Key Features of the ISO/IEC 12207 Standard

The ISO 12207 standard is aimed at establishing a generally accepted framework for software life cycle processes. The entire software industry is oriented towards this framework. This document helps define specific actions, tasks, and the scope of activities that remain relevant after the acquisition of a software product or certain services. In addition, the 12207 standard is applied in the development, intended use, maintenance, and retirement of various software products.

The standard was adopted in 1995, and at that time it was considered the first international document aimed at studying the life cycle through a collected set of various principles. Subsequently, in 2002, the next document was adopted – ISO 15288. However, this decision was considered alongside the publicly available methodology and was rightfully regarded as an important component thereof.

The ISO 12207 standard was supplemented, introducing process objectives and possible outcomes into its framework. The updated documents represented an ideal working model that fully complied with certain rules specified in the normative documents of ISO 15504-2.

Key Points Outlined in the Document

The main distinguishing feature of this document is its dynamic nature. This is explained by the method of determining the gradual achievement of set goals and selected tasks. As a rule, in this case, one process leads to the emergence of another or part of it. As a result, the ISO/IEC 12207 standard and its application allow the use of various life cycle models.

Key features:

• Guaranteed high level of adaptability. Certain methodologies and established tasks are based on ensuring their adaptation takes into account specific norms and principles of information systems.
• The documents do not contain precise action plans or various templates for different types of documents. ISO 12207 references the approximate flow of software assurance processes without offering specifics.
• The document contains a limited number of descriptions used for database design. This is because such systems very often employ highly specific types of databases (or forgo their use entirely).