BS ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015

What is ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288- System life cycle processes about?  

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 establishes a common framework of process descriptions for describing the lifecycle of systems created by humans. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 defines a set of processes and associated terminology from an engineering viewpoint. These processes can be applied at any level in the hierarchy of a system’s structure. Selected sets of these processes can be applied throughout the life cycle for managing and performing the stages of a system's life cycle. This is accomplished through the involvement of all stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of achieving customer satisfaction. 

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 also provides processes that support the definition, control and improvement of the system life cycle processes used within an organization or a project. Organizations and projects can use these processes when acquiring and supplying systems. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 concerns those systems that are man-made and may be configured with one or more of the following system elements: hardware, software, data, humans, processes (e.g., processes for providing service to users), procedures (e.g., operator instructions), facilities, materials and naturally occurring entities. 

Note: When a system element is a software, the software life cycle processes in ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2015 may be used to implement that system element. The two standards are harmonized for concurrent use on a single project or in a single organization. 

Who is ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288- System life cycle processes for? 

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 on system life cycle processes is useful for: 

• Organizations dealing with life cycle processes 
• Project management 
• Acquires and suppliers of the services 
• Process assessors 
• Information technology industry 
• Systems and software engineers 

Why should you use ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288- System life cycle processes? 

The complexity of man-made systems has increased to an unprecedented level. This has led to new opportunities, but also to increased challenges for the organizations that create and utilize systems. These challenges exist throughout the life cycle of a system and at all levels of architectural detail. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 provides a common process framework for describing the life cycle of systems created by humans, adopting a Systems Engineering approach.  

It helps to improve communication and cooperation among the parties that create, utilize and manage modern systems in order that they can work in an integrated, coherent fashion. In addition, this framework provides for the assessment and improvement of the life cycle processes. 

The processes in this International Standard form a comprehensive set from which an organization can construct system life cycle models appropriate to its products and services. An organization, depending on its purpose, can select and apply an appropriate subset to fulfill that purpose. 

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 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 International Standard is used to assess conformance of a declared, established environment to its provisions. 
• By a project — to help select, structure and employ the elements of an established environment to provide products and services. In this mode this International Standard 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 this International Standard are selected, negotiated, agreed to and performed. In this mode this International Standard is used for guidance in developing the agreement. 
• By process assessors — to serve as a process reference model for use in the performance of process assessments that may be used to support organizational process improvement.