eBook
Software Composition Analysis Maturity Model
Strengthen Open Source Compliance and Security
Maturity Levels
Open source software (OSS) offers tremendous benefits in speeding up product development. In fact, research indicates as much as 96% of commercial applications contain open source components.
Open source software (OSS) offers tremendous benefits in speeding up product development. In fact, research indicates as much as 96% of commercial applications contain open source components.
As the value increases, so has the opportunity for license compliance and security risks, putting a spotlight on the need for a process to manage the use of OSS.
Revenera’s Software Composition Analysis (SCA) Maturity Model offers a framework to assess your current state of license compliance and security, and provide you with actionable next steps, including:
- Where to start
- A benchmark with peers for comparison
- A process maturity and business value assessment
- Specific, must-have improvements to put in place now!
The model consists of four levels of maturity for license compliance and security. The model can be applied to all industries.
| Optimized LEVEL 4 |
Are we optimized for growth, scalability, digital transformation, and change management? |
| Automated LEVEL 3 |
Have we automated processes for scale and best user experience? |
| Enabled LEVEL 2 |
Are we using standard vulnerability management, OSS license compliance and obligation management processes across all products? |
| Reactive LEVEL 1 |
Are our applications secure, compliant and centrally managing obligations? |
The model assesses business processes in four key dimensions of Software Composition Analysis.
License Management
To manage open source license dependencies and reduce the impact of legal risk
Vulnerability Management
To prevent security defects due to third-party component usage
Obligation Management
To manage obligations related to the use of open source software, based on associated licenses and company policies
Component Management
To achieve insight into how or what components are used, and include this insight in usage and product roadmap decisions
Key Software Composition Analysis Business Processes
Vulnerability Management → License Management → Obligation Management → Component Management
LEVEL 1: Reactive
VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT
Realization that vulnerability management is needed to prevent security defects due to third-party component usage
LICENSE MANAGEMENT
Recognition that manually managing open source license dependencies impacts legal risk
OBLIGATION MANAGEMENT
Understanding manual obligation management is costly, inconvenient and incomplete
COMPONENT MANAGEMENT
Security/Legal decisions made with little or no insight into how or what components are used
Open source use is skyrocketing. Management realizes the need for a process and tooling, but teams are not enabled to assess associated risk.
Characteristics of a Reactive Level Team
Tooling:
In some cases, you use a homegrown tool for certain high risk applications to detect high-level software packages. More commonly, you ask developers to disclose the OSS they use in some projects. A bill of material is only created in response to a customer request, usually by visually identifying high-level packages in the application code.
Team:
Reactive teams are beginning to understand the need for a formal or ad hoc team to determine and implement corporate policy around OSS.
Monitoring OSS:
Your teams are not enabled to monitor open source components or associated vulnerabilities.
Incident management:
Incident management can be seen as the true test of SCA maturity. At this maturity level, teams are not equipped to remediate vulnerabilities.
Actions to Move to Next Level
With the WannaCry and Equifax hacks still looming heavily over software organizations, there is a big push to understand and manage software vulnerabilities in both commercial software and software developed for internal users.
- Educate on a repeatable, automated process
- Create a team of people responsible for managing the process
- Change the perception that a security tool will slow down production
LEVEL 2: Enabled
LICENSE MANAGEMENT
- Reduce risk due to undisclosed OSS/third-party component use
- Cost savings from automation of component selection & self-service
VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT
- Reduce costs from exercised vulnerabilities
- Allow better component selection due to vulnerability insights
- Reduce time to market with up-to-date vulnerability info
OBLIGATION MANAGEMENT
- Improved customer satisfaction by lower vulnerability exposure
- Improved customer satisfaction with insight into legal obligations
- Reduce legal risk from unfullfilled legal obligations
COMPONENT MANAGEMENT
- Security/Legal risk analysis informed by component usage
- Rapid response to zero day and other high importance vulnerability alerts across the enterprise
Risk assessment has improved around OSS use. Short-term success metrics for security and compliance are in place. Teams have started to implement a formal process.
Characteristics of an Enabled Team
Tooling:
You likely scan your applications with a commercial code scan tool for vulnerable code one or more times before shipping. Some companies ask developers to disclose their use of OSS. You are able to consistently create BOMs with your products, but these are incomplete. Your scan and analysis is limited to high-level software packages.
Teams and training:
Your ad hoc open source management team created policies and training but need to consistently evaluate open source security and compliance initiatives.
Monitoring OSS:
OSS risk is considered in project plans and initiatives. You determine when a new vulnerability affects high-level packages you track and monitor.
Incident management:
You are equipped to remediate some vulnerabilities and are beginning to formulate an action plan if an incident occurs.
Actions to Move to Next Level
- Document processes and controls
- Create consistency for engineering actions and priorities
- Automate process to avoid delays in shipping products on time
- Increase governance automation to simplify legal team impact; regularly report on open source risk to management
LEVEL 3: Automated
LICENSE MANAGEMENT
- Improved developer experience by automating OSS license lifecycle management
- Reduce Legal team costs via policy automation
- Minimize Legal out of compliance in all environments
VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT
- Improved process automation for vulnerability lifecycle management as part of continuous build process
- Vulnerability Alerts allow for faster remediation and reduced customer exposure to security risk
OBLIGATION MANAGEMENT
- Improved legal and security compliance through obligation automation (especially third-party notices)
- Reduce costs of providing current version to version compliance artifacts
COMPONENT MANAGEMENT
- Data-driven roadmap decisions from in-product component use insight
- Reduce usage of low count/low quality components in lieu of vetted corporate standards
Automation is in place and high-level and deep scanning have been integrated into the development process. Remediation and component selection is easy. Product updates do not require rushed security-related patches.
Characteristics of an Automated Team
Tooling:
You use a commercial scan platform to scan code early in the software development lifecycle. Your teams perform automated high-level scans across the board, but realize that package level analysis may not be enough. You explore tools to get more visibility into dependencies, subcomponents and commercial code without significantly increasing people and cost.
Team:
Your company has a formal open source review board to set and update corporate policy. This team trains and enables developers to use open source while understanding risk. The board analyzes and reports on OSS usage.
Monitoring OSS:
Continuous monitoring occurs. Automated teams easily determine when a new vulnerability affects code in your organization. Process and policy are widely understood, so engineering teams easily prioritize reported issues and respond quickly to alerts.
Incident Management:
You have a strong communication plan if a new vulnerability is discovered. Your team is equipped to remediate vulnerabilities, although limited by the depth of scans.
Actions to Move to Next Level
- Continue consistent use of documentation, processes and controls
- Reinforce engineering actions to continuously monitor, prioritize and remediate issues
- Ship products with third-party disclosures
- Start to examine code from suppliers and partners to also monitor associated risk
LEVEL 4: Optimized
LICENSE MANAGEMENT
- Continuous management of OSS compliance with complete transparency between vendors & customers
- Complete compliance through deep analysis including binary and source
VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT
- Better customer protection due to vulnerability alerts for installed base/ previous versions
- Insight into supply chain vulnerabilities using deep analysis
OBLIGATION MANAGEMENT
- Increase customer confidence by providing compliance to customers and community
- Reduce reword costs by including obligation management in policy decisions
COMPONENT MANAGEMENT
- Visibility of technology and language change over time across the enterprise
- Data can be used to best support high-value OSS ecosystems and components
A powerful combination of infrastructure, automation and education is in place for full protection. Your team understands that some projects have more risk exposure than others and a deeper analysis is necessary. Processes are in place around how to treat
Characteristics of an Optimized Team
Much of the tooling, teams and training, incident management and OSS monitoring aspects for an optimized team are the same as for the automated team. The difference is in the breadth and depth of scans and analysis. Optimized teams either analyze or expect analysis of code received from vendors.
You’re On It! Protection in Place
Full use of scalability and visibility to empower rapid adoption of OSS. Consistent feedback loop in place. Full visibility into component usage and obligation data for enterprise-wide planning insights. Powerful breadth and depth of scans and analysis.
Start the Conversation
Open source software risk management means making sure all of the components in your products are license compliant and secure based on your company’s policies. This maturity model provides a framework for building a structure throughout your organization for governance, risk and control.
Instead of defining a pass/fail metric, the SCA model provides a practical, staged approach to open source management. Take advantage of this opportunity to create clear short- and long-term goals to increased control and transparency of your open source usage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is the practice of identifying and managing open source and third‑party components used in software applications. It helps organizations detect security vulnerabilities, license compliance risks, and outdated dependencies. SCA tools analyze source code and binaries to create visibility into software components and associated risks. As open source usage increases, SCA has become a foundational part of modern application security programs.
The Software Composition Analysis Maturity Model is a framework that helps organizations assess and improve how they manage open source security and license compliance. It defines four maturity levels: Reactive, Enabled, Automated, and Optimized. Each level represents increased process maturity, automation, and risk management capability. The model provides a practical roadmap for improving governance, security, and compliance over time.
An SCA maturity model helps organizations move beyond ad hoc scanning toward consistent, scalable open source risk management. Without a structured approach, teams often struggle to respond quickly to vulnerabilities or comply with license obligations. The model aligns people, processes, and tooling to reduce security exposure and legal risk. It also supports long‑term growth by enabling automation and continuous monitoring.
The four levels of SCA maturity are Reactive, Enabled, Automated, and Optimized. Reactive organizations manage open source risks manually and only after issues arise. Enabled teams establish basic processes and begin scanning regularly. Automated teams integrate SCA into CI/CD pipelines, while Optimized organizations achieve deep visibility, continuous monitoring, and enterprise‑wide governance.
SCA helps ensure open source license compliance by identifying all licenses associated with third‑party components, including transitive dependencies. It highlights obligations such as attribution, disclosure, or source code distribution requirements. Automating license detection reduces the risk of non‑compliance and legal exposure. This is especially critical during audits, customer reviews, and M&A due diligence.
SCA improves vulnerability management by continuously monitoring open source components for known security issues such as CVEs. It enables teams to quickly identify where vulnerable components are used and prioritize remediation. As organizations mature, vulnerability alerts become automated and integrated into development workflows. This reduces customer exposure and prevents rushed, reactive patching.
Reactive SCA relies on manual processes and limited visibility into open source usage, often triggered by incidents or customer requests. Automated SCA integrates scanning, policy enforcement, and monitoring into the software development lifecycle. Automated teams benefit from faster remediation, better developer experience, and reduced legal and security risk. This shift is a key milestone in SCA maturity. [revenera.com], [revenera.com]
Automation is critical for scaling open source security and compliance across large or fast‑moving development teams. Automated SCA enables continuous scanning, policy enforcement, and real‑time vulnerability alerts. It reduces manual effort for engineering, security, and legal teams while improving consistency. Higher maturity levels depend on automation to manage risk efficiently at scale.
SCA provides visibility into third‑party components that make up the software supply chain. By identifying dependencies, versions, and vulnerabilities, organizations can better assess supply chain risk. Advanced SCA maturity includes deep analysis of binaries and code from vendors and partners. This helps protect against supply chain attacks and emerging open source threats.
Organizations typically start by assessing their current maturity level across vulnerability, license, obligation, and component management. Early steps include establishing ownership, defining policies, and implementing basic scanning. From there, teams focus on automation, integration, and continuous monitoring. The maturity model provides clear guidance for progressing in manageable stages.
Resources
Webinar
How to Manage Open Source Risk in M&A
In this webinar, we'll explain the issues, provide ways to mitigate risk and break down why being proactive is critical. Don't wait until a deal is on the table to find out you have a problem. Register to learn more.
eBook
Open Source Software Risk in M&A
Open source risks can derail M&A deals. Read the whitepaper to learn pitfalls, due diligence steps, and ways to mitigate software risk.
Webinar
The Supply Chain Risk You Can’t Ignore: A Playbook for Critical Industries
The webinar will benefit development leads, CIOs, and CTOs responsible for navigating compliance and mitigating supply chain risks. Don’t miss out to gain actionable insights for protecting your organization in an increasingly complex environment
White Paper
Risky OSS: How Regulated Industries Can Secure the Software Supply Chain
This whitepaper reviews the state of OSS, four management use cases, and best practices and solutions to help security and legal teams in highly regulated industries. Access now to learn how you can confidently mitigate rising supply chain risk.
Data Sheet
OSS Inspector Plugin
Ensure your code is secure and compliant by effortlessly managing open source dependencies directly in your IDE.
Webinar
The Beginner’s Guide to Managing Open Source Software
Join this beginner’s guide to OSS, SCA, OSPOs, and SBOMs to get started on your open source journey. In this productive webinar session by Revenera’s open source expert, Alex Rybak.
Want to learn more?
See how Revenera's end-to-end solution delivers a complete, accurate SBOM while managing license compliance and security.