ISO/IEC 12207:2008

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 12207
IEEE
Std 12207-2008
Second edition
2008-02-01

Systems and software engineering —
Software life cycle processes
Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel — Processus du cycle de vie
du logiciel




Reference number
ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE
Std 12207-2008

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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207:2008

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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207™-2008
(Revision of
IEEE/EIA 12207.0-1996)




Systems and software engineering — Software life cycle
processes

Sponsor
Software & Systems Engineering Standards Committee
of the
IEEE Computer Society













© ISO/IEC 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
© IEEE 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008

Abstract: This International Standard establishes a common framework for software life cycle processes,
with well-defined terminology, that can be referenced by the software industry. It 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. Software includes the software portion of firmware. This revision
integrates ISO/IEC 12207:1995 with its two amendments and was coordinated with the parallel revision of
ISO/IEC 15288:2002 (System life cycle processes) to align structure, terms, and corresponding
organizational and project processes. This standard may be used stand alone or jointly with
ISO/IEC 15288, and supplies a process reference model that supports process capability assessment in
accordance with ISO/IEC 15504-2 (Process assessment). An annex provides support for IEEE users and
describes relationships of this International Standard to IEEE standards.
Keywords: acquisition, agreement, assessment, audit, configuration management, development,
maintenance, disposal, operation, process reference model, process improvement, quality assurance,
retirement, supply, validation, verification







This document is an International Standard and is copyright-protected by ISO and the IEEE. Except as permitted under the
applicable laws of the user's country, neither this ISO/IEC-IEEE standard nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior
written permission being secured. Requests for permission to reproduce should be addressed to either ISO or the IEEE at the
addresses below.
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IEEE Standards Activities Department
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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008

International Standard ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established
by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical
committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-
governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information technology,
ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 12207 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 12207:1995), which has been technically
revised. It also incorporates the Amendments ISO/IEC 12207:1995/Amd.1:2002 and ISO/IEC 12207:1995/Amd.2:2004.
Changes in this revision of ISO/IEC 12207 were developed in conjunction with a corresponding revision of
ISO/IEC 15288. The purpose of these revisions is to better align the two International Standards to facilitate
their joint use. This alignment is the first step toward harmonization of the structures and contents of the two
International Standards, while supporting the requirements of the assessment community. This alignment
provides the foundation to facilitate evolution to an integrated and fully harmonized treatment of life cycle
processes. This International Standard was developed with the following goals:
⎯ incorporate and rationalize both Amendments;
⎯ provide a common terminology between the revision of ISO/IEC 15288 and ISO/IEC 12207;
⎯ where applicable, provide common process names and process structure between the revision of the
ISO/IEC 15288 and this International Standard;
⎯ enable the user community to evolve towards fully harmonized standards and to provide a stable
standard, while maximizing backward compatibility; and
⎯ leverage ten years of experience with the development and use of ISO/IEC 12207 and ISO/IEC 15288.
A subsequent revision is intended to achieve a fully harmonized view of the system and software life cycle
processes. Identified areas to address in the future include: common process purposes and outcomes,
architecture of the standards, level of prescription of activities and tasks, life cycle treatments, treatment of
products and services, common verification and validation concepts, common configuration management
concepts, deferred recommendations and alignment with other applicable standards.
The IEEE Computer Society collaborated with ISO/IEC JTC 1 in the development of this International
Standard. IEEE/EIA 12207.0-1996, Industry Implementation of International Standard ISO/IEC 12207:1995
Standard for Information Technology – Software Life Cycle Processes, was one of the base documents used
in the development of this International Standard.



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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008
IEEE Standards documents are developed within the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating Committees of the
IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board. The IEEE develops its standards through a consensus
development process, approved by the American National Standards Institute, which brings together volunteers
representing varied viewpoints and interests to achieve the final product. Volunteers are not necessarily members of the
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© ISO/IEC 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
© IEEE 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008

Introduction
ISO/IEC 12207 was published on 1 August 1995 and was 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. That International Standard was followed in November 2002
by ISO/IEC 15288 which addressed system life cycle processes. The ubiquity of the software meant that the
software and its design processes should not be considered separately from those systems, but be
considered as an integral part of the system and system design processes. The ISO/IEC 12207 Amendments
in 2002 and 2004 added process purpose and outcomes to the International Standard and established a
Process Reference Model in accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 15504-2.
This International Standard, a revision of the amended ISO/IEC 12207, is an initial step in the SC7
harmonization strategy to achieve a fully integrated suite of system and software life cycle processes and
guidance for their application.
This revision integrates ISO/IEC 12207:1995 with its two Amendments and applies SC7 guidelines for process
definition to support consistency and improved usability. Project execution was carefully coordinated with the
parallel revision of ISO/IEC 15288:2002 to align structure, terms, and corresponding organizational and
project processes.
This International Standard 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 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 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 organizations and assessors — to perform assessments that may be used to support organizational
process improvement.
This International Standard contains requirements in four Clauses: Clause 6, which defines the requirements
for the system life cycle processes, Clause 7, which defines the requirements for specific software life cycle
processes, clauses of Annex A, which provides requirements for tailoring of this International Standard and
clauses of Annex B, which provides a Process Reference Model (PRM) which may be used for assessment
purposes.
Five informative annexes support the harmonization strategy initiated by this revision.
⎯ Annex C expands on history and rationale for the changes, and provides high-level traceability among the
International Standards which were used as the inputs to this revision.
⎯ Annex D describes the alignment of the processes of ISO/IEC 15288 and ISO/IEC 12207 — a key focus
of this revision.
⎯ Annex E provides an example of a process view for Usability, intended to illustrate how a project might
assemble processes, activities and tasks of ISO/IEC 12207 to provide focused attention to the
achievement of product characteristics that have been selected as being of special interest.
© ISO/IEC 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
© IEEE 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008

⎯ Annex F contains some example process descriptions that are considered useful to some readers of this
International Standard.
⎯ Annex G provides support for IEEE users and describes relationships of this International Standard to
IEEE standards.
Readers of this International Standard are advised to consult Clause 5 to gain understanding of the key
concepts used.
NOTE A future Technical Report (ISO/IEC TR 24748) will describe the relations between this International Standard
and ISO/IEC 15288:2008.
























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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008


IEEE Introduction
This introduction is not part of IEEE Std 12207™-2008, Systems and Software Engineering—Software Life Cycle
Processes.
IEEE Std 12207™-2008 and IEEE Std 15288™-2008 are identical to ISO/IEC 12207:2008 and
ISO/IEC 15288:2008. Therefore, all references to ISO/IEC 12207 or ISO/IEC 15288 apply equally well to their
IEEE counterparts. Further details regarding relationships to IEEE standards can be found in Annex G.

This standard replaces IEEE/EIA 12207.0-1996, Industry Implementation of International Standard ISO/IEC
12207: 1995 Standard for Information Technology – Software Life Cycle Processes, which was an adoption
with changes of ISO/IEC 12207:1995. Users of the earlier standard may be interested to know what will
happen to its companions, IEEE/EIA 12207.1-1996 and IEEE/EIA 12207.2-1997. There is currently a project
underway to replace IEEE/EIA 12207.1 with an adoption of ISO/IEC 15289. Completion of the current project
will render IEEE/EIA 12207.2 obsolete; it will probably be withdrawn unless there is a demonstration of interest
to revise it.
The original ISO/IEC 12207 was published on 1 August 1995 and was 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. That international standard was followed in
November 2002 by ISO/IEC 15288 which addressed system life cycle processes.
IEEE cooperated with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) in adopting ISO/IEC with changes to become
IEEE/EIA 12207-1996. In 2004, IEEE performed an identical adoption of ISO/IEC 15288:2002.
The ISO/IEC 12207 amendments in 2002 and 2004 added process purpose and outcomes to the International
Standard and established a Process Reference Model in accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 15504-2.
IEEE did not pick up these amendments, preferring a stable base for the users of its standard.
This new revision of ISO/IEC 12207 is the product of a coordinated effort by IEEE and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7.
The base documents for the revision included the ISO/IEC standard and its amendments, and the IEEE/EIA
standard and its unique material.
This revision integrates ISO/IEC 12207:1995 with its two Amendments and applies SC7 guidelines for process
definition to support consistency and improved usability. Project execution was carefully coordinated with the
parallel revision of ISO/IEC 15288:2002 to align structure, terms, and corresponding organizational and
project processes.
This revised standard is a step in the SC7 harmonization strategy to achieve a fully integrated suite of system
and software life cycle processes and guidance for their application. It is also an important step in the shared
strategy of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 and the IEEE to harmonize their respective collections of standards. The new
editions of ISO/IEC 12207 and ISO/IEC 15288, and their identical IEEE editions, will provide a single, shared
baseline of systems and software life cycle processes applicable to both ISO/IEC and the IEEE standards
collections.
Notice to users
Errata
Errata, if any, for this and all other standards can be accessed at the following URL: http://
standards.ieee.org/reading/ieee/updates/errata/index.html. Users are encouraged to check this URL for errata
periodically.
© ISO/IEC 2008 ⎯ All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008

Interpretations
Current interpretations can be accessed at the following URL: http://standards.ieee.org/reading/ieee/interp/
index.html.
Patents
Attention is called to the possibility that implementation of this standard may require use of subject matter
covered by patent rights. By publication of this standard, no position is taken with respect to the existence or
validity of any patent rights in connection therewith. The IEEE shall not be responsible for identifying patents
or patent applications for which a license may be required to implement an IEEE standard or for conducting
inquiries into the legal validity or scope of those patents that are brought to its attention.















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ISO/IEC 12207:2008(E)
IEEE Std 12207-2008

Contents Page
Introduction . vi
1 Overview. 1
1.1 Scope . 1
1.2 Purpose. 1
1.3 Limitations. 1
2 Conformance. 2
2.1 Intended usage. 2
2.2 Full conformance. 2
2.3 Tailored conformance . 2
3 Normative references . 2
4 Terms and definitions. 3
5 Application of this International Standard . 9
5.1 Key concepts of this International Standard . 9
5.1.1 Relationship of software products and software services. 9
5.1.2 Relationship between systems and software . 9
5.1.3 Organizations and parties. 10
5.1.4 Organization-level and project-level adoption. 10
5.1.5 Tailoring. 11
5.1.6 Temporal relationships among the processes .11
5.1.7 Evaluation versus verification, and validation . 11
5.1.8 Criteria for processes. 11
5.1.9 Description of processes. 11
5.1.10 General Characteristics of processes . 12
5.1.11 Decomposition of processes. 12
5.1.12 Life cycle models and stages . 12
5.2 Organization of this International Standard. 13
5.2.1 Categories of Life Cycle Processes. 13
5.2.2 Summary of Life Cycle Processes. 14
5.2.3 Process Reference Model . 18
6 System Life Cycle Processes. 18
6.1 Agreement Processes . 18
6.1.1 Acquisition Process . 18
6.1.2 Supply Process. 22
6.2 Organizational Project-Enabling Processes . 25
6.2.1 Life Cycle Model Management Process . 25
6.2.2 Infrastructure Management Process . 26
6.2.3 Project Portfolio Management Process. 27
6.2.4 Human Resource Management Process . 29
6.2.5 Quality Management Process. 31
6.3 Project Processes. 32
6.3.1 Project Planning Process . 32
6.3.2 Project Assessment and Control Process . 33
6.3.3 Decision Management Process. 34
6.3.4 Risk Management Process . 36
6.3.5 Configuration Management Process . 38
6.3.6 Information Management Process. 39
6.3.7 Measurement Process.
...