At maturity level 3, service providers use defined processes for managing work. They embed tenets of project and work management and services best practices, such as service continuity and incident resolution and prevention, into the standard process set. The service provider verifies that selected work products meet their requirements and validates services to ensure they meet the needs of the customer and end user. These processes are well characterized and understood and are described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods.

The organization’s set of standard processes, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time. These standard processes are used to establish consistency across the organization. Work groups establish their defined processes by tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes according to tailoring guidelines. (See the definition of “organization’s set of standard processes” in the glossary.)

A critical distinction between maturity levels 2 and 3 is the scope of standards, process descriptions, and procedures. At maturity level 2, the standards, process descriptions, and procedures can be quite different in each specific instance of the process (i.e., used by a particular work group). At maturity level 3, the standards, process descriptions, and work procedures are tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes to suit a particular work group or organizational unit and therefore are more consistent except for the differences allowed by the tailoring guidelines.

Another critical distinction is that at maturity level 3, processes are typically described more rigorously than at maturity level 2. A defined process clearly states the purpose, inputs, entry criteria, activities, roles, measures, verification steps, outputs, and exit criteria. At maturity level 3, processes are managed more proactively using an understanding of the interrelationships of process activities and detailed measures of the process, its work products, and its services.

At maturity level 3, the organization further improves its processes that are related to the maturity level 2 process areas. Generic practices associated with generic goal 3 that were not addressed at maturity level 2 are applied to achieve maturity level 3.