ISO IEC 12207 Software Life Cycle Certificate

ISO IEC 12207 Certificate

Software Life Cycle Certificate

What is ISO IEC 12207?

The standard defines the stages of a software project, including planning, design, development, operation, and maintenance, along with the interactions between them. This enables effective process management and helps projects hit their objectives.

ISO/IEC 12207 has the following main sections.

1. Initial phase processes: This section covers the processes that define system requirements, software requirements, and software architecture. These typically sit in the planning phase of a software project.
2. Development processes: This section covers the processes of software design, coding, and testing.
3. Operation processes: This section defines the processes for delivering software to users and running it in production.
4. Maintenance processes: This section covers the regular maintenance and updates that keep software running correctly.
5. Support processes: This section defines support processes such as documentation, configuration management, and quality assurance.

By making software development and maintenance processes more predictable and manageable, the standard helps build higher-quality software products.

Core Requirements of ISO IEC 12207 Software Life Cycle

ISO/IEC 12207 defines and governs software life cycle processes. The core requirements set out in the standard are typically the following.

Process definition: All processes, sub-processes, and activities must be clearly defined. They typically include initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure stages.

Process monitoring and control: The standard emphasises that processes must be monitored and controlled regularly to confirm whether they are delivering the expected results.

Process improvement: Processes need continual improvement and refinement to raise the quality of both processes and outcomes.

Training and capability building: The standard sets out the training and skill-development needed for staff to apply processes effectively.

Documentation: All processes and activities must be documented and recorded. This is necessary to assess and improve process effectiveness.

Quality management: The standard emphasises that quality management systems and processes must be applied to maintain and continually improve software product quality.

The standard is used to raise software process effectiveness and to bring software projects to a successful close. It supports better software quality and reliability, lower costs, and on-time delivery.

How to Get ISO IEC 12207 Certification

There is no direct certification scheme for ISO/IEC 12207 because the standard is typically used as a guide for organising and managing software processes. That said, an organisation can follow specific steps to show that it applies the standard effectively.

Those steps typically include the following.

Understanding ISO/IEC 12207: The first step is to understand the standard and its requirements, which is done by reading and reviewing the standard itself.

Process management: A key part of applying ISO/IEC 12207 effectively is building a system to organise and manage the organisation's software processes.

Training: Everyone in the organisation must understand the ISO/IEC 12207 requirements and how to manage the organisation's software processes.

Implementation: The next step is to apply the standard. This means managing and organising software processes.

Review and assessment: The organisation must review and assess its processes regularly to determine whether they meet the standard's requirements.

• Completing these steps shows that an organisation conforms to ISO/IEC 12207. To document that conformity formally, an external audit or assessment is usually required, typically run by an independent certification body or consultancy firm.

• Such an assessment usually involves a detailed review of the organisation's processes and documents. It confirms conformity with ISO/IEC 12207 and typically results in a conformity certificate. The certificate shows clients, stakeholders, and regulators that the organisation operates in line with the standard.

• There is no direct certification scheme for ISO/IEC 12207, but similar processes and principles exist in other ISO standards such as ISO 9001, and you can certify against those. Such certification documents that an organisation's QMS conforms to specific standards.

ISO IEC 12207 Software Life Cycle Certificate Cost

Pinning down a single price for an ISO/IEC 12207 certificate or similar is difficult because several factors affect pricing. They include the following.

Consultancy services: An organisation typically needs a consultant's help to understand and apply the standard. Consultancy costs depend on the consultant's fees, the duration of the engagement, and the scope of the work.

Training costs: Staff need training to understand and apply the ISO/IEC 12207 requirements. Training costs typically depend on duration, scope, and trainer fees.

Audit and assessment costs: An external audit or assessment is needed to verify conformity. Audit costs typically depend on auditor fees, audit duration, and audit scope.

Certification fees: An organisation usually pays a fee to a certification body for the conformity certificate. The fee depends on the body's pricing and the type of certificate.

For these reasons, a single price for the ISO/IEC 12207 certificate is hard to give. Pricing varies widely with the organisation's specific needs, the complexity of applying the standard, and the other factors listed above.

If you are considering ISO/IEC 12207 conformity certification, contact a consultancy firm or certification body for a firmer quote. You can also consult an advisor for more detail on the benefits and costs of such a certificate.