BS ISO/IEC 12207:2008

BS ISO/IEC 12207 is the first international standard to provide a comprehensive set of life cycle processes, activities and tasks for software that is part of a larger system, and for stand alone software products and services.

BS ISO/IEC 12207 establishes a common framework for software life cycle processes, with well defined terminology, that can be referenced by the software industry.

It contains processes, activities, and tasks to apply during the acquisition of a software product or service and during the supply, development, operation, maintenance and disposal of software products. Software includes the software portion of firmware.

BS ISO/IEC 12207 applies to the acquisition of systems and software products and services, to the supply, development, operation, maintenance, and disposal of software products and the software portion of a system, whether performed internally or externally to an organization. Those aspects of system definition needed to provide the context for software products and services are included.

BS ISO/IEC 12207 also provides a process that can be employed for defining, controlling, and improving software life cycle processes.

The processes, activities and tasks of this standard - either alone or in conjunction with ISO/IEC 15288 - may also be applied during the acquisition of a system that contains software.

Contents of BS ISO/IEC 12207 include:

• Overview
• Scope
• Purpose
• Limitations
• Intended Usage
• Conformance
• Normative References
• Terms and Definitions
• Application of this International Standard
• Key Concepts of this International Standard
• Relationship of Software Products and Software Services
• Relationship between Systems and Software
• Organizations and Parties
• Organization-level and Project-level Adoption
• Tailoring
• Temporal Relationships among the Processes
• Evaluation versus Verification, and Validation
• Criteria for Processes
• Description of Processes
• General Characteristics of Processes
• Decomposition of Processes
• Life Cycle Models and Stages
• Organization of this International Standard
• Categories of Life Cycle Processes
• Summary of Life Cycle Processes
• Process Reference Model
• System Life Cycle Processes
• Agreement Processes
• Acquisition Process
• Supply Process
• Organizational Project-Enabling Processes
• Life Cycle Model Management Process
• Infrastructure Management Process
• Project Portfolio Management Process
• Human Resource Management Process
• Quality Management Process
• Project Processes
• Project Planning Process
• Project Assessment and Control Process
• Decision Management Process
• Risk Management Process
• Configuration Management Process
• Information Management Process
• Measurement Process
• Technical Processes
• Software Life Cycle Processes
• Tailoring Process
• Process Reference Model (PRM) for Assessment Purposes
• History and Rationale
• Process Views
• Some Example Process Descriptions
• Relationship to Other IEEE Standards
• Relationship to Other IEEE Standards
• Bibliography

BS ISO/IEC 12207 can be used in one or more of the following modes:

By an organization - to help establish an environment of desired processes. These processes can be supported by an infrastructure of methods, procedures, techniques, tools and trained personnel. The organization may then employ this environment to perform and manage its projects and progress systems through their life cycle stages. In this mode this standard is used to assess conformance of a declared, established set of life cycle processes to its provisions.

By a project - to help select, structure and employ the elements of an established set of life cycle processes to provide products and services. In this mode BS ISO/IEC 12207 is used in the assessment of conformance of the project to the declared and established environment.

By an acquirer and a supplier -  to help develop an agreement concerning processes and activities. Via the agreement, the processes and activities in BS ISO/IEC 12207 are selected, negotiated, agreed to and performed. In this mode this standard is used for guidance in developing the agreement.

By organizations and assessors - to perform assessments that may be used to support organizational process improvement.