As I’ve often pointed out, the ISO 9001 Quality Management System has been tailored to various disciplines by the release of sector-specific standards. The ISO/IEC 90003, “Software engineering — Guidelines for the application of ISO 9001:2008 to computer software,” covers the needs of software engineers. So those of you who use this standard will be pleased to know that it has just been revised. The new 2nd Edition cancels and replaces the 1st Edition from 2004. It brings the document up-to-date with the ISO 9001 4th Edition from 2008 (FYI: Corrected in 2009).
Like others of it’s kind, the ISO/IEC 90003 provides clause-by-clause guidance to help software engineers translate the ISO 9001 requirements into actionable items in the context of software development and usage. One added benefit is that the document also references the ISO/IEC 12207 from 2008. if you’re unfamiliar with this standard, it walks you through the various life-cycle phases of software to help you as a consumer or provider.
Another aspect of the use of this standard is the fact that software concerns now extend to any number of products that you might not have considered. It is appropriate for use not only in pure software applications, but also for products that have software embedded in them. And of course, the document is also applicable for use in contracts, software services and for organizational processes that are supported by software.
I’d also like to point out the two Annexes that are part of this document. Annex A maps the clauses of ISO 9001 (2008 Edition) with ISO/IEC 12207 and with other standards that have been developed by technical committees JTC1 (Sub-committee 7) and ISO/TC 176. When you have a number of standards that overlap, it’s particularly nice to have someone point out the various clauses that are relevant to one-another. Annex B, on the other hand, maps out the quality planning and development planning for ISO/IEC 90003 to ISO/IEC 12207. Again, this helps you confirm that you’re meeting the needs of both standards if applicable.
The final portion of the document is a 29-item Bibliography, which lists the ISO and ISO/IEC standards that deal with software development applicable to this new release for the 90003. These are the documents that are cited in Annex A in particular and throughout the document as well.
You’ll need a copy of this new update and you can order your copy at the Document Center Webstore (www.document-center.com). It’s available in both paper format and for pdf download. You may prefer to get it as part of our Standards Online multi-user access subscription service as well. Just check in with our staff by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com). We’ve been providing standards to folks like you since 1982 and on the web since 1993. Make us your Standards Experts!
