ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023

Systems and software engineering — System life cycle processes

This document establishes a common framework of process descriptions for describing the life cycle of systems created by humans, defining a set of processes and associated terminology from an engineering viewpoint. These processes can be applied to systems of interest, their system elements, and to systems of systems. Selected sets of these processes can be applied throughout the stages of a system's life cycle. This is accomplished through the involvement of stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of achieving customer satisfaction. This document defines a set of processes to facilitate system development and information exchange among acquirers, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the life cycle of a system. This document specifies processes that support the definition, control, and improvement of the system life cycle processes used within an organization or a project. Organizations and projects can use these processes when acquiring and supplying systems. This document applies to organizations in their roles as both acquirers and suppliers. This document applies to the full life cycle of systems, including conception, development, production, utilization, support and retirement of systems, and to the acquisition and supply of systems, whether performed internally or externally to an organization. The life cycle processes of this document can be applied iteratively and concurrently to a system and recursively to the system elements. This document applies to one-of-a-kind systems, mass-produced systems, and customised, adaptable systems. It also applies to a complete stand-alone system and to systems that are embedded and integrated into larger more complex and complete systems. This document does not prescribe a specific system life cycle model, development methodology, method, modelling approach or technique. This document does not detail information items in terms of name, format, explicit content, and recording media. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289 addresses the content for life cycle process information items (documentation).

Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel — Processus du cycle de vie du système

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 15-May-2023
• ICS: 35.080 - Software
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 16-May-2023
• Due Date: 29-Jan-2024
• Completion Date: 16-May-2023

Relations

• Revises: ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015 - Systems and software engineering — System life cycle processes
• Effective Date: 06-Jun-2022

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/
STANDARD IEC/IEEE
15288
Second edition
2023-05
Systems and software engineering —
System life cycle processes
Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel — Processus du cycle de vie du
système
Reference number
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
© ISO/IEC 2023
© IEEE 2023

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2023
© IEEE 2023
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO or IEEE at the
respective address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8 3 Park Avenue, New York
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva NY 10016-5997, USA
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail] Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org Website: www.ieee.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
 © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms . 1
4 Conformance . 9
4.1 Intended usage . 9
4.2 Full conformance . 10
4.2.1 Full conformance to outcomes . 10
4.2.2 Full conformance to tasks . 10
4.3 Tailored conformance . 10
5 Key concepts and their application .11
5.1 General . 11
5.2 System concepts . 11
5.2.1 Systems . 11
5.2.2 System structure .12
5.2.3 Interfacing, enabling, and interoperating systems .13
5.2.4 Concepts related to the system solution context.13
5.2.5 Product line engineering (PLE). 14
5.3 Organizational concepts .15
5.3.1 Organizations . 15
5.3.2 Organization and project-level adoption . 16
5.3.3 Organization and collaborative activities . . 16
5.4 System of systems concepts . 16
5.4.1 Differences between systems and SoS . 16
5.4.2 Managerial and operational independence . 17
5.4.3 Taxonomy of SoS . 17
5.4.4 SoS considerations in life cycle stages of a system . 17
5.4.5 Application of this document to SoS . 18
5.5 Life cycle concepts . 18
5.5.1 System life cycle model . 18
5.5.2 System life cycle stages . 18
5.6 Process concepts . 19
5.6.1 Criteria for processes . 19
5.6.2 Description of processes . 19
5.6.3 General characteristics of processes . 19
5.7 Processes in this document . 20
5.7.1 General .20
5.7.2 Agreement processes . 22
5.7.3 Organizational project-enabling processes .22
5.7.4 Technical management processes. 23
5.7.5 Technical processes . 24
5.8 Process application . 25
5.8.1 Overview . 25
5.8.2 Process iteration, recursion, and concurrency . 27
5.8.3 Process views .28
5.9 Concept and system definition .28
5.10 Assurance and quality characteristics.29
5.11 Process reference model .30
6 System life cycle processes .30
6.1 Agreement processes . 30
6.1.1 Acquisition process .30
iii
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
6.1.2 Supply process . 32
6.2 Organizational project-enabling processes .34
6.2.1 Life cycle model management process .34
6.2.2 Infrastructure management process .36
6.2.3 Portfolio management process . 37
6.2.4 Human resource management process .38
6.2.5 Quality management process .40
6.2.6 Knowledge management process . 41
6.3 Technical management processes . 43
6.3.1 Project planning process . . 43
6.3.2 Project assessment and control process . 45
6.3.3 Decision management process. 47
6.3.4 Risk management process .49
6.3.5 Configuration management process . 51
6.3.6 Information management process .54
6.3.7 Measurement process .56
6.3.8 Quality assurance process . 57
6.4 Technical processes . . 59
6.4.1 Business or mission analysis process . 59
6.4.2 Stakeholder needs and requirements definition process . 62
6.4.3 System requirements definition process. 67
6.4.4 System architecture definition process . 70
6.4.5 Design definition process .74
6.4.6 System analysis process . 76
6.4.7 Implementation process . 78
6.4.8 Integration process . 81
6.4.9 Verification process .83
6.4.10 Transition process .85
6.4.11 Validation process .88
6.4.12 Operation process . 91
6.4.13 Maintenance process .94
6.4.14 Disposal process .98
Annex A (normative) Tailoring process . 101
Annex B (informative) Example process artefacts and information items . 103
Annex C (informative) Process reference model for assessment purposes . 107
Annex D (informative) Model-based systems and software engineering (MBSSE) . 109
Bibliography . 113
IEEE notices and abstract .117
iv
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialised 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.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed
for the different types of ISO/IEC documents should be noted. This document was drafted in
accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
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 Institute and serve without compensation.
While the IEEE administers the process and establishes rules to promote fairness in the consensus
development process, the IEEE does not independently evaluate, test, or verify the accuracy of any of
the information contained in its standards.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/
or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC list of patent
declarations received (see https://patents.iec.ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering, in cooperation with the Systems and Software
Engineering Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society, under the Partner Standards
Development Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015), which has been
technically revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— improvements to selected technical processes including business or mission analysis, system
architecture definition, system analysis, implementation, integration, operations, and maintenance;
— improvements to selected technical management processes including risk management and
configuration management;
— updates to Clause 5, key concepts, including a better description of iteration, recursion, system-of-
systems, quality characteristics, etc.;
— new content in Clause 5 on concept and system definition, and expanded content on process
application and system concepts;
v
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
— updates to the terms and definitions;
— a new annex addressing model-based systems engineering (MBSE).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.
vi
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
Introduction
The complexity of systems continues to increase to unprecedented levels. This has led to new
opportunities, but also to increased challenges for the organizations that create and utilise systems.
These challenges exist throughout the life cycle of a system and at all levels of architectural detail. This
document provides a common process framework for describing the life cycle of systems, adopting a
systems engineering approach. This document concerns systems that can be configured with one
or more of the following system elements: hardware elements, software elements, data, humans,
processes, services, procedures, facilities, materials, and naturally occurring entities.
This document focuses on defining stakeholder needs, concerns, priorities, and constraints for the
required functionality early in the development cycle, establishing requirements, then proceeding
with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem. It integrates all
the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that
proceeds from conception through production to operation. It considers the needs of all stakeholders
with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the needs of users and other applicable
stakeholders. It provides the processes for acquiring and supplying systems. It helps to improve
communication and cooperation among the parties that create, utilise, and manage modern systems
in order that they can work in an integrated, coherent fashion. Finally, this document provides the
framework for assessment and improvement of the life cycle processes.
There is a wide variety of systems in terms of their purpose, domain of application, complexity, size,
novelty, adaptability, quantity, location, life span, and evolution. The processes in this document form a
comprehensive set from which an organization can construct system life cycle models appropriate to its
products and services. An organization, depending on its purpose, can select and apply an appropriate
subset to fulfil that purpose.
This document 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 document is used to assess conformance
of a declared, established environment to its provisions. It can be used by a single organization in
a self-imposed mode or in a multi-party situation. Parties can be from the same organization or
from different organizations and the situation can range from an informal agreement to a formal
contract.
— By a project — to help select, structure, and employ the elements of an established environment to
provide products and services. In this mode this document 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 document are selected, negotiated, agreed to,
and performed. In this mode this document is used for guidance in developing the agreement.
— By process assessors — to serve as a process reference model for use in the performance of process
assessments that can be used to support organizational process improvement.
In the context of this document and ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207, there is a continuum of human-made systems
from those that use little or no software to those in which software is the primary interest. When
software is the predominant system or element of interest, ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 should be used. Both
documents have the same process model, share most activities and tasks, and differ primarily in
descriptive notes.
Although this document does not establish a management system, it is intended to be compatible with
the quality management system provided by ISO 9001, the service management system provided by
ISO/IEC 20000 series, the IT asset management system provided by the ISO/IEC 19770 series, and the
information security management system provided by ISO/IEC 27000.
vii
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
Systems and software engineering — System life cycle
processes
1 Scope
This document establishes a common framework of process descriptions for describing the life
cycle of systems created by humans, defining a set of processes and associated terminology from an
engineering viewpoint. These processes can be applied to systems of interest, their system elements,
and to systems of systems. Selected sets of these processes can be applied throughout the stages of a
system's life cycle. This is accomplished through the involvement of stakeholders, with the ultimate
goal of achieving customer satisfaction.
This document defines a set of processes to facilitate system development and information exchange
among acquirers, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the life cycle of a system.
This document specifies processes that support the definition, control, and improvement of the system
life cycle processes used within an organization or a project. Organizations and projects can use these
processes when acquiring and supplying systems.
This document applies to organizations in their roles as both acquirers and suppliers.
This document applies to the full life cycle of systems, including conception, development, production,
utilization, support and retirement of systems, and to the acquisition and supply of systems, whether
performed internally or externally to an organization. The life cycle processes of this document can be
applied iteratively and concurrently to a system and recursively to the system elements.
This document applies to one-of-a-kind systems, mass-produced systems, and customised, adaptable
systems. It also applies to a complete stand-alone system and to systems that are embedded and
integrated into larger more complex and complete systems.
This document does not prescribe a specific system life cycle model, development methodology, method,
modelling approach or technique.
This document does not detail information items in terms of name, format, explicit content, and
recording media. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289 addresses the content for life cycle process information items
(documentation).
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO, IEC, and IEEE maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
— IEEE Standards Dictionary Online: available at: https:// dictionary .ieee .org/
NOTE Definitions for other system and software engineering terms can be found in ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765,
available at www .computer .org/ sevocab.
1
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2023 – All rights reserved

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ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023(E)
3.1
acquirer
stakeholder (3.44) that acquires or procures a system (3.46), product (3.32) or service (3.42) from a
supplier (3.45)
Note 1 to entry: Other terms commonly used for an acquirer are buyer, customer (3.12), owner, purchaser, or
internal/organizational sponsor.
3.2
acquisition
process (3.27) of obtaining a system (3.46), product (3.32) or service (3.42)
3.3
activity
set of cohesive tasks (3.51) of a process (3.27)
3.4
agreement
mutual acknowledgement of terms an
...

ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:20232022(E)
ISO JTC 1/SC 7 NXXXX
ISO JTC 1/SC 7/WG 7 N2901
Date: 2022-10-1812-05
Secretariat: BIS
Second edition
Systems and software engineering — System life cycle processes
Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel – Processus du cycle de vie du système

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
© ISO/IEC/IEEE 2022
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no
part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised otherwise in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without
prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or
ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . v
Introduction . vii
1 Scope. 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms . 1
4 Conformance . 11
4.1 Intended usage . 11
4.2 Full conformance . 11
4.2.1 Full conformance to outcomes . 11
4.2.2 Full conformance to tasks . 12
4.3 Tailored conformance . 12
5 Key concepts and their application . 12
5.1 General . 12
5.2 System concepts . 12
5.2.1 Systems . 12
5.2.2 System structure . 13
5.2.3 Interfacing, enabling, and interoperating systems . 14
5.2.4 Concepts related to the system solution context . 15
5.2.5 Product line engineering (PLE) . 16
5.3 Organizational concepts . 16
5.3.1 Organizations . 16
5.3.2 Organization and project-level adoption . 17
5.3.3 Organization and collaborative activities . 17
5.4 System of systems concepts . 18
5.4.1 Differences between systems and SoS. 18
5.4.2 Managerial and operational independence . 18
5.4.3 Taxonomy of SoS . 19
5.4.4 SoS considerations in life cycle stages of a system . 19
5.4.5 Application of this document to SoS . 19
5.5 Life cycle concepts . 19
5.5.1 System life cycle model . 19
5.5.2 System life cycle stages . 20
5.6 Process concepts . 21
5.6.1 Criteria for processes . 21
5.6.2 Description of processes . 21
5.6.3 General characteristics of processes . 21
5.7 Processes in this document . 21
5.7.1 General . 21
5.7.2 Agreement processes . 24
5.7.3 Organizational project-enabling processes . 24
5.7.4 Technical management processes . 25
5.7.5 Technical processes . 26
5.8 Process application . 28
5.8.1 Overview . 28
5.8.2 Process iteration, recursion, and concurrency . 29
5.8.3 Process views . 30
© ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved iii
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
5.9 Concept and system definition . 30
5.10 Assurance and quality characteristics . 32
5.11 Process reference model . 32
6 System life cycle processes . 33
6.1 Agreement processes . 33
6.1.1 Acquisition process . 33
6.1.2 Supply process . 35
6.2 Organizational project-enabling processes . 37
6.2.1 Life cycle model management process . 37
6.2.2 Infrastructure management process . 39
6.2.3 Portfolio management process . 40
6.2.4 Human resource management process . 43
6.2.5 Quality management process . 44
6.2.6 Knowledge management process . 46
6.3 Technical management processes . 49
6.3.1 Project planning process . 49
6.3.2 Project assessment and control process . 51
6.3.3 Decision management process . 54
6.3.4 Risk management process . 56
6.3.5 Configuration management process . 60
6.3.6 Information management process . 66
6.3.7 Measurement process . 68
6.3.8 Quality assurance process . 70
6.4 Technical processes . 73
6.4.1 Business or mission analysis process . 73
6.4.2 Stakeholder needs and requirements definition process . 77
6.4.3 System requirements definition process . 86
6.4.4 System architecture definition process . 92
6.4.5 Design definition process . 98
6.4.6 System analysis process . 101
6.4.7 Implementation process . 104
6.4.8 Integration process . 108
6.4.9 Verification process . 110
6.4.10 Transition process . 113
6.4.11 Validation process . 116
6.4.12 Operation process . 119
6.4.13 Maintenance process . 125
6.4.14 Disposal process . 133
Annex A (normative) Tailoring process . 138
Annex B (informative) Example process artefacts and information items . 140
Annex C (informative) Process reference model for assessment purposes . 145
Annex D (informative) Model-based systems and software engineering (MBSSE) . 147
Bibliography . 151
IEEE notices and abstract . 155
iv © ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialised 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.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO/IEC documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
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 Institute and serve without compensation.
While the IEEE administers the process and establishes rules to promote fairness in the consensus
development process, the IEEE does not independently evaluate, test, or verify the accuracy of any of the
information contained in its standards.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any
patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on
the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC list of patent
declarations received (see https://patents.iec.ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World
Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering, in cooperation with the Systems and Software
Engineering Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society, under the Partner Standards
Development Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015), which has been
technically revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— improvements to selected technical processes including business or mission analysis, system
architecture definition, system analysis, implementation, integration, operations, and maintenance;
© ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved v
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
— improvements to selected technical management processes including risk management and
configuration management;
— updates to Clause 5, key concepts, including a better description of iteration, recursion, system-of-
systems, quality characteristics, etc.;
— new content in Clause 5 on concept and system definition, and expanded content on process
application and system concepts;
— updates to the terms and definitions;
— a new annex addressing model-based systems engineering (MBSE).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
vi © ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Introduction
The complexity of systems continues to increase to unprecedented levels. This has led to new
opportunities, but also to increased challenges for the organizations that create and utilise systems. These
challenges exist throughout the life cycle of a system and at all levels of architectural detail. This
document provides a common process framework for describing the life cycle of systems, adopting a
systems engineering approach. This document concerns systems that can be configured with one or more
of the following system elements: hardware elements, software elements, data, humans, processes,
services, procedures, facilities, materials, and naturally occurring entities.
This document focuses on defining stakeholder needs, concerns, priorities, and constraints for the
required functionality early in the development cycle, establishing requirements, then proceeding with
design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem. It integrates all the
disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that
proceeds from conception through production to operation. It considers the needs of all stakeholders
with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the needs of users and other applicable
stakeholders. It provides the processes for acquiring and supplying systems. It helps to improve
communication and cooperation among the parties that create, utilise, and manage modern systems in
order that they can work in an integrated, coherent fashion. Finally, this document provides the
framework for assessment and improvement of the life cycle processes.
There is a wide variety of systems in terms of their purpose, domain of application, complexity, size,
novelty, adaptability, quantity, location, life span, and evolution. The processes in this document form a
comprehensive set from which an organization can construct system life cycle models appropriate to its
products and services. An organization, depending on its purpose, can select and apply an appropriate
subset to fulfil that purpose.
This document 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 document is used to assess conformance of
a declared, established environment to its provisions. It can be used by a single organization in a self-
imposed mode or in a multi-party situation. Parties can be from the same organization or from
different organizations and the situation can range from an informal agreement to a formal contract.
— By a project — to help select, structure, and employ the elements of an established environment to
provide products and services. In this mode this document 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 document are selected, negotiated, agreed to,
and performed. In this mode this document is used for guidance in developing the agreement.
— By process assessors — to serve as a process reference model for use in the performance of process
assessments that can be used to support organizational process improvement.
In the context of this document and ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207, there is a continuum of human-made systems
from those that use little or no software to those in which software is the primary interest. When software
is the predominant system or element of interest, ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 should be used. Both documents
have the same process model, share most activities and tasks, and differ primarily in descriptive notes.
© ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved vii
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Although this document does not establish a management system, it is intended to be compatible with
the quality management system provided by ISO 9001, the service management system provided by
ISO/IEC 20000 series, the IT asset management system provided by the ISO/IEC 19770 series, and the
information security management system provided by ISO/IEC 27000.
viii © ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
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FINAL DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)

Systems and software engineering — System life cycle processes
1 Scope
This document establishes a common framework of process descriptions for describing the life cycle of
systems created by humans, defining a set of processes and associated terminology from an engineering
viewpoint. These processes can be applied to systems of interest, their system elements, and to systems
of systems. Selected sets of these processes can be applied throughout the stages of a system's life cycle.
This is accomplished through the involvement of stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of achieving
customer satisfaction.
This document defines a set of processes to facilitate system development and information exchange
among acquirers, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the life cycle of a system.
This document specifies processes that support the definition, control, and improvement of the system
life cycle processes used within an organization or a project. Organizations and projects can use these
processes when acquiring and supplying systems.
This document applies to organizations in their roles as both acquirers and suppliers.
This document applies to the full life cycle of systems, including conception, development, production,
utilization, support and retirement of systems, and to the acquisition and supply of systems, whether
performed internally or externally to an organization. The life cycle processes of this document can be
applied iteratively and concurrently to a system and recursively to the system elements.
This document applies to one-of-a-kind systems, mass-produced systems, and customised, adaptable
systems. It also applies to a complete stand-alone system and to systems that are embedded and
integrated into larger more complex and complete systems.
This document does not prescribe a specific system life cycle model, development methodology, method,
modelling approach or technique.
This document does not detail information items in terms of name, format, explicit content, and recording
media. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289 addresses the content for life cycle process information items
(documentation).
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO, IEC, and IEEE maintain terminologicalterminology databases for use in standardization at the
following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
© ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved 1
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
— IEEE Standards Dictionary Online: available at: http://dictionary.ieee.org
NOTE Definitions for other system and software engineering terms can be found in ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765,
available at www.computer.org/sevocab.
3.1
acquirer
stakeholder (3.4544) that acquires or procures a system (3.4746), product (3.3332) or service (3.4342)
from a supplier (3.4645)
Note 1 to entry: Other terms commonly used for an acquirer are buyer, customer (3.12), owner, purchaser, or
internal/organizational sponsor.
3.2
acquisition
process (3.2827) of obtaining a system (3.4746), product (3.3332) or service (3.4342)
3.3
activity
set of cohesive tasks (3.5251) of a process (3.2827)
3.4
agreement
mutual acknowledgement of terms and conditions under which a working relationship is conducted
EXAMPLE Contract, memorandum of agreement.
3.5
architecture
fundamental concepts or properties of a system (3.4746) in its environment (3.16) and governing
principles for the realization and evolution of this system and its related life cycle (3.21) processes
(3.2827)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC/IEEE 42020:2019, 3.3, modified — ‘entity’ has been replaced with ‘system’; notes to
entry have been removed.]
3.6
artefact
work product (3.3332) that is produced and used during a project to capture and convey information
EXAMPLE Models, stakeholder requirements, system/software requirements, architecture descriptions, design
descriptions, source code, implemented system elements, verified or validated system.
[SOURCE: ISO 19014-4:2020, 3.9, modified — EXAMPLE has been added.]
3.7
audit
independent examination of a work product (3.3332) or set of work products to assess compliance with
specifications, standards, contractual agreements (3.4), or other criteria
3.8
baseline
formally approved version of a configuration item (3.11), regardless of media, formally designated and
fixed at a specific time during the configuration item's life cycle (3.21)
2 © ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
[SOURCE: IEEE Std 828-2012]
3.9
concept of operations
verbal and graphic statement, in broad outline, of an organization’s (3.25) assumptions or intent in regard
to an operation or series of operations of new, modified, or existing organizational systems (3.4746)
Note 1 to entry: The concept of operations frequently is embodied in long-range strate
...

FINAL
INTERNATIONAL ISO/
DRAFT
STANDARD IEC/IEEE
FDIS
15288
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7
Systems and software engineering —
Secretariat: BIS
System life cycle processes
Voting begins on:
2022-12-19
Voting terminates on:
2023-02-13
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO
SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION
OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH
THEY ARE AWARE AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING
DOCUMENTATION.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
Reference number
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO-
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES,
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON
OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN-
© ISO/IEC 2022
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. © IEEE 2022

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
FINAL
INTERNATIONAL ISO/
DRAFT
STANDARD IEC/IEEE
FDIS
15288
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7
Systems and software engineering —
Secretariat: BIS
System life cycle processes
Voting begins on:
Voting terminates on:
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2022
© IEEE 2022
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respective address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
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BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO­
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LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES,
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON
Published in Switzerland
OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN­
© ISO/IEC 2022
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
ii
  © ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. © IEEE 2022
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviated terms . 1
4 Conformance . 9
4.1 Intended usage . 9
4.2 Full conformance . 10
4.2.1 Full conformance to outcomes . 10
4.2.2 Full conformance to tasks . 10
4.3 Tailored conformance . 10
5 Key concepts and their application .11
5.1 General . 11
5.2 System concepts . 11
5.2.1 Systems . 11
5.2.2 System structure .12
5.2.3 Interfacing, enabling, and interoperating systems .13
5.2.4 Concepts related to the system solution context.13
5.2.5 Product line engineering (PLE). 14
5.3 Organizational concepts .15
5.3.1 Organizations . 15
5.3.2 Organization and project­level adoption . 16
5.3.3 Organization and collaborative activities . . 16
5.4 System of systems concepts . 16
5.4.1 Differences between systems and SoS . 16
5.4.2 Managerial and operational independence . 17
5.4.3 Taxonomy of SoS . 17
5.4.4 SoS considerations in life cycle stages of a system . 17
5.4.5 Application of this document to SoS . 18
5.5 Life cycle concepts . 18
5.5.1 System life cycle model . 18
5.5.2 System life cycle stages . 18
5.6 Process concepts . 19
5.6.1 Criteria for processes . 19
5.6.2 Description of processes . 19
5.6.3 General characteristics of processes . 19
5.7 Processes in this document . 20
5.7.1 General .20
5.7.2 Agreement processes . 22
5.7.3 Organizational project­enabling processes .22
5.7.4 Technical management processes. 23
5.7.5 Technical processes . 24
5.8 Process application . 25
5.8.1 Overview . 25
5.8.2 Process iteration, recursion, and concurrency . 27
5.8.3 Process views .28
5.9 Concept and system definition .28
5.10 Assurance and quality characteristics.29
5.11 Process reference model .30
6 System life cycle processes .30
6.1 Agreement processes . 30
6.1.1 Acquisition process .30
iii
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
6.1.2 Supply process . 32
6.2 Organizational project­enabling processes .34
6.2.1 Life cycle model management process .34
6.2.2 Infrastructure management process .36
6.2.3 Portfolio management process . 37
6.2.4 Human resource management process .38
6.2.5 Quality management process .40
6.2.6 Knowledge management process . 41
6.3 Technical management processes . 43
6.3.1 Project planning process . . 43
6.3.2 Project assessment and control process . 45
6.3.3 Decision management process. 47
6.3.4 Risk management process .49
6.3.5 Configuration management process . 51
6.3.6 Information management process .54
6.3.7 Measurement process .56
6.3.8 Quality assurance process . 57
6.4 Technical processes . . 59
6.4.1 Business or mission analysis process . 59
6.4.2 Stakeholder needs and requirements definition process . 62
6.4.3 System requirements definition process. 67
6.4.4 System architecture definition process . 70
6.4.5 Design definition process .74
6.4.6 System analysis process . 76
6.4.7 Implementation process . 78
6.4.8 Integration process . 81
6.4.9 Verification process .83
6.4.10 Transition process .85
6.4.11 Validation process .88
6.4.12 Operation process . 91
6.4.13 Maintenance process .94
6.4.14 Disposal process .98
Annex A (normative) Tailoring process . 101
Annex B (informative) Example process artefacts and information items . 103
Annex C (informative) Process reference model for assessment purposes . 107
Annex D (informative) Model-based systems and software engineering (MBSSE) . 109
Bibliography . 113
IEEE notices and abstract .117
iv
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialised 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 non­governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed
for the different types of ISO/IEC documents should be noted. This document was drafted in
accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
IEEE Standards documents are developed within the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating
Committees of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE­SA) 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 Institute and serve without compensation.
While the IEEE administers the process and establishes rules to promote fairness in the consensus
development process, the IEEE does not independently evaluate, test, or verify the accuracy of any of
the information contained in its standards.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/
or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC list of patent
declarations received (see https://patents.iec.ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding­standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering, in cooperation with the Systems and Software
Engineering Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society, under the Partner Standards
Development Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015), which has been
technically revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— improvements to selected technical processes including business or mission analysis, system
architecture definition, system analysis, implementation, integration, operations, and maintenance;
— improvements to selected technical management processes including risk management and
configuration management;
— updates to Clause 5, key concepts, including a better description of iteration, recursion, system-of-
systems, quality characteristics, etc.;
— new content in Clause 5 on concept and system definition, and expanded content on process
application and system concepts;
v
© ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
— updates to the terms and definitions;
— a new annex addressing model-based systems engineering (MBSE).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
vi
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ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Introduction
The complexity of systems continues to increase to unprecedented levels. This has led to new
opportunities, but also to increased challenges for the organizations that create and utilise systems.
These challenges exist throughout the life cycle of a system and at all levels of architectural detail. This
document provides a common process framework for describing the life cycle of systems, adopting a
systems engineering approach. This document concerns systems that can be configured with one
or more of the following system elements: hardware elements, software elements, data, humans,
processes, services, procedures, facilities, materials, and naturally occurring entities.
This document focuses on defining stakeholder needs, concerns, priorities, and constraints for the
required functionality early in the development cycle, establishing requirements, then proceeding
with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem. It integrates all
the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that
proceeds from conception through production to operation. It considers the needs of all stakeholders
with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the needs of users and other applicable
stakeholders. It provides the processes for acquiring and supplying systems. It helps to improve
communication and cooperation among the parties that create, utilise, and manage modern systems
in order that they can work in an integrated, coherent fashion. Finally, this document provides the
framework for assessment and improvement of the life cycle processes.
There is a wide variety of systems in terms of their purpose, domain of application, complexity, size,
novelty, adaptability, quantity, location, life span, and evolution. The processes in this document form a
comprehensive set from which an organization can construct system life cycle models appropriate to its
products and services. An organization, depending on its purpose, can select and apply an appropriate
subset to fulfil that purpose.
This document 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 document is used to assess conformance
of a declared, established environment to its provisions. It can be used by a single organization in
a self-imposed mode or in a multi-party situation. Parties can be from the same organization or
from different organizations and the situation can range from an informal agreement to a formal
contract.
— By a project — to help select, structure, and employ the elements of an established environment to
provide products and services. In this mode this document 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 document are selected, negotiated, agreed to,
and performed. In this mode this document is used for guidance in developing the agreement.
— By process assessors — to serve as a process reference model for use in the performance of process
assessments that can be used to support organizational process improvement.
In the context of this document and ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207, there is a continuum of human-made systems
from those that use little or no software to those in which software is the primary interest. When
software is the predominant system or element of interest, ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 should be used. Both
documents have the same process model, share most activities and tasks, and differ primarily in
descriptive notes.
Although this document does not establish a management system, it is intended to be compatible with
the quality management system provided by ISO 9001, the service management system provided by
ISO/IEC 20000 series, the IT asset management system provided by the ISO/IEC 19770 series, and the
information security management system provided by ISO/IEC 27000.
vii
© ISO/IEC 2022 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2022 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
FINAL DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC/IEEE FDIS 15288:2022(E)
Systems and software engineering — System life cycle
processes
1 Scope
This document establishes a common framework of process descriptions for describing the life
cycle of systems created by humans, defining a set of processes and associated terminology from an
engineering viewpoint. These processes can be applied to systems of interest, their system elements,
and to systems of systems. Selected sets of these processes can be applied throughout the stages of a
system's life cycle. This is accomplished through the involvement of stakeholders, with the ultimate
goal of achieving customer satisfaction.
This document defines a set of processes to facilitate system development and information exchange
among acquirers, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the life cycle of a system.
This document specifies processes that support the definition, control, and improvement of the system
life cycle processes used within an organization or a project. Organizations and projects can use these
processes when acquiring and supplying systems.
This document applies to organizations in their roles as both acquirers and suppliers.
This document applies to the full life cycle of systems, including conception, development, production,
utilization, support and retirement of systems, and to the acquisition and supply of systems, whether
performed internally or externally to an organization. The life cycle processes of this document can be
applied iteratively and concurrently to a system and recursively to the system elements.
This document applies to one-of-a-kind systems, mass-produced systems, and customised, adaptable
systems. It also applies to a complete stand-alone system and to systems that are embedded and
integrated into larger more complex and complete systems.
This document does not prescribe a specific system life cycle model, development methodology, method,
modelling approach or technique.
This document does not detail information items in terms of name, format, explicit content, and
recording media. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15289 addresses the content for life cycle process information items
(documentation).
2 Normative references
...