This paper introduces the VPS-Benchmark – a maturity model for performance evaluation and improvement in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a special focus on virtual engineering. By giving a brief overview on existing approaches for performance evaluation and improvement we point out the demand for a new maturity approach specialized on the requirements of SMEs. The new maturity model will then be introduced. After describing the basic concept of the model, we focus on the performance improvement strategy resulting from its application. The model offers a step by step performance improvement to SMEs. This improvement is based on a so called ACT-concept that motivates SMEs to deal more intensively with virtual engineering and to exploit its benefits by implementing concrete measures.