Agile Meets CMMI: Culture Clash or Common Cause?

This paper is based on a workshop held at the University of Southern California Center for Software Engineering in March, 2002. The components of the Capability Maturity Model IntegrationSM (CMMISM) Systems Engineering/ Software Engineering/Integrated Product and Process Model1 are evaluated for their support of agile methods. We also present a set of dualistic concepts differentiating the approaches. The results help to identify and reduce the level of mythology and establishes common ground for further discussion.