What is a DevSecOps Maturity Model?

A DevSecOps Maturity Model is a framework that organizations use to measure how well they've woven security into their software development and operations processes.

Think of it as a roadmap with different stages—from basic security awareness all the way to sophisticated automation where security checks happen continuously without anyone having to think about them. These models typically break down progression into levels, each building on the last.

At the lower maturity levels, companies might just be starting to think about security during development, relying on manual code reviews and periodic security assessments. As organizations climb the maturity ladder, they automate more security tasks, integrate scanning tools directly into their build pipelines, and treat security configurations as code that can be version-controlled and tested. The highest maturity levels involve continuous security monitoring, automated threat detection, and security practices so ingrained that they're just part of how teams work.

What makes these models useful is that they give organizations a structured way to figure out where they are now and what to tackle next. Rather than trying to do everything at once—which never works—teams can focus on incremental improvements that actually stick. Different frameworks exist, including ones from OWASP and various vendors, but they generally cover similar ground: secure coding, automated testing, threat modeling, and the cultural shift needed to make security everyone's responsibility rather than a bottleneck at the end of development.

The concept of DevSecOps maturity models emerged in the mid-2010s as organizations struggled to keep security relevant in an era of rapid software deployment. Traditional security models, where a separate team reviewed code before release, couldn't keep pace with companies shipping updates multiple times per day. The earlier DevOps movement had successfully merged development and operations, but security often remained an afterthought—a problem that became increasingly dangerous as software became more complex and attacks more sophisticated.

Early maturity models borrowed from existing frameworks in software development and IT governance, particularly the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) that had been around since the 1980s. But these new frameworks needed to address the unique challenges of integrating security into fast-moving development pipelines. OWASP's DevSecOps Maturity Model, released in the late 2010s, became one of the more widely referenced frameworks because it was open-source and practical.

As cloud-native architectures and containerization reshaped how software was built and deployed, maturity models evolved to include cloud security, infrastructure-as-code practices, and container security. The models also shifted to emphasize cultural transformation alongside technical capabilities, recognizing that tools alone wouldn't solve the problem if teams kept working in silos.

Organizations face intense pressure to ship software quickly while managing an expanding attack surface. A DevSecOps maturity model matters because it provides a practical way to balance these competing demands without treating security as either a checkbox exercise or an impossible ideal. Companies that operate at low maturity levels tend to discover security problems late—often in production—when fixes are expensive and reputational damage is already done.

The proliferation of compliance requirements adds another layer of urgency. Regulations around data protection, privacy, and critical infrastructure increasingly expect organizations to demonstrate that security is built into their development processes, not bolted on afterward. Maturity models give companies a framework to show auditors and regulators that they're making measurable progress.

What's changed recently is the recognition that different parts of an organization might operate at different maturity levels, and that's okay. A company might have highly mature practices for their core application but lower maturity around internal tools or legacy systems. The model helps prioritize where improvements will have the most impact. It also helps justify security investments to executives by tying spending to concrete capability improvements rather than vague promises about "being more secure."

Plurilock helps organizations advance their DevSecOps maturity through practical implementation rather than theoretical frameworks. Our teams work with your developers and security staff to integrate security testing into existing pipelines, automate vulnerability management, and build security capabilities that match your release velocity.

We've guided companies from manual security reviews to fully automated security-as-code practices, focusing on incremental improvements that deliver value at each stage.

Whether you need help with application and API security testing or broader pipeline integration, our practitioners bring real-world experience from environments where security can't slow down deployment—because we know both have to work together.