Purpose

The purpose of this Technical Report is to provide guidance on the application of ISO/IEC 12207.

This Technical Report elaborates on factors which should be considered when applying ISO/IEC 12207 and does this in the context of the various ways in which ISO/IEC 12207 can be applied. The guidance is not intended to provide the rationale for the requirements of ISO/IEC 12207.

The three fundamental life cycle models are discussed and examples of tailoring are provided.

Audience

This Technical Report is written for those who will use or apply ISO/IEC 12207 in contractual situations, on a project irrespective of size or complexity, in an organization as a self-evaluation or for software process improvement initiatives.

This Technical Report discusses how ISO/IEC 12207 may be used in relation to various types of software and indicates which processes may be relevant in each case.

This Technical Report supports ISO/IEC 12207 when it is used as a requirements document and also for use as a template for guidance. (An example of the latter is when ISO/IEC 12207 is self-imposed as part of a process improvement exercise.) The whole Technical Report should be understood but it may be used in relation to particular situations by referring to specific clauses.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites to using this Technical Report are:

• Availability of ISO/IEC 12207;
• Familiarity with ISO/IEC 12207;
• Familiarity with the relevant organizational policies;
• General knowledge of software management, software engineering and software life cycle models.