ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 Systems and software engineering – Software life cycle processes is an international standard for software lifecycle processes. First introduced in 1995, it aims to be a primary standard that defines all the processes required for developing and maintaining software systems, including the outcomes and/or activities of each process.
Revision history
ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2017 is the newest version, published in November 2017. Annex I of ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2017 provides a process mapping between the 2017 version and the previous version, including the primary process alignments between the two versions; this is intended to enable traceability and ease transition for users of the previous version.
Prior versions include:
- ISO/IEC 12207:2008, which was published in February 2008
- ISO/IEC 12207:1995/Amd 2:2004, an amended version of the prior, published in November 2004
- ISO/IEC 12207:1995/Amd 1:2002, an amended version of the prior, published in May 2002
- ISO/IEC 12207:1995, the first iteration, published in July 1995; originally was divided into five primary processes (acquisition, supply, development, operation, and maintenance), with eight supporting and four organizational life cycle processes
IEEE versions
Prior to the IEEE Computer Society formally joining the editing process (becoming a major stakeholder) for the 2017 release, the IEEE maintained its own versions of ISO/IEC 12207, initially with modifications made jointly with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA). With the 2008 update came a "shared strategy of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 and the IEEE to harmonize their respective collections of standards," resulting in identical standards thereon, but with slightly different names. superseded by ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2017
- IEEE/EIA 12207.2-1997: "provides implementation consideration guidance for the normative clauses of IEEE/EIA 12207.0"; superseded/made obsolete by IEEE Std. 12207-2008, which was then superseded by ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2017
- IEEE/EIA 12207.1-1997: "provides guidance for recording life cycle data resulting from the life cycle processes of IEEE/EIA 12207.0"; superseded by ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289:2011, which was then superseded by ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289:2017
- IEEE/EIA 12207.0-1996: "consists of the clarifications, additions, and changes [to ISO/IEC 12207:1995 for industry implementation] accepted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) as formulated by a joint project of the two organizations";
Agreement processes
Here ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2017 includes the acquisition and supply processes,