ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 24774

Systems and software engineering -- Life cycle management -- Specification for process description

Ingénierie du logiciel et des systèmes -- Gestion du cycle de vie -- Spécification pour la description des processus

Standards Content (sample)

DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 Secretariat: BIS
Voting begins on: Voting terminates on:
2020-09-09 2020-12-02
Systems and software engineering — Life cycle
management — Specification for process description

Ingénierie du logiciel et des systèmes — Gestion du cycle de vie — Spécification pour la description des

processus
ICS: 35.080; 35.080
THIS DOCUMENT IS A DRAFT CIRCULATED
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iv

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

4 Conformance ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4

5 Specification of a process description and its elements ............................................................................................. 4

5.1 Elements of process description ......... ..................................................................................................................................... 4

5.2 Process and related concepts ..................................................................................................................................................... 4

5.3 Process description – required elements ......................................................................................................................... 6

5.3.1 General...................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

5.3.2 Process name ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7

5.3.3 Process purpose ............................................................................................................................................................... 7

5.3.4 Process outcomes ............................................................................................................................................................ 8

5.4 Process description – optional elements.......................................................................................................................... 9

5.4.1 General...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

5.4.2 Process activities ............................................................................................................................................................. 9

5.4.3 Process tasks ....................................................................................................................................................................10

5.4.4 Notes........................................................................................................................................................................................10

5.4.5 Process inputs .................................................................................................................................................................10

5.4.6 Process outputs ..............................................................................................................................................................10

5.4.7 Process controls and constraints ....................................................................................................................12

6 Process views and viewpoints .............................................................................................................................................................12

6.1 The process view concept ..........................................................................................................................................................12

6.2 Process viewpoint .............................................................................................................................................................................12

6.3 Contents of a process view ........................................................................................................................................................12

7 Claims of conformance to a process ..............................................................................................................................................13

Annex A (informative) Example process descriptions ....................................................................................................................14

Annex B (Informative) Process Description Traceability between Elements .........................................................20

Annex C (informative) Example process view description .........................................................................................................23

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................26

© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical

Commission) form the specialized 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. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,

ISO/IEC JTC 1.

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 documents shall be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the

editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).

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).

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.

ISO/IEC IEEE 24774 was prepared by ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee (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 document cancels and replaces ISO/IEC TR 24774:2010. The main changes compared to the

previous edition are as follows:

— Process definition and examples have been updated to reflect SC7 latest standards;

— The former ISO/IEC Guidance document (Technical Report) has been jointly revised with IEEE as a

normative standard.

Any feedback or questions on this document shall be directed to the user’s national standards body. A

complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
Introduction

For an organization to function effectively, the organization has to determine and manage numerous

interrelated activities and tasks to achieve its goals. An activity or set of activities using resources

and managed in order to enable the achievement of outcomes through the transformation of inputs

into outputs can be considered a process. Often the output from one process forms the input to

other processes. When processes are explicitly described and performed in a systematic manner, the

likelihood of consistent quality in the results is improved. Thus, process descriptions and process

models (frameworks of related processes) enable consistent performance and delivery of expected

results.

A number of international, national and industry standards describe processes and process reference

models. The process descriptions vary in format, content and level of prescription. The purpose of this

document is to encourage uniformity in the description of processes. Uniform description of processes

facilitates adoption, adaptation and improvement of standardized processes, as well as process

assessment. The combination of processes and the development of process views from different

reference models eases the development of new models and facilitates comparison of processes.

In order for users of standards to select the appropriate forms of process description and apply them

in a consistent fashion, it is desirable to develop a common characterization of all of these forms of

process description. This document presents requirements for the description of processes in terms of

their format, content and level of prescription. The requirements of this document can be applied to any

process model developed for any purpose.

This document is intended for use by all parties that define process models, for example systems and

software engineers, sector or special interest groups, professional standards groups, researchers, and

process assessors.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved
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DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
Systems and software engineering — Life cycle
management — Specification for process description
1 Scope

This document provides an explanation of considerations involved in defining a process. This document

gives requirements and recommendations for the description of processes by identifying elements and

rules for their formulation.
This document also describes the use of process views.

This document explains how conformance to a process can be defined, when the process is described in

accordance with this document.

This document does not describe how processes are composed or otherwise aggregated into

larger frameworks or life cycle models. Nor does the document cover how to assess or evaluate the

performance of a process, or the output (products) of a process.

NOTE Two prominent International Standards in process description for software and system engineering

are ISO/IEC IEEE 12207 and ISO/IEC IEEE 15288. These two standards have very similar process models. The

information items associated with their process definitions are given in ISO/IEC IEEE 15289. Other International

Standards provide further characterization of a single life cycle process by elaborating the process elements and

levying specific requirements on the execution of the process.

This document is applicable when processes are described for various process definitions in any party,

organization or standard relating to systems and software engineering processes.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

— ISO, IEC, and IEEE maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following

addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org
— IEEE Standards Dictionary Online: available at http:// dictionary .ieee .org

Note 1 to entry For additional terms and definitions in the field of systems and software engineering, see

ISO/IEC IEEE 24765, which is published periodically as a “snapshot” of the SEVOCAB (Systems and software

Engineering Vocabulary) database and is publicly accessible at computer .org/ sevocab

3.1
activity
set of cohesive tasks of a process
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.3]
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
3.2
base practice

activity that, when consistently performed, contributes to achieving a specific process purpose

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 33001:2015, 3.3.2]
3.3
information item

separately identifiable body of information that is produced, stored, and delivered for human use

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 15289:2019, 3.1.12]
3.4
life cycle

evolution of a system, product, service, project or other human-made entity from conception through

retirement
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.26]
3.5
life cycle model

framework of processes and activities concerned with the life cycle that can be organized into stages,

which also acts as a common reference for communication and understanding
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.27]
3.6
output
product, result, or service generated by a process
3.7
procedure

information item that presents an ordered series of steps to perform a process, activity, or task

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 15289:2019, 3.1.19]
3.8
process

set of interrelated or interacting activities that transforms inputs into outputs

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.33]
3.9
process improvement

actions taken to improve the quality of the organization's processes aligned with the business needs

and the needs of other concerned parties
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 33001:2015, 3.1.7]
3.10
process maturity

extent to which an organizational unit consistently implements processes within a defined scope that

contribute to the achievement of its business needs (current or projected)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 26511:2018, 3.1.23]

Note 1 to entry: to entry: This term is “Organizational Process Maturity” with the same definition in

ISO/IEC 33001.
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3.11
process outcome
observable result of the successful achievement of the process purpose
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.34]
3.12
process purpose

high-level objective of performing the process and the likely outcomes of effective implementation of

the process
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.35]
3.13
process reference model
PRM

model comprising definitions of processes in a domain of application described in terms of process

purpose and outcomes, together with an architecture describing the relationships between the

processes
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 33001:2015, 3.3.16]
3.14
process tailoring
making, altering, or adapting a process description for a particular end

EXAMPLE A project tailors its defined process from the organization's set of standard processes to meet the

objectives, constraints, and environment of the project.
3.15
process view

description of how a specified purpose and set of outcomes can be achieved by employing the activities

and tasks of existing processes
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 15026-1:2019, 3.2.2]
3.16
product
result of a process
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.36]
3.17
stage

period within the life cycle of an entity that relates to the state of its description or realization]

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.58]
3.18
system

combination of interacting elements organized to achieve one or more stated purposes

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 15288:2015, 4.1.46, modified – notes omitted]
3.19
tailoring

process by which individual requirements in specifications, standards, and related documents

are evaluated and made applicable to a specific project by selection, and in some exceptional cases,

modification of existing or addition of new requirements
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 26513:2017, 3.38]
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
3.20
task

required, recommended, or permissible action, intended to contribute to the achievement of one or

more outcomes of a process
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 12207:2017, 3.1.66]
3.21
view

representation of a whole system from the perspective of a related set of concerns

Note 1 to entry: For further details refer to ISO/IEC IEEE 42020:2019, 3.24]
3.22
viewpoint
specification of the conventions for constructing and using a view

Note 1 to entry: Note1 to entry: A viewpoint is a pattern or template from which to develop individual views by

establishing the purposes and audiences for a view, and the techniques for its creation and analysis

Note 2 to entry: For a detailed explanation of view and viewpoint and how they can be defined and used, see

ISO/IEC 42010.

Note 3 to entry: to entry Further detail is found in ISO/IEC IEEE 42020:2019, 3.25]

4 Conformance

Full conformance to this document can be claimed if process descriptions defined using the

requirements of this document clearly cover the required elements (Clause 5.2). Any of the optional

elements (Clause 5.3) may also be included either as requirements, recommendations, examples or

suggestions.
5 Specification of a process description and its elements
5.1 Elements of process description
This document characterizes the following elements of process description:
— Name;
— Purpose;
— Outcomes;
— Activities;
— Tasks;
— Inputs;
— Outputs;
— Controls and constraints
5.2 Process and related concepts

In its definition [3.7], a process is a set of interrelated or interacting activities that transforms inputs

into outputs. Figure 1 shows a typical representation of this transformation.
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)
Figure 1 — Basic Process

There is no fixed dividing line between what constitutes a process and what is considered as a sub-

process or an activity within a process. Typically, processes are achieved through the performance of

activities comprising groups of related tasks. A significant activity of interest with numerous tasks

could also be described as a process if it were useful to treat the activity of interest in detail. The limits

of a process generally are determined by the production of a major output and outcomes, rather than

the intermediate outputs produced by activities within the process. Additionally, if processes are highly

automated and require little human control or intervention, it may be appropriate to combine several

processes into one process description.

NOTE 1 Often a set of processes are developed and some processes are decomposed into more than one

level, However, decomposition of processes into more than three levels is likely to be confusing and hard for

humans to use.

Procedures differ from process descriptions in that procedures are written in steps to be followed in

order. Procedures can be written as instructions to the persons performing the procedure. Procedures

can also be written to assist an evaluator or auditor to understand the procedure, especially its controls

or outputs.

NOTE 2 ISO/IEC IEEE 82079-1:2019 provides detailed requirements for writing instructions.

In English, normative (i.e. mandatory, required) process elements are stated in process descriptions

using either the imperative (as a command), or as a 'shall' ' statement, or as explicitly identified as

normative, regardless of the wording used.

NOTE 3 Annex A shows different examples of the expression of normative process elements as used in sample

process descriptions,
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)

Complete processes generally involve several types of generic activities (Table 1).

Table 1 — Model of generic activities within a process
Generic activity Example activities in the Design Example activities/task in the
definition process Implementation process

Strategize and plan (Plan) Prepare for software system design Prepare for implementation

definition
Perform (Do) Establish designs related to each soft- Perform implementation
ware system element.

Evaluate and decide (Check) Assess alternatives for obtaining soft- Evaluate software unit and affiliated

ware system elements data or other information according
to the implementation strategy and
criteria.

Manage outcomes and outputs (Act): Manage the design. Manage results of implementation

Preserve and present artefacts and
information items
[Source: ISO/IEC IEEE 24748-3:2020]

Generally, several software or systems engineering processes are performed concurrently during a life

cycle stage. However, concurrent activities (e.g. installation and quality assurance inspections) are not

necessarily part of the same process, since their purpose, resources, methods, outputs, and outcomes

are different.

Process descriptions may be used either to describe generic processes (for example “project

management process”) or to describe a particular instance of a generic type (for example “project

management process for project A”). For specific process descriptions, generic process descriptions

may be instantiated with respect to roles or responsibilities, resources, required inputs and outputs,

constraints and controls, and time. Annex A provides examples of process descriptions used to develop

a process model. Annex B provides a technique for demonstration of process traceability between

elements, using an example process from Annex A.

Processes are often combined to form a process model (framework of related processes). ISO/

IEC IEEE 15288 and ISO/IEC IEEE 12207, for example, provide life cycle process reference models

for systems and software in which outcomes are defined and activities grouped for generic life cycle

process description.

NOTE 4 ISO/PAS 19450:2015 specifies concepts, semantics, and syntax of Object-Process Methodology as a

modelling paradigm and language for producing conceptual models at various extents of detail.

Various schema for characterizing and evaluating process maturity, capability or quality are in use.

These typically distinguish between levels of having a defined and described process, following the

process repeatedly to successfully achieve its outcome or produce specified output, and automating

and improving the process. The choice of details in the process description can be used to characterize

the process description at a certain level of process maturity, capability or quality.

NOTE 5 ISO/IEC 33020 defines a process measurement framework for the assessment of process capability.

5.3 Process description – required elements
5.3.1 General

A process description can include the elements as shown in Figure 2. The minimum required elements

for a process description shall be the Name, Purpose, and Outcomes. Optional elements, such as outputs,

activities, and tasks, can be included in process descriptions.
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)

The goals and objectives of performing a process shall be described by using the elements of Name,

Purpose, and Outcomes. These elements are used to describe intended results without the necessity

of performing structural decomposition of the process. Processes defined using Name, Purpose, and

Outcomes provide a common starting point for process implementation and process assessment.

NOTE Annex A of ISO/IEC IEEE 24748-1:2018 also describes process elements.
Figure 2 — Process description elements

To enable uniform description, the following subclauses contain additional requirements for the

process elements.
5.3.2 Process name

The name of a process description is a short noun phrase that presents a descriptive heading for the

process. The name identifies the principal concern of the process and distinguishes the process from

other processes in the model. Because of the latter criterion, it may sometimes be necessary to tailor

the name of a process. For example, one might have a "software architecture process" which is later

refined as a "software detailed design process" or "data architecture process" or "interface architecture

process." Process names should end in the word process.

Wordy noun-verb or verb-noun phrases may get confused with process activities and often represent an

attempt to summarize the purpose or process so that the name can stand for the purpose. A descriptive

noun phrase - the name of the process - is more useful. The intent is to give a name, not a summary.

NOTE Although Process Name is preferred and used throughout this document, using “Process Title” is an

acceptable alternative.
5.3.3 Process purpose

The purpose element of the process shall be stated as one or more related high-level goals for performing

the process. In cases where processes might be thought to overlap, the purpose element should be used

to characterize the scope or bounds of the process.
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 24774:2020(E)

Whenever possible, the purpose element should be succinctly captured in a single sentence.

Summarizing the activities or outcomes o
...