CSA Preface
Standards development within the Information Technology sector is harmonized with international standards development. Through the CSA Technical Committee on Information Technology (TCIT), Canadians serve as the Canadian Advisory Committee (CAC) on ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology (ISO/IEC JTC1) for the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), the ISO member body for Canada and sponsor of the Canadian National Committee of the IEC. Also, as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Canada participates in the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (ITU-T). This Standard supersedes CAN/CSA-ISO/IEC 12207-96 (adoption of ISO/IEC 12207:1995). At the time of publication, ISO/IEC 12207:2008 is available from ISO and IEC in English only. CSA will publish the French version when it becomes available from ISO and IEC.
Scope
This International Standard establishes a common framework for software life cycle processes, with well-defined terminology, that can be referenced by the software industry. It contains processes, activities, and tasks that are to be applied during the acquisition of a software product or service and during the supply, development, operation, maintenance and disposal of software products. Software includes the software portion of firmware. This International Standard applies to the acquisition of systems and software products and services, to the supply, development, operation, maintenance, and disposal of software products and the software portion of a system, whether performed internally or externally to an organization. Those aspects of system definition needed to provide the context for software products and services are included.
This International Standard also provides a process that can be employed for defining, controlling, and improving software life cycle processes.
The processes, activities and tasks of this International Standard-either alone or in conjunction with ISO/IEC 15288-may also be applied during the acquisition of a system that contains software.
