Process performance is a measure of the actual results achieved by following a process. Process

   performance is characterized by both process measures (e.g., effort, cycle time, and defect removal

   effectiveness) and product measures (e.g., reliability and defect density). 

          The common measures for the organization are composed of process and product measures that

   can be used to summarize the actual performance of processes in individual projects in the

   organization. The organizational data for these measures are analyzed to establish a distribution and

   range of results, which characterize the expected performance of the process when used on any

   individual project in the organization. 

          In this process area, the phrase “quality and process-performance objectives” covers objectives

   and requirements for product quality, service quality, and process performance. As indicated above, the

   term “process performance” includes product quality; however, to emphasize the importance of product

   quality, the phrase “quality and process-performance objectives” is used rather than just “process-

   performance objectives.”

         The expected process performance can be used in establishing the project’s quality and process-

   performance objectives and can be used as a baseline against which actual project performance can be

   compared. This information is used to quantitatively manage the project. Each quantitatively managed

   project, in turn, provides actual performance results that become a part of the baseline data for the

   organizational process assets. 

        The associated process performance models are used to represent past and current process

   performance and to predict future results of the process. For example, the latent defects in the delivered

   product can be predicted using measurements of defects identified during the product verification

   activities.

        When the organization has measures, data, and analytic techniques for critical process and product

   characteristics, it is able to do the following: 

       •Determine whether processes are behaving consistently or have stable trends (i.e., are predictable)

         •Identify processes where the performance is within natural bounds that are consistent across process

             implementation teams

         •Establish criteria for identifying whether a process or process element should be statistically managed, and

             determine pertinent measures and analytic techniques to be used in such management

         •Identify processes that show unusual (e.g., sporadic or unpredictable) behavior

         •Identify any aspects of the processes that can be improved in the organization's set of standard processes

         •Identify the implementation of a process which performs best