ISO/IEC 15504 - SPICE

Contents: What is ISO/IEC 15504?What does the SEI plan to do to be compliant to this standard? How will the SEI help the community prepare to meet this standard?How does ISO/IEC 15504 relate to the Software CMM and to ISO 9001?Will the software community have to choose between 15504 and their current model of choice?What are the considerations in determining whether 15504 conformance is important to my business?How can I obtain more information about 15504?

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/faq/15504-faq.html




ISO/IEC 15504 (all parts) provides a framework for the assessment of processes. This framework can be used by organizations involved in planning, managing, monitoring, controlling and improving the acquisition, supply, development, operation, evolution and support of products and services.

ISO/IEC 15504-3:2004 provides guidance on meeting the minimum set of requirements for performing an assessment contained in ISO/IEC 15504-2.

It provides an overview of process assessment and interprets the requirements through the provision of guidance on:

performing an assessment;
the measurement framework for process capability;
process reference models and process assessment models;
selecting and using assessment tools;
competency of assessors;
verification of conformity.

ISO/IEC 15504-3:2004 also provides an exemplar documented assessment process that conforms to the requirements of 4.2 in ISO/IEC 15504-2.
Corrigenda, Amendments and other parts
ISO/IEC 15504-1:2004
ISO/IEC 15504-2:2003
ISO/IEC 15504-4:2004
ISO/IEC 15504-5:2006

http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=37454


There are a variety of ISO standards addressing various aspects of process improvement.
ISO 9000 is a set of standards for quality management systems that is accepted around the world. Currently more than 800,000 organizations in 161 countries have adopted ISO 9000 as national standards. When you purchase a product or service from an organization that is registered to the appropriate ISO 9000 standard, you have important assurances that the quality of what you receive will be as you expect. In addition, with the year 2000 revision of the standard, quality objectives, continual improvement, and monitoring of customer satisfaction provide the customer with increased assurances that their needs and expectations will be met. There is significant overlap between ISO 9000 and SW-CMM® Level 2. A comparison of the two is documented in A Comparison of ISO 9001 and the SW-CMM® [download is cmm9001.pdf] Note that the document was scanned in reverse order, so the first page you see is actually the last page of the document.
ISO 15504 (SPICE) SPICE (ISO/IEC 15504) is a major international initiative to develop a Standard for Software Process Appraisal. The project is carried out under the auspices of the International Committee on Software Engineering Standards ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7, through its Working Group on Software Process Appraisal (WG10). Since 1993, the SPICE (ISO/IEC 15504) (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination) project, launched within the ISO has been developing a framework standard for software process Appraisal, bringing together the major suppliers and users of Appraisal methods. Field trials of SPICE-based Appraisal commenced in January 1995, and will continue until ISO/IEC 15504 is published as a full International Standard, scheduled by 2002.
ISO 12207 offers a framework for software life-cycle processes from concept through retirement. It is especially suitable for acquisitions because it recognizes the distinct roles of acquisitor and supplier. In fact, the standard is intended for two-party use where an agreement or contract defines the development, maintenance, or operation of a software system. It is not applicable to the purchase of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software products. ISO 12207 provides a structure of processes using mutually accepted terminology, rather than dictating a particular life-cycle model or software development method. Since it is a relatively high-level document, 12207 does not specify the details of how to perform the activities and tasks comprising the processes. Nor does it prescribe the name, format, or content of documentation. Therefore, organizations seeking to apply 12207 may want to use additional standards or procedures that specify those details.
CMMI® version 1.2 is coming. Are you ready?
CMMI® version 1.1 will be sunsetted as of August 31, 2007, and version 1.1 of the Introduction to the CMMI® will not be offered after December 31, 2006. MDM will provide the new version 1.2 of the CMMI® introduction class, along with training on SCAMPISM version 1.2.
Learn MoreLearn about the L2 QuickStart Workshop.




Purpose Driven Process ImprovementSM is designed to:

improve quality
reduce costs
improve morale
reduce cycle times
increase productivity
improve project control

Is process improvement right for you?

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ISO 15504

ISO/IEC 15504 also known as SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination) is a "framework for the assessment of processes" developed by the Joint Technical Subcommittee between ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission).
ISO/IEC 15504 initially was derived from process lifecycle standard ISO 12207 and the ideas of capability maturity in SW CMM.
Contents
1 Overview
2 The ISO/IEC 15504 standard
2.1 Reference model
2.1.1 Processes
2.1.2 Capability levels and process attributes
2.2 Assessments
2.2.1 Assessment process
2.2.2 Assessment model
2.2.3 Tools used in the assessment
2.3 Assessor qualifications and competency
2.4 Uses of ISO/IEC 15504
2.4.1 Process improvement
2.4.2 Capability determination
3 History
4 Acceptance of ISO/IEC 15504
5 References
6 External links

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