ISO 15504
Origin and evolution
In January 1993, the ISO/IEC JTC1 committee approved a work program to develop a model that would serve as the basis for an international standard for the assessment of software life cycle processes. This work became known as the SPICE project.
In June 1995, the first draft was published, and organizations around the world were invited to apply it and assess its results. In 1998, the work moved to the technical report stage as ISO/IEC TR 15504, with nine parts. The final version of the international standard ISO/IEC 15504 was published during the 2003–2005 period.
Structure
The standard establishes a framework for the assessment, improvement, and capability determination of software life cycle processes:
- Process assessment: measure the current state of an organization's processes.
- Process improvement: identify and prioritize improvements.
- Capability determination: establish whether a supplier has the capability to meet a project's requirements.
It is aligned with the ISO/IEC 12207 standard, which defines the life cycle processes for the development, maintenance, and operation of software systems.
The Two Dimensions
The architecture of ISO 15504 is based on two dimensions:
Process dimension (five categories)
- CUS (Customer-Supplier): customer relationship processes.
- ENG (Engineering): technical development processes.
- SUP (Support): development support processes.
- MAN (Management): management processes.
- ORG (Organization): organizational processes.
Capability dimension (six levels)
- Level 0: Incomplete.
- Level 1: Performed.
- Level 2: Managed.
- Level 3: Established.
- Level 4: Predictable.
- Level 5: Optimizing.
Relationship with CMMI
ISO 15504 and CMMI are compatible and equivalent in many respects: ISO is part of the panel that develops the CMMI model, and the SEI maintains compatibility between the two. However, CMMI is not fully compliant with SPICE-ISO 15504.
Common mistake
Confusing ISO 15504 with a software development model. ISO 15504 is a framework for process assessment and improvement, not a development methodology. It does not prescribe how to develop software, but rather how to assess the maturity of the processes used to develop it. Its relationship with agility is complementary: an organization can be certified in ISO 15504 and work with agile frameworks.
See also
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