The People CMM has its roots in the original Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM^®). Over the past decade the SW-CMM model has evolved. The integration with Systems Engineering capabilities resulted in the CMMI (CMM Integrated) model. More models were added like CMMI for Development and CMMI for Acquisition (see the SEI web site). At the moment development work is being done on the CMMI for Services model.

Because of the sucess of the model new initiatives (aligned with but not owned by the SEI) appeared. The reasons are:

1. The model is powerful
2. The model's architecture is simple
3. The model is generic
4. The model describes what needs to be in place, not how an organization wants to implement it
5. The model covers both the practices (processes) that need to be in place but also secures sustainability of the improvements
6. The model allows you to
   - Assess the current maturity level
   - Based on the desired maturity level generate a development roadmap
7. There is a lot of experience with the model

A good example of such a new initiative is the CMM model for Non-SEI CMM Models