized, quantitatively managed and optimized a standard software process warranting a SEI Level 5 recognition. M&DS joins four other Lockheed Martin companies assessed at Level 5. In fact, Lockheed Martin has more high-maturity software development organizations than any other Corporation in the world.

"This is an outstanding achievement by our employees and it is an exciting milestone for our business," said Marc Hansen, president, Lockheed Martin M&DS. "This demonstrates to our customers that we are committed to delivering world-class software products and it helps distinguish M&DS in the Information Technology marketplace."

The software assessment standard was developed by SEI at Carnegie Mellon University. The standard, called the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for Software, provides a framework for organizing continuous process improvement into five capability levels. For Level 5, M&DS had to satisfy 316 requirements including comprehensive review of procedures, processes and project documents, followed by a series of intensive interviews with numerous employees and management personnel.

The SEI assessment was conducted by a team led by PSINet, a professional technical services firm with an in-depth perspective on what is required to leverage technology, build infrastructure, achieve reuse, increase productivity and improve quality across the business.

The Software Engineering Institute is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and operated by Carnegie Mellon University. Recognizing the increasingly critical role software played in its systems, the DoD established the Institute to advance the practice of software engineering to ensure software is produced on schedule, on budget and is of the highest quality.

Management & Data Systems, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, (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.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems