What type of appraisal can have its scope reduced by approximately one-third after a Benchmark appraisal?

• A. Sustainment
• B. Initial
• C. Verification
• D. Re-assessment

Answer: (A)

The correct answer is that a Sustainment appraisal can have its scope reduced by approximately one-third after a Benchmark appraisal. This is because the Sustainment appraisal is designed to assess an organization's continued compliance with CMMI after they have undergone an initial and possibly a Benchmark appraisal, which establishes a baseline for their process capabilities.

In a Benchmark appraisal, organizations are evaluated against best practices, and the results are used to inform subsequent appraisals. Once a Benchmark appraisal is conducted, it demonstrates that the organization's processes are mature and well-established, allowing for a more focused evaluation in future Sustainment appraisals. The reduction in scope reflects the understanding that a significant portion of the organization's practices have already been validated, thus not needing to be re-evaluated to the same extent in Sustainment appraisals.

Other types of appraisals, such as Initial, Verification, and Re-assessment, do not have the same relationship with Benchmark appraisals and do not typically experience this significant reduction in scope. Initial appraisals focus on determining a baseline maturity level without the benefit of previous evaluation context; Verification appraisals are focused on confirming that specific process requirements are met; and Re-assessment appraisals aim at confirming that an organization's process improvements