This chapter presents CMMI process areas of Product Integration, Verification, and Validation as a "triple." Here we show how their use guides projects from the building blocks developed during technical solution to an integrated, verified, and validated set of product components that are ready for packaging and delivery.

The Product Integration process area addresses the integration of product components either into more complex components or subsystems or into complete products. While it is not wrong to think of product integration as a one-time assembly of the product components, today this is normally an iterative process of assembling product components, evaluating them, and then assembling more product components until the complete product is assembled and the system is fully tested.

Product Integration can be a very deceptive process area to those who read its goals and practices as if all of the events were to be executed in sequential order. Its real value appears when one regards Product Integration as a main program of events that must take place to assemble the product components, and Verification and Validation as subroutines that are called upon for the performance of peer reviews, testing, simulation, and other verification and validation activities.